Conquering the Contact
Written by Alison Short
In November of last year I attended the THB British Equestrian National Convention at Addington Manor, this was being taken by Dutch Olympic Medallist Anky Van Grunsven and her husband and trainer Sjef.
It was an inspiring day with horses ranging from Novice to Grand Prix with the same grain running continually throughout all levels, that of simplicity and effect.
Understanding the combined mechanics of horse and rider and how a subtle change can make a positive or negative impact on the horse's way of going.
Keep this in the forefront of your mind when riding to aid clarity between you and your horse, enabling clear and confident progression.
In a previous article “Straight to the Next Level” which can be found at www.pegasus-magazine.com I wrote about understanding straightness into balanced lateral flexion, left to right.
Asking your horse for correct bend whilst riding a circle or turn can often result in the rider giving mixed messages and the horse starting to fall in, leaving the rider struggling to ride the correct line and often distorting the bend by pulling the outside rein to guide him.
It is important to determine where this weakness begins and self diagnosis or a watchful friend will help you to progress.
Ask your friend to stand on the long side and watch from behind as you trot around the school, it will soon become apparent that you keep the horse on the track more effectively on one rein than another.
On your less effective rein you will hold the horse to the track with the outside contact, thus pulling the outside rein to keep the horse on the track and the inside leg being ineffective.
There could be several reasons for this, either your horse is stiffer and less willing to use his inside hind on that rein, you are less effective with this aid or a combination of both which will take more time to correct, needing to build upon both of your weaknesses.
The first element
Try and observe if there is any distortion in your position from the waist down.
Does your inside leg raise in an effort to keep your horse out? Are your hips parallel to the horse directly in front of you?
Try keeping weight down from your hip to your knee, with the lower leg sitting relaxed beneath your seat, soles level to the ground. Be sure to clearly place the leg on for a response by closing the inner part of your calf followed by the ankle, removing the aid after the request, if there is little or no response tap the horse with the schooling whip subtly behind your leg.
“Remember that ultimately you are training your horse to a response you find acceptable”
If you continue to squeeze harder to achieve a reaction instead of removing the leg and then tapping, you are only training your horse to move when you are squeezing until you are blue in the face, set your standard and stick to it.
“Ride like a princess…… who wants to kick?”
Ride walk-halt-walk on a 20 metre circle making your horse react greater to the inside leg in the move off, maintaining a subtle bend.
The second element
Our focus now is the outside contact, this contact is travelling through the riders hand but ultimately its origin is the outside shoulder being supported by the riders core stability through the trunk of the body.
It can be a constant challenge to maintain this contact when thinking of it in the hand, because if the outside shoulder where to rotate across the angle of the horse's neck towards the inside, the rein is then released.
This often results in the rider shortening the rein in order to maintain a connection, if the shoulder where to be in the correct position the contact would not have been lost.
Try to visualize a line drawn down the centre of your upper body to your waist, keeping the left and right of you very separate. Now place you and your horse on a left 20 meter circle and again proceed with your transitions, the bend that you create can be followed with your inside shoulder but the outside shoulder is to remain straight, feeling a margin of resistance in the outside of your body to follow the bend.
“Only place enough bend through your horse to ride the next 3 meters”
Now that your shoulders are separate remove the tension that previously connected them, including the base of your neck.
Your horse will now be responding to the inside leg with greater understanding and your upper body has more ambidextrous ability, the fluency will only be blocked by tension, after all…..falling in is now a thing of the past!
Top Tips
• Develop a better reaction to the inside leg.
• Only visually ride the next 3 meters ahead.
• Divide the upper body left and right.
• Resist the bend through the outside
shoulder while the inside follows the bend.
• Remove any tension travelling through
your shoulders.
Alison Short is a Freelance Trainer and a listed British Dressage Judge, please email alisonshort@btopenworld.com or call 07719900275 for any questions or bookings.
