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The correct position in the saddle directly affects your ability to communicate with your horse. Good posture allows the rider to move as one with their horse and give the lightest aids with precision. Poor posture inhibits the horse’s movement and means that the rider’s aids are ill timed and unclear to the horse.
Sit on your seat bones with the pubic bone resting towards the twist of the saddle. Your thighs should hang from the hip sockets, slightly forward, and your upper body should be balanced over your seat bones. Our spine has a natural “S” curve and this should be retained so that your lower back can move exactly with the horses back, otherwise the horse will be blocked.
The rider's seat extends up through their lower back and if this part does not move, the rider's seat is blocked. A supple lower back moves with the horse’s back or you will block the horse’s back and the movement from the quarters.
Never support your position by hanging on the reins or gripping with the legs. When the position is right it should feel balanced and connected. This position allows the rider to feel and direct the horse’s movement and not disrupt it.
The first picture below show a correct seat.
In the centre picture the rider has lost contact with the saddle and is gripping with the knees which is pushing the seat up towards the back of the saddle
The last picture shows how the rider has lost the seat forward, the seat is being held in the saddle by the thighs braced against the knee rolls and the hands are pulling back on the reins.
The correct position in the saddle directly affects your ability to communicate with your horse. Good posture allows the rider to move as one with their horse and give the lightest aids with precision. Poor posture inhibits the horse’s movement and means that the rider’s aids are ill timed and unclear to the horse.
Sit on your seat bones with the pubic bone resting towards the twist of the saddle. Your thighs should hang from the hip sockets, slightly forward, and your upper body should be balanced over your seat bones. Our spine has a natural “S” curve and this should be retained so that your lower back can move exactly with the horses back, otherwise the horse will be blocked.
The rider's seat extends up through their lower back and if this part does not move, the rider's seat is blocked. A supple lower back moves with the horse’s back or you will block the horse’s back and the movement from the quarters.
Never support your position by hanging on the reins or gripping with the legs. When the position is right it should feel balanced and connected. This position allows the rider to feel and direct the horse’s movement and not disrupt it.
- A well balanced seat allows the rider to use their lower back and releases tension in legs and shoulders.
- The seat is directly affected by the upper body, legs and hands.
- The seat is affected by horse’s movement, up and down, backwards and forwards and side to side – all at once!
- The ability to follow the movement of the horses back with your lower back gives you feel and contact.
- Your back influences and reflects the horse’s back.
The first picture below show a correct seat.
In the centre picture the rider has lost contact with the saddle and is gripping with the knees which is pushing the seat up towards the back of the saddle
The last picture shows how the rider has lost the seat forward, the seat is being held in the saddle by the thighs braced against the knee rolls and the hands are pulling back on the reins.
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Self-carriage is a quality that results from correct basic work and gives lightness to the horse. A trained horse should be able to maintain self-carriage throughout his work, whereas a younger horse may only be in self-carriage for a few steps before losing balance and needing help from the rider to correct himself. Self-carriage is a combination of balance, strength, straightness and energy, maintained by the horse without intervention from the rider. Additionally the horse needs to be mentally calm and receptive, as a tense horse will be trying to escape the rider’s aids and therefore will not be in self carriage.
Developing self-carriage in your horse takes time, carefully working through simple exercises makes your horse supple, improves their balance which leads to a straight horse, and this is where self-carriage begins. Once the horse is straight and has no weight in the shoulder, you can increase the impulsion which will elevate the forehand.
There is a lot of discussion around horses being in self-carriage but the rider must also have self-carriage. An unbalanced rider who uses the reins and grips with the legs to stay in the saddle will create an unbalanced tight horse. A correctly seated, balance rider is able to give clear aids to the horse and remain quietly with their horse when the horse has responded and is performing the movement. The ultimate test of self-carriage is “descent de mains”, where the rider simply opens the fingers, and the horse remains in the same posture, gait and cadence.
The pictures below show horses in self carriage (top row).
Below them are 3 more of the same horses when they have lost their self-carriage. (All the riders brought their horses into self-carriage again after the photos were taken.)
The first horse has fallen through his outside shoulder on a circle, he has lifted his head in order to regain his balance.
The bay horse has lost his balance on a straight line, he has dropped onto his shoulder and is leaning on the rider’s hands.
The last horse has come off the rider’s inside leg in travers, she has lost the bend and is pressing weight to the inside shoulder.
Developing self-carriage in your horse takes time, carefully working through simple exercises makes your horse supple, improves their balance which leads to a straight horse, and this is where self-carriage begins. Once the horse is straight and has no weight in the shoulder, you can increase the impulsion which will elevate the forehand.
There is a lot of discussion around horses being in self-carriage but the rider must also have self-carriage. An unbalanced rider who uses the reins and grips with the legs to stay in the saddle will create an unbalanced tight horse. A correctly seated, balance rider is able to give clear aids to the horse and remain quietly with their horse when the horse has responded and is performing the movement. The ultimate test of self-carriage is “descent de mains”, where the rider simply opens the fingers, and the horse remains in the same posture, gait and cadence.
The pictures below show horses in self carriage (top row).
Below them are 3 more of the same horses when they have lost their self-carriage. (All the riders brought their horses into self-carriage again after the photos were taken.)
The first horse has fallen through his outside shoulder on a circle, he has lifted his head in order to regain his balance.
The bay horse has lost his balance on a straight line, he has dropped onto his shoulder and is leaning on the rider’s hands.
The last horse has come off the rider’s inside leg in travers, she has lost the bend and is pressing weight to the inside shoulder.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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Impulsion is not just the energy required to move a horse, nor is it having a horse going round the school as fast as it can, (that just creates a tired horse), so I am starting this blog with a quote from Nuno Oliveira,
“Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence.”
Impulsion is often misunderstood by riders, in dressage it can be your greatest friend or your greatest enemy. Too much energy at the wrong time unbalances and makes the horse heavy in the shoulder. Whereas insufficient energy makes the horse flat and unable to perform the movement you are asking. The right energy at the right time gives a freedom, mobility and lightness to a horse, linking to self-carriage.
Impulsion is not a one size fits all, different horses need different levels of impulsion at different times, and it is the skilled rider who knows how much to ask and when. Good impulsion exists when you have a straight horse, supple and balanced with his hind leg travelling straight under his body, the impulsion directs the horse forward and up, lightening the forehand. When the horse has impulsion it is the rider who directs it either upwards to give a collected step, or forwards for a more extended step.
With young horses don’t ask too much too soon, begin by asking for a very little lengthening and collecting in trot, in balance, on the long side of the school, retaining the energy from the lengthened steps to the collected steps. As the horse develops his strength and suppleness so the balance improves and the impulsion increases.
And a final though on impulsion; don’t ride with more energy than you or your horse and cope with.
Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell
“Impulsion means to maintain the energy within the cadence.”
Impulsion is often misunderstood by riders, in dressage it can be your greatest friend or your greatest enemy. Too much energy at the wrong time unbalances and makes the horse heavy in the shoulder. Whereas insufficient energy makes the horse flat and unable to perform the movement you are asking. The right energy at the right time gives a freedom, mobility and lightness to a horse, linking to self-carriage.
Impulsion is not a one size fits all, different horses need different levels of impulsion at different times, and it is the skilled rider who knows how much to ask and when. Good impulsion exists when you have a straight horse, supple and balanced with his hind leg travelling straight under his body, the impulsion directs the horse forward and up, lightening the forehand. When the horse has impulsion it is the rider who directs it either upwards to give a collected step, or forwards for a more extended step.
With young horses don’t ask too much too soon, begin by asking for a very little lengthening and collecting in trot, in balance, on the long side of the school, retaining the energy from the lengthened steps to the collected steps. As the horse develops his strength and suppleness so the balance improves and the impulsion increases.
And a final though on impulsion; don’t ride with more energy than you or your horse and cope with.
Training Riders, Transforming Horses
© Diane Followell
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Collection is the result of correct training, with a strong, supple, balanced horse that has self-carriage, can control his paces and respond instantly to his rider. It is developed over years from methodical training, starting with correct circles, where you begin to engage the inside hind leg and balance your horse, moving on to suppling the quarters and shoulders through carefully selected lateral work, and then developing strength and impulsion.
Classical collection comes from the horse engaging the hind leg under his body which results in a lightening of the forehand. The degree to which you can see this engagement depends on the level of training and the horse’s conformation. Some horses show a distinct lowering of the quarters, and the lightening of the fore hand is easy to see. For other horses, the change in the quarters is not so evident, but this does not mean that the horse is not collected; you can see the same qualities in both horses, just displayed differently.
A horse that is heavy in the hand and has weight in the shoulder is not collected, regardless of the perceived action in the legs. The hind leg should appear to be working under the hips, not out under the tail, the back should not be hollow or braced and the fore hand should have a lightness and freedom of movement through the shoulder with the neck stretching forward from the withers.
The ultimate expression of collection is in the “decente de main” and “decente de jambes”, most easily seen in piaffe, where the rider lowers the hands and releases the contact and lightens the action of the legs, while the horse remains in the same piaffe.
Collection is the result of the careful development of a horse through training, ensuring each stage is correctly developed, creating a supple, balanced, strong horse, able to control their impulsion and therefore able to respond instantly to the riders aids. If you rush the early training, you will have problems in the more advanced work.
Classical collection comes from the horse engaging the hind leg under his body which results in a lightening of the forehand. The degree to which you can see this engagement depends on the level of training and the horse’s conformation. Some horses show a distinct lowering of the quarters, and the lightening of the fore hand is easy to see. For other horses, the change in the quarters is not so evident, but this does not mean that the horse is not collected; you can see the same qualities in both horses, just displayed differently.
A horse that is heavy in the hand and has weight in the shoulder is not collected, regardless of the perceived action in the legs. The hind leg should appear to be working under the hips, not out under the tail, the back should not be hollow or braced and the fore hand should have a lightness and freedom of movement through the shoulder with the neck stretching forward from the withers.
The ultimate expression of collection is in the “decente de main” and “decente de jambes”, most easily seen in piaffe, where the rider lowers the hands and releases the contact and lightens the action of the legs, while the horse remains in the same piaffe.
Collection is the result of the careful development of a horse through training, ensuring each stage is correctly developed, creating a supple, balanced, strong horse, able to control their impulsion and therefore able to respond instantly to the riders aids. If you rush the early training, you will have problems in the more advanced work.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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Over many years of dealing with horses I have seen how differently they respond to each rider, from the ex-racehorse who became a complete plod when a disabled rider hacked him out, to the school pony who changed from finding ever new and inventive ways of disrupting lessons into a pony who waited patiently for a disabled child to mount, carefully moving off and slowing down if the rider lost balance. Horses don’t know or care who you are, all they know is how you ride, they are very quick a summing people up, and it is an aspect of riding that is often neglected.
As part of my interest in this area of training horses, I recently had the opportunity to attended a taster session run by a company called Lead Change and HorseHeard who use horses to develop leadership and team building skills and for personal development of key emotional and social intelligence skills.
It proved to be a fascinating morning, we started with introductions and a brief chat about what people wanted to get out of the session. There was an interesting mix of people from quite diverse areas, one of the group had never been in contact with horses before.
Following the safety chat, we went to the quiet atmosphere of the school and spilt into 2 groups. It was revealing to see how each of the 2 horses behaved with the attendees, from not moving at all to walking off in the opposite direction. Ultimately everyone did manage to find a quiet way of communicating with their horse without force, which was appropriate for the horse and the horse accepted.
So next time you horse refuses to do something, perhaps think about how you are asking and see if there is something you can change to find a way that will enable you to communicate with your horse in a way he better understands.
As part of my interest in this area of training horses, I recently had the opportunity to attended a taster session run by a company called Lead Change and HorseHeard who use horses to develop leadership and team building skills and for personal development of key emotional and social intelligence skills.
It proved to be a fascinating morning, we started with introductions and a brief chat about what people wanted to get out of the session. There was an interesting mix of people from quite diverse areas, one of the group had never been in contact with horses before.
Following the safety chat, we went to the quiet atmosphere of the school and spilt into 2 groups. It was revealing to see how each of the 2 horses behaved with the attendees, from not moving at all to walking off in the opposite direction. Ultimately everyone did manage to find a quiet way of communicating with their horse without force, which was appropriate for the horse and the horse accepted.
So next time you horse refuses to do something, perhaps think about how you are asking and see if there is something you can change to find a way that will enable you to communicate with your horse in a way he better understands.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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François de la Guérinière
If a horse refuses to move sideways in one of the two directions, it is a sign that he has not been rendered supple enough on the opposite side.
Nuno Oliveira
…the shoulder-in means controlling the outside much rather than driving the inside.
François L’Hotte
Only when the horse is calm and confident can he give the rider his impulsive forces which the rider can then use at will.
Nuno Oliveira on Half Pass
If a horse refuses to move sideways in one of the two directions, it is a sign that he has not been rendered supple enough on the opposite side.
Nuno Oliveira
…the shoulder-in means controlling the outside much rather than driving the inside.
François L’Hotte
Only when the horse is calm and confident can he give the rider his impulsive forces which the rider can then use at will.
Nuno Oliveira on Half Pass
- When the half pass is well prepared, you only have to watch the forward-sideways motion.
- Don’t exaggerate the bend in the half pass. Otherwise you block the inside shoulder.
- The inside leg is the most important one in the half pass. It receives the horse, maintains the bend, and, if necessary, the impulsion.
- Regulate your half pass problems with the outside rein.
- Apply the rule in the half pass as well that you cease your activity once the movement is initiated. It is a matter of psychology, rewarding the obedience.
- Bring the horse into the half pass position, and, once begun, try merely to accompany him with the seat.
Diane Followell - Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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Renvers is the final exercise in this quartet of lateral movements with shoulder-in, half pass and travers. Like travers, it is the same as half pass, but this time it is performed down the side of the school with the horse’s shoulders to the inside and, unlike shoulder-in, the bend is in the direction of the movement. If the travers and half pass are well established, renvers is a natural progression of these movements.
One way to start renvers is from half pass. Begin with a good well balanced half pass. As you approach the wall, gently step the quarters over a little with your outside leg, while slowing the shoulders with your inside rein towards the neck. Do not pull the rein back as this will block your horse’s hind leg and place him on the shoulder. The rein and leg action will advance the quarters the track, and once the quarters are on the track, maintain this position and angle down the side of the school.
An alternative method is from the long side. Ride a good corner so your horse is well balanced on the long side of the school. Change the bend to the outside and then bring the horse’s shoulders in with a delicate movement of the hands towards the inside of the school. The outside leg sends the outside hind leg under the horse’s body.
With some horses I find that transitions between shoulder-in and renvers have a good suppling effect and can significantly engage the quarters. To ride this, start in a good walk shoulder-in and then after several steps, change the bend so the horse is positioned in renvers. Be very careful that you can retain the balance or the horse will drop into the shoulder again.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
One way to start renvers is from half pass. Begin with a good well balanced half pass. As you approach the wall, gently step the quarters over a little with your outside leg, while slowing the shoulders with your inside rein towards the neck. Do not pull the rein back as this will block your horse’s hind leg and place him on the shoulder. The rein and leg action will advance the quarters the track, and once the quarters are on the track, maintain this position and angle down the side of the school.
An alternative method is from the long side. Ride a good corner so your horse is well balanced on the long side of the school. Change the bend to the outside and then bring the horse’s shoulders in with a delicate movement of the hands towards the inside of the school. The outside leg sends the outside hind leg under the horse’s body.
With some horses I find that transitions between shoulder-in and renvers have a good suppling effect and can significantly engage the quarters. To ride this, start in a good walk shoulder-in and then after several steps, change the bend so the horse is positioned in renvers. Be very careful that you can retain the balance or the horse will drop into the shoulder again.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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François de la Guérinière
This exercise [shoulder in] has so many benefits that I regard it as the alpha and omega of all exercises for the horse which are intended to develop complete suppleness and perfect agility in all it’s parts.
Nuno Oliveira
In the shoulder-in hold your body against your outside elbow.
Charles Harris.
The most common fault made by riders in doing shoulder-in is to have the horse more bent in front of the wither (or saddle) than behind it. The horse must be the same in front of the withers (or saddle) as he is behind.
Nuno Oliveira
Correctly done the shoulder-in gives great results as it relaxes and straightens the horse.
Alois Podhajsky
The most important aid [in half pass] is given by the rider’s inside leg which pushes the horse forward and is responsible for correct bend.
Alois Podhajsky
The position of the [horse’s] head [in half pass] should be such that the neck is not more bent than the whole body.
Nuno Oliveira
Don’t exaggerate the bend in the half pass. Otherwise you block the inside shoulder.
This exercise [shoulder in] has so many benefits that I regard it as the alpha and omega of all exercises for the horse which are intended to develop complete suppleness and perfect agility in all it’s parts.
Nuno Oliveira
In the shoulder-in hold your body against your outside elbow.
Charles Harris.
The most common fault made by riders in doing shoulder-in is to have the horse more bent in front of the wither (or saddle) than behind it. The horse must be the same in front of the withers (or saddle) as he is behind.
Nuno Oliveira
Correctly done the shoulder-in gives great results as it relaxes and straightens the horse.
Alois Podhajsky
The most important aid [in half pass] is given by the rider’s inside leg which pushes the horse forward and is responsible for correct bend.
Alois Podhajsky
The position of the [horse’s] head [in half pass] should be such that the neck is not more bent than the whole body.
Nuno Oliveira
Don’t exaggerate the bend in the half pass. Otherwise you block the inside shoulder.
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As with half pass, travers develops the strength and flexibility of the hind leg as the leg steps under the body mass and carries the weight across. Travers is essentially a half pass ridden down the long side of the school, the main difference being the entry to the movement. In this exercise, the quarters are brought to the inside with the shoulders remaining on the original line of travel. The horse is now bent in the direction of travel with the outside hind leg crossing the inside hind leg.
If the horse has been taught a correct shoulder-in this movement is easy to perform. Start with a good circle at the beginning of the long side, ride the corner very correctly with the horse well balanced and round the inside leg. Maintaining an inside flexion, have a moment of straightness as you come out of the corner and then, lightly ask your horse to bring the quarters to the inside with delicate touches from the outside leg behind the girth. Stay balanced and move in the direction of travel. It may help to drop your inside knee down a little so you stay with the movement and don’t tip to the outside.
When the horse is confident with travers on the long side, bring him on to a large 20m circle in travers. This further engages the hind quarters and is a developmental exercise for pirouettes. Travers on smaller circles can only be performed in walk and canter due to the mechanics of the paces.
© Training Riders, Transforming Horses
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Travers, half pass and renvers are essentially the same movement, ridden in different places in the school. They are a lateral movement in which the horse steps forwards and sideways in the direction of the bend, unlike shoulder in where the horse steps away from the bend.
Travers is ridden down the side of the school with the horse’s head facing down the track and the quarters brought in away from the wall.
Renvers is the reverse of travers in that the quarters remain on the track, the shoulders are brought in away from the wall and the bend is in the direction of the movement.
Half pass is ridden diagonally across the school with the bend in the direction of the movement.
All these exercise develop the strength and flexibility of the hind leg as the leg steps under the body mass and carries the weight across.
It is common to start these movements by training travers first, although at times I find it can be more beneficial to start with half pass. In travers, sometimes the horse backs off from the movement because they are facing the wall and you lose the forward impetus or the wall acts to hold them on the line and they are not correctly responding to the aids.
In half pass it is necessary for the horse to respond well to the half halt and outside leg or they can just move forward through the rider’s aids and not have any side steps at all. The decision on whether to start with travers or half pass is dependent on each horse and rider combination.
To prepare for either half pass or travers, start when your horse can do shoulder-in well and in balance, begin by developing shoulder-in on a circle. Start by ask for the position of shoulder-in on the long side and then take a few steps through the corner (slowing the shoulder and advancing the quarters) so you are in shoulder-in at exactly the same angle on the next side. Then, when this is coming easily, continue round a large circle, until the horse is able to maintain a consistent correct balance throughout.
To continue with half pass, ride shoulder-in from the long side to the center line. Ensure that the shoulder-in remains light and the inside hind leg leads the movement, not the outside shoulder. Stay in shoulder-in for a few steps on the center line, without altering the position of the aids. Very delicately, with small touches use the outside leg behind the girth and send the horse’s quarters in the direction of the bend. Only ask for 1 or 2 steps to begin with and gradually increase the number of steps as the horse gains confidence and strength. The quality of the steps is more important than the number of steps.
When you are in half pass, the inside leg becomes more important. The horse should remain round the rider’s inside leg and the outside leg is indicative only. The inside rein should not be pulled back as this blocks the horse’s inside hind leg and creates a twisted horse. The outside rein should remain in light contact so that the horse is still inside leg to outside hand.
In my next blog I will look at developing travers.
Travers is ridden down the side of the school with the horse’s head facing down the track and the quarters brought in away from the wall.
Renvers is the reverse of travers in that the quarters remain on the track, the shoulders are brought in away from the wall and the bend is in the direction of the movement.
Half pass is ridden diagonally across the school with the bend in the direction of the movement.
All these exercise develop the strength and flexibility of the hind leg as the leg steps under the body mass and carries the weight across.
It is common to start these movements by training travers first, although at times I find it can be more beneficial to start with half pass. In travers, sometimes the horse backs off from the movement because they are facing the wall and you lose the forward impetus or the wall acts to hold them on the line and they are not correctly responding to the aids.
In half pass it is necessary for the horse to respond well to the half halt and outside leg or they can just move forward through the rider’s aids and not have any side steps at all. The decision on whether to start with travers or half pass is dependent on each horse and rider combination.
To prepare for either half pass or travers, start when your horse can do shoulder-in well and in balance, begin by developing shoulder-in on a circle. Start by ask for the position of shoulder-in on the long side and then take a few steps through the corner (slowing the shoulder and advancing the quarters) so you are in shoulder-in at exactly the same angle on the next side. Then, when this is coming easily, continue round a large circle, until the horse is able to maintain a consistent correct balance throughout.
To continue with half pass, ride shoulder-in from the long side to the center line. Ensure that the shoulder-in remains light and the inside hind leg leads the movement, not the outside shoulder. Stay in shoulder-in for a few steps on the center line, without altering the position of the aids. Very delicately, with small touches use the outside leg behind the girth and send the horse’s quarters in the direction of the bend. Only ask for 1 or 2 steps to begin with and gradually increase the number of steps as the horse gains confidence and strength. The quality of the steps is more important than the number of steps.
When you are in half pass, the inside leg becomes more important. The horse should remain round the rider’s inside leg and the outside leg is indicative only. The inside rein should not be pulled back as this blocks the horse’s inside hind leg and creates a twisted horse. The outside rein should remain in light contact so that the horse is still inside leg to outside hand.
In my next blog I will look at developing travers.
