Toward the end of last year I put forward some thoughts on the vertical seat or the ‘straight line ear, shoulder, hip and heel’ business. Here are a couple more that really get in my craw…..
(Keep in mind these are only applicable in English, other languages may have better ways of saying them.)
“Heels down” For decades instructors have been yelling at pupils this very simple phrase, but it causes more problems than I can even begin to go into here. Before half the riding world fall off their chairs in horror and campaign to have me burned at the stake, I will clarify. It would be FAR more helpful to riders if instructors took a moment to say;
“Heels should move UP and down”
I have spent half of my teaching career asking riders not to force their heels down. Some many riders have been brain washed into this action form childhood and pony club days and find it very hard to loose the habit. Inevitably they over do it and end up with the stirrup leather in front of the vertical which throws their balance off. Here is my take on it.
1. The rider mounts, sits in the saddle, then places each foot into a stirrup and rests the ball of the foot on the support. With a relaxed, supple leg dropping down from the hip, the heel will sink a little lower than the sole of the feet because there is no support under it.
2. The heel must be allowed to be soft and supple to act as one of the three important shock absorbers of the whole leg. The hip joint, the knee joint and the heel/ankle joint.
3. Watch any good rider with a soft, supple seat in sitting trot and you will notice the natural movement in the ankle softly up and down. When riding on the flat heels and ankles MOVE.
4. Forcing the heel lower than it’s natural position creates serious stiffness through the leg and into the hip and lower back. One American rider once told me she had always been drilled in lessons to ‘mash’ her heels as far as she could. Curiously her seat was about as supple as an anvil.
“Sit still..”
Frankly, what a load of tosh. There are riders all over the planet desperately trying to ‘sit still’ which is so ludicrous . So what is the reality?
A good rider creates the ILLUSION of stillness, they don’t sit still. Even at the halt, well if the horse is still breathing and let’s hope he is, there is a modicum of movement. A good rider has core strength, balance, suppleness and had developed a greater sense of feel in order to move sufficiently to compliment the horse’s action what ever it may be. (If the horse is doing something the rider doesn’t like or want no doubt the rider will NOT move in harmony at that point). If riders actually did ‘sit still’ they would be like a block of wood and fall off the saddle the moment the horse moved.
Trying to sit still is right up there with ‘heels down’ for manufacturing uncoordinated and stiff riders lacking feel. In all paces the rider’s entire body and particular joints move sufficiently to preserve balance and harmony. There may be vertical action rippling through the length of the rider or modest lateral movement depending upon what is going on below the saddle. Only enough movement through the rider to compliment the action of the horse. Nothing exaggerated or we then move into the area of the pelvic thrusters.
‘You must follow the movement, or contact….’
Ugh…. Please look in the dictionary if you are unsure; to follow anything is to be BEHIND. If you are trying to ‘follow’ the contact you will be constantly trying to catch up! If you are trying to ‘follow’ any of the horse’s movement you are already too late. It went without you. You missed that bus.
Riding is a present tense activity. It happens ‘now’, in the moment or whatever you want to call it. Riding is pretty much perpetual spontaneity. Good riders have learned how to react spontaneously to be ‘in the moment’. So how about this? You need to ACCOMPANY the movement. You need to be WITH the contact. If you are thinking of harmony anything else is pretty much pointless. Obviously again if you want to change something in the horse then you will change your action.
An international rider that springs to mind and showing a great example of all these qualities would be Christopher Bartle. Unfortunately Christopher is so old I couldn’t find any digital photos of him riding!
Ha
One of the current top riders, in the U.K. and a good example of these qualities is Gareth Hughes, photographed here. Last year he made his debut onto the British team, I think we will be seeing a lot more of him too. Shows great harmony and incredible feel riding some over achieving mares.
To summarise. If in future you are told to keep your heels down, sit still or/and follow the contact or the movement, ask for you money back.
Just saying like…
“Heels down” For decades instructors have been yelling at pupils this very simple phrase, but it causes more problems than I can even begin to go into here. Before half the riding world fall off their chairs in horror and campaign to have me burned at the stake, I will clarify. It would be FAR more helpful to riders if instructors took a moment to say;
“Heels should move UP and down”
I have spent half of my teaching career asking riders not to force their heels down. Some many riders have been brain washed into this action form childhood and pony club days and find it very hard to loose the habit. Inevitably they over do it and end up with the stirrup leather in front of the vertical which throws their balance off. Here is my take on it.
1. The rider mounts, sits in the saddle, then places each foot into a stirrup and rests the ball of the foot on the support. With a relaxed, supple leg dropping down from the hip, the heel will sink a little lower than the sole of the feet because there is no support under it.
2. The heel must be allowed to be soft and supple to act as one of the three important shock absorbers of the whole leg. The hip joint, the knee joint and the heel/ankle joint.
3. Watch any good rider with a soft, supple seat in sitting trot and you will notice the natural movement in the ankle softly up and down. When riding on the flat heels and ankles MOVE.
4. Forcing the heel lower than it’s natural position creates serious stiffness through the leg and into the hip and lower back. One American rider once told me she had always been drilled in lessons to ‘mash’ her heels as far as she could. Curiously her seat was about as supple as an anvil.
“Sit still..”
Frankly, what a load of tosh. There are riders all over the planet desperately trying to ‘sit still’ which is so ludicrous . So what is the reality?
A good rider creates the ILLUSION of stillness, they don’t sit still. Even at the halt, well if the horse is still breathing and let’s hope he is, there is a modicum of movement. A good rider has core strength, balance, suppleness and had developed a greater sense of feel in order to move sufficiently to compliment the horse’s action what ever it may be. (If the horse is doing something the rider doesn’t like or want no doubt the rider will NOT move in harmony at that point). If riders actually did ‘sit still’ they would be like a block of wood and fall off the saddle the moment the horse moved.
Trying to sit still is right up there with ‘heels down’ for manufacturing uncoordinated and stiff riders lacking feel. In all paces the rider’s entire body and particular joints move sufficiently to preserve balance and harmony. There may be vertical action rippling through the length of the rider or modest lateral movement depending upon what is going on below the saddle. Only enough movement through the rider to compliment the action of the horse. Nothing exaggerated or we then move into the area of the pelvic thrusters.
‘You must follow the movement, or contact….’
Ugh…. Please look in the dictionary if you are unsure; to follow anything is to be BEHIND. If you are trying to ‘follow’ the contact you will be constantly trying to catch up! If you are trying to ‘follow’ any of the horse’s movement you are already too late. It went without you. You missed that bus.
Riding is a present tense activity. It happens ‘now’, in the moment or whatever you want to call it. Riding is pretty much perpetual spontaneity. Good riders have learned how to react spontaneously to be ‘in the moment’. So how about this? You need to ACCOMPANY the movement. You need to be WITH the contact. If you are thinking of harmony anything else is pretty much pointless. Obviously again if you want to change something in the horse then you will change your action.
An international rider that springs to mind and showing a great example of all these qualities would be Christopher Bartle. Unfortunately Christopher is so old I couldn’t find any digital photos of him riding!
Ha
One of the current top riders, in the U.K. and a good example of these qualities is Gareth Hughes, photographed here. Last year he made his debut onto the British team, I think we will be seeing a lot more of him too. Shows great harmony and incredible feel riding some over achieving mares.
To summarise. If in future you are told to keep your heels down, sit still or/and follow the contact or the movement, ask for you money back.
Just saying like…
