Teach The Basics – Posture – Part 6

Who would have thought that a series of posts on Basics would bring us to a discussion about how to improve your posture? But here we are, ready to place a stack of books on our heads and walk around the parlor.

Maybe we won’t go that far but admit it, we have become a nation of slouchers. In my last post I talked about posture awareness, evaluation and conviction. This post will deal with correction. … Continue Reading

Popularity: 16% [?]

Teach the Basics – Seat- Part 4

By Barbara Ellin Fox

LONGING or LUNGING

Longing is often over looked in riding instruction programs.  Good lunging horses take time to train and until recently the art of longing riders was not normally taught to American instructors.  With USDF instructor prep classes, the teaching of longing the rider has been given more attention. … Continue Reading

Popularity: 80% [?]

Teach the Basics – Heels- part 4

Working to Condition Heels
Letting the weight sink into the heels is as much a mental exercise as it is physical. Riders need to picture the flow of weight from the head down to the heels.  They need to think about the feeling of becoming heavy in the lower extremities.  Adults, especially, carry a lot of tension between the shoulder blades.  … Continue Reading

Popularity: 99% [?]

Teach the Basics – Heels- part 3

No Force
Heels don’t need to be forced down.  They just need to be lower than the toes in order to help  the weight to stay down . Forcing the heel down will create stiffness in the leg instead allowing the ankles supple (loose) and springy. … Continue Reading

Popularity: 81% [?]

Teach the Basics – Heels – part 2

Where do Good Heels Come From? Or Where do they NOT come from?

Sitting Correctly:
It’s impossible to have great heels without sitting correctly on the horse.  By sitting correctly I mean in a balanced position, in the optimum spot over your own feet.  You can tell if a rider is sitting over their feet because at the walk and halt there will be  a straight line from the ear through the shoulder through the hip through the heel. At the trot the rider’s ear and shoulder may be slightly in front of the line, depending on the seat they are riding.

… Continue Reading

Popularity: 68% [?]