Keep your horse active underneath you
We often neglect the activity of our horses when transitioning to slower paces. Yet this is just where you can find an overall solution for many problems.
Health: if you imagine slowing down in order to collect the energy powering underneath you, you’ll have the core of your horse activated. He will carry himself from his centre, and less likely to injure himself, as there will be less weight on the limbs and more connection through his back.
Lightness: from this powerfull self-carriage, he’ll be able to transition (depending on the exercise you’re in), to a halt, light and alert, as well as relaxed (being in his centre!), or go forwards from his core, his back, and the hindlegs first.
Strength: when being in gear 1 or 2, still active, your horse won’t collapse his legs down the ground. He will carry himself in a secure, strong and decisive way underneath you, without the need of pushing or “encouraging” at each stride. Ready to go forwards again any time, not the head first, but the core and heart first!
Availability: this is where we come to include availability of the horse under your aids. Your actions can be light, accurate and present only when needed. This means clearer communication with your horse, better coordination of both, less misunderstandings or mistakes. That means it is as well energy saving for both.
The feeling overall is about lightness, power, real bond with your horse, true listening to each other, physical connection. Happiness!
How to achieve that? Repeating transitions inside paces from small strides to slightly bigger, and down to smaller again, remaining in the same active attitude (this is the key). From there, play around with a wider range of transitions.
