101 Ways to Improve Your Riding:
Seat Posture & Balance

10 Best Tips to Improve the
Rider's Head

7.     KINESTHETIC TRAINING:  Improving Feel

 Learning to 'feel'

Every athlete in the world seeks to improve their 'feel'.  But, it's hard to do unless you have some specific measurements.

We all see little kids tipping forward, and although they're asked to 'sit up straight' they genuinely think they are not leaning forward.

You might have had that experience yourself when you see yourself for the first time on a video and realize you ARE kicking your horse at every stride, or looking down, or your heels are up, but you just didn't feel it.

 On the forehand

The step to higher level work is to make sure the horse is carrying the rider's weight on their two BACK feet, and not on the forehand & shoulders.

Q. When you look down...can you FEEL the horse's two front feet get heavier?   When you look up can you FEEL the horse's two BACK feet get heavier?

 Falling in, cutting corners

Q. When you look down to the inside front leg can you feel how that one front foot gets heavier than the other legs?  Can you feel how your circle gets smaller?

Q. When you approach a corner and look sharply and early around a corner...can you FEEL how the horse cuts the corner.   When you look straight ahead, and only look around the corner at the last minute...can you FEEL how the horse goes deeper in the corner?

 FEEL the shoulders

It is very important that the horse's shoulders don't have to bear the weight of the unbalanced rider above.   When the shoulders are carrying your weight, the horse shortens the stride.

Q. When you ride down a long side and look down: if you count the number of strides...does the horse do more or less strides when you look up again?

 A few quick tips to improve FEEL:

Look up...FEEL how you are pulled back on your 'butt crack' - an essential element of getting the horse off the forehand.

FEEL how just the slightest look to the inside of the circle makes your inside stirrup carry more weight.

FEEL when you look down how your hands change.

FEEL when you hold one earring closer to the ground than the other that the horse goes crooked.

More tips to come...click NEXT:

Copyright © 2005
[Colleen Kelly. Improve Your Riding ABN 76799531257].

Warning: 
Kinesthetic 'feeling' is often very inaccurate. 

How often do we see people with their heels up, or leaning forward (even though the coach tells them).  They just cannot REALLY believe it until they see themselves visually in the mirror or on video!