10/28/2025
The timeless lesson? What we feel in our hands so often begins behind the saddle. I was incredibly fortunate to learn under 𝗚𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘆𝘀 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘆, who trained with 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗡𝘂𝗻𝗼 𝗢𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗶𝗿𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗸 - a tradition that shaped my understanding of true connection and self-carriage from the very beginning.
Nuno Oliveira said, “𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩.”
Decades later, 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 explained the same principle in his own way, using a brilliant analogy between engagement and athletic discomfort. Both of these wise horsemen’s words still make me pause and think - not only when I feel too much in my hand, but especially when I see a pupil learning to lighten theirs.
It’s a reminder that what we feel in our hands so often begins behind the saddle - not only in the clarity of the rider’s seat and legs, but also in the strength, balance, and weight-lifting ability of the horse’s hindquarters.
So next time you feel your horse leaning on your hand, or you’re tempted to tighten or fight the contact - pause. 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳: 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙄 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙨?
With respect and gratitude to 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘌𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 (𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘮) for articulating this so clearly. His full post follows - it’s well worth the read.
"My horse leans on my hands" and other similar comments----A discussion.
Let's say we jog in place---we humans. Now let's say we squat down while jogging in place.
Try it, it hurts more. Now squat lower, jog higher----It hurts still more, we pant more, we struggle more. We are feeling the effects of athletically induced discomfort.
Now imagine that you are sitting on a horse being ridden (correctly) back to front. You drive with seat or legs, create some impulsion, and simultaneously you "contain-receive-balance" that impulsion with your quiet, negotiating hands, so that the horse is being asked to take a "deeper" step, come more under himself, and lift himself more rather than simply push himself along, as he'd do naturally.
We call this things like "asking for more engagement", "asking him to carry himself".
Even though what we are doing may be careful asking rather than forceful demanding, it STILL hurts the horse. No, it doesn't INJURE the horse, but it causes him athletically induced discomfort, because when you ask him to engage his hocks, and start to lift and carry his own weight, it's the same as what you felt jogging in place while squatting, lots of physical exertion.
Now the horse, feeling the effects of being asked to be a weight lifter, (and having zero incentive to become a well trained dressage horse---hahahaha, you anthropomorphic dreamer!) the horse tries to avoid the engagement.
He can invert. He can roll under. He can lean on the bit. He can flip his head. ALL these front end/head evasions are---listen here---to get rid of the "correct" connection between the driving aids and the receiving aids, because that connection makes him weight lift, and he'd far rather not.
In other words, we FEEL the resistance up FRONT, in the bit, reins, hands, but the resistance we feel up front is because he doesn't like the pressure of engagement BEHIND. (It took me about 212 years to figure this out, by the way)
So now we MAY think, as many of us do---"My horse is "resisting" in his mouth/jaw. I need to use stronger rein aids. I need a sharper bit. I need draw reins. I need one of those leverage rigs."
(This process can turn, easily, into ugly adversarial fighting, rider demanding, scared, uncomfortable horse resisting)
NO---What we need is to think very long term about strength training.
We ask him to step under (engage), negotiate for some moments of semi-lift, back off, let him recover, ask for a little more, back off, repeat, repeat for months, tiny increments, little by little, "building the horse like an onion", one tiny layer at a time.
WEIGHT LIFTING IS SLOW. WEIGHT LIFTING DOESN'T FEEL GOOD. Yes, it will eventually turn your horse into a better athlete, but your horse doesn't know that. He isn't "being bad" when he resists, he's trying to get away from athletically induced discomfort. So----GO SLOW, HAVE COMPASSION for what he is undergoing.
End of long discussion. I was no big saint about horse training. It took me too many years to equate much of this. Don't make the mistakes I made, and that so many riders make. Be better than that.
Denny Emerson, Tamarack Hill Farm
(𝘗𝘚 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴: 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥.)
