04/14/2026
Does your horse respond to your cues with brace and resistance, like your horse became a brick wall? 🧱
Do you feel like you have to be a body builder to move your horse with more and more leg? 💪
Look at the focus on feel and timing by this girl! 💕 She was having trouble getting her horse to flow with her into the turns during their last ride.
I said, "Let's see what your horse's reaction is to moving her hindquarters around with your hand and the stirrup on the ground."
The reaction was brace, brace, brace and little movement- the same reaction as she did to her leg and heel cue while riding.😕
So we broke things down, like pieces of a puzzle. 🧩
This young rider got the right feel of having a plan (which precise foot she wants to move where), intention, pressure of touch that starts as an invitation, and the perfect timing to release the pressure to reward the horse's effort. She got this with her hands on the ground.
Then I asked her, "Can you put that same feel, focus, and timing that you have with your hand into your leg and heel while riding?"
Her eyes got wide with a "aha" moment of realization, and rode the same pattern she taught her horse on the ground...and they nailed it! 🎯
The whole ride improved. ✨
Small steps with great feel creates riding with fluidity! Riding is more fun when your horse feels like your dance partner. 🕺
Awesome work!
