who rode a crooked horse – he rode a very crooked dressage test, of course”

Currently I have 3 fairly crooked riders and I wonder if the universe is trying to give me a sign.

As humans, we are generally quite one sided. A lot of the one sidedness goes unaware until someone points it out to us or we make an effort to think about it. You can read more about this in this link below.

https://www.facebook.com/SusanEHarrisClinician/posts/309505035394

I have always worked on the rider’s position first before even working on the horse. A rider that is not straight or balanced will always have a negative impact on the horse. A crooked rider will make a straight horse crooked. A crooked horse can make a straight rider crooked, if care is not taken. It is a chicken and egg situation.

With my 3 students, one was already aware of her issues and is working with a physio to fix the muscle imbalances. I advised the other 2 to see a good chiropractor, that has been helping me with my issues. Both riders have muscle imbalances that make it impossible for them to be straight on a horse, and which are also very hard to fix whilst they are on the horse.

This really got me thinking while I was riding Cavi. I realised that I am trying so hard to make the bend happen but actually I am not practicing what I preach enough. I am not following enough with my hips in the turn / bend and that was why Cavi was struggling to do what I had asked. As soon as I thought about following more with my outside hip, everything became a little easier.

I repeat this a lot but the horse is the rider’s mirror. He will tell you when you are doing something wrong. The question is… are you willing to listen?

“Imagine that the shoulders are a balancing scale. When one side (or shoulder) is weighted more heavily, the horse will lean in that direction. To prevent this, try to balance the scales.” —Corinne Foxley (Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz)