Garland Farms Dressage

The Seat, The Seat, The Seat Part Three

By Gina G Krueger

There are 3 major priorities in Dressage, they are: The Seat, The Seat & The Seat!

Over the past 3 months we have been discussing the three paradoxes of the seat. They are 1) “You must Stand to Sit”, 2) “You must Walk to Ride”, 3) “You must Move to be Still”. Last month we looked more in depth at the goals of the first paradox, “You must Stand to Sit”, and I presented to you some exercises to help you become aware of and improve the balance of your seat. Now lets look at some specific exercises to promote your ability to employ the second paradox, “You must Walk to Ride”.

This paradox refers to the riders’ ability to allow his body not only to move in unison with the horse but to be able to entice his horse to mirror his image. If you have done your homework with the exercises to improve your longitudinal and lateral balance from the last article you are sitting on your horse in a position that allows you freedom of movement because you are centered. From this centered position it should be relatively easy for you to begin to feel the horses’ motion and how your position either enhances or encumbers it.

In order to understand the relationship between your horses’ and your bodies’ movement in each of the three gaits to you first must have an idea of how the horse moves. The horse is a quadruped and thus his belly swings when travels. An example is easy to find if you will watch any cat or dog move you will see that the belly of the animal swings right to left as they proceed. At the walk the horses’ movement that is reflected in your seat is the same as if you were walking on the ground. Each hip is lifted and dropped as the horse steps on that respective hind leg. At the same moment that the hip is lifted the rib cage on that side of the horse is propelled outward and the leg of the rider must to accommodate this swing. Simultaneously the hip on the other side is being dropped in the swing phase of the opposite hind leg. Then of course in the next moment each hip is receiving the opposite action and so the pattern continues just as if you were walking on the ground. In the trot the movement in the riders hips is the same as if he were jogging. In the canter the motion in the riders’ hips is exactly the same as if the he were cantering on his own two feet.

This same process continues in everything you do on the horse whether it be riding a circle, doing leg yield or side pass, shoulder in, whatever. Your body must move in a like manner to entice the horse to do the same. The subtle aids of weight and intent come to life when we are able to move with the horse in this unity.

The first exercise is done without the horse. I remember as a kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago riding to school on my imaginary horse. That is just what we are going to do now. Simply think of what it feels like specifically in your hips and what motion is created in your seat bones as you walk across the room. Notice that when you step on one leg the hip and seat bone are raised and when the leg is unweighted the seat bone and hip are dropped. Now jog, or shall I say trot, and again think of what you are feeling in your hips and pelvis. Now go to the canter. Notice the position of your pelvis. If you are cantering on the right lead the right side of your pelvis and as well your right shoulder lead the way. The left leg and hip support you as you take the next jump into the canter with your right leg and hip. This of course is true in the horse as well as we know that the canter begins with the first footfall being the outside hind leg followed by the diagonal pair and the third beat being the leading foreleg. Outside to inside! Now change leads and feel the difference. Just as a side note make an effort to decipher which is easier for you in your body, right lead canter or left? The motion of the canter is from the outside towards the inside in the saddle just as it is for you now on the ground. The thought that playing pretend horse could actually help your riding perhaps sounds a bit off the wall, but try it. What can it hurt????? You’ll be surprised especially those of you that have problems sitting the trot and/or canter! One more note while we are playing horse. Take a brief sprint across the room in your best posture and come to a halt. As you halt notice the upward stretch of your upper torso and the position of your center. This feeling is the same one you should have in your body as you apply the half halt.

The next exercise we are going to focus on is called the Bicycle. This exercise pinpoints the movement or lack of it in your hip joint. The joint between the femur and the pelvis is responsible not only as the primary receiver of the motion of the horse but also for direct communication back to the horse. If this joint is not supple and elastic it can neither absorb the motion nor direct the shape and/or tempo of the horse. The bicycle exercise will help you to increase the mobility of this joint as well as understand how to use it more effectively to influence your horse.

Begin at the halt to get the feel of how to move your body. Take your legs enough away from the sides of the horse to allow you freedom of movement. Then simply pedal as if you were riding a bike. Remember that the movement is a circle, up, forward, down and back. The radius of your pedaling motion should be about 18 inches. Try to keep your body in as upright position, as much like you are riding, as possible. Now pedal backwards, same size movement. Once you are comfortable with the mechanics of the movement try it at the walk. Be aware of the horses’ rhythm and try to pedal at the same moment as the horse is moving his hind leg. So when he steps on his hind leg on the right your right leg should be in the down position of the pedaling motion. When his leg is in the air your leg should be in the up position and so forth. Notice how it affects your horse if you are not in sink with his movement.

This exercise is a wonderful tool for working on the sitting trot. This is most easily done if you have a friend or instructor that can put you on the lunge line. If not you can do it on your own as well. The rules are the same, pedal in the same rhythm/motion that the horse is making with his hind legs. Now reduce the radius of pedaling motion and see if you can maintain the movement in your hips while your legs are making a very small pedaling motion. The next step is to stop the pedaling motion altogether with the legs but remain fluid in the joint. The final step is to put your thigh and upper calf back on the horses’ side in a normal riding seat and be able to continue the motion in the hip joint. If you loose the swing in the hip just simple think again about how it feels to pedal to get the rhythm back in your hips. If it still isn’t moving go back to the pedaling motion reestablish the unity with your horse and then try to quiet it again.

Next month we will move onto the final paradox of the seat, “You must Move to be Still” and discover some exercises to help you improve this aspect of you seat. Until then………Happy Riding!!

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