(“Horses generally learn what we want them to do by guessing.”)
I cheated this time—not from laziness but because I liked this concept (which I’ve written about in the past) so much that I wanted to share it. The author, whom you can find through the link below, currently resides in South Yorkshire in the U.K. Thanks to Gail Redinger, my longtime friend, colleague, and student, from Sandpoint, Idaho, for passing it along to me. Here you go:
“Rider’s responsibility during the training of the horse”
Hundreds of books have been written on the subject. But one area which I think to some degree is neglected is the rider’s/trainer’s ability and responsibility to sit or ride in ‘neutral’ when required. Eh? Not an expression you are familiar with? Maybe it is but not said in that way.
My own definition of riding/sitting in neutral is; that the rider can sit in a manner where he totally accompanies and complements the horses actions/movement, in such a way that the horse may actually momentarily forget he is carrying a rider. In other words the rider can ‘shut up’ and fade to the background when the moment requires. Why is this so important? I’ll explain in note form for the main points.
• c Even as babies or doing simple work in hand or on lunge. Example you ask the horse to move forward on the lunge, he doesn’t so you raise the whip. He still doesn’t so you may tap him. He may spin around, kick out (all reactions and guesses) so you repeat. When he does step forward you then lower your whip or stop tapping. In other words you ‘shut up’ or, go into neutral. Horses usually quickly figure out how to get you to stop raising the whip and get YOU to go to neutral.
• By and large horses like a quiet life, so when you ride or train most are anxious to get YOU into neutral. The rider’s mind has to virtually be in overdrive when schooling because it is just as bad to go into neutral at the wrong time as it is NOT to go into it at the right time. (Maybe read that part again if this is new to you.)
• Keep this next part firmly at the front of your mind when schooling or even hacking out; “Horses do not learn from the correction or the signal/aid. They learn what you want when you “shut up.”
• However, do not go to total extremes and completely collapse and drop reins, contact and seat and leg contact. Whenever it is what you want just think of ‘maintaining’ the contact you like, the feel through your legs and seat and the calmness of mind. Maintain do NOT abandon.
• There probably is nothing more offensive than a rider who constantly nags, pumps and grinds. I have yet to see or meet a horse that demonstrated that they enjoy this. A willingness to work and genuine self carriage will only come from a rider who is ‘greedy to be in neutral’.
• So what are the rider requirements for neutral? Here are a few.
1. Genuine balance. A rider who does not require the reins or tight, gripping legs to stay in the saddle.
2. To be able to do this in all paces, walk, trot, canter, transitions and lateral work. (Can YOU walk, trot and canter calmly on totally loose reins?)
3. Confidence. A rider who is nervous or tense, one who has to have any tightness or gripping cannot successfully train to produce a confident horse.
4. You don’t have to look and sit like some chap from the Spanish Riding School. We are all different shapes and sizes, so consequently we will all sit and look slightly different to each other when we ride. Guess what? Horses don’t actually care about how we look, they care about your balance, confidence and your neutral.
5. So whether you are working to improve your piaffe, or simply get an even tempo and rhythm in the trot… SHUT UP WHEN IT’S RIGHT!