06/13/2025
YES! šš»šÆ
Your Body Has to Ride FirstāBefore the Horse Moves
Not long ago in one of my videos, I made a passing comment:
āToo many riders donāt start riding until after the horse is already moving.ā
The comment was in passing, and I didn't elaborate at that time, but a longtime follower reached out and said that simple idea completely changed the way she rides. She started focusing on initiating movement with her bodyābefore any cueāand her horse started responding better, softer, and more willingly.
So let me explain what I meantāand why this is such an important piece of horsemanship.
Too often, riders rely on external cuesāclucks, kicks, reinsāto signal movement. But a connected ride doesnāt start with a signal. It starts with a shift. A shift in your seat, your energy, your core. The way you carry your body should tell the horse whatās coming before you ever give a cue.
When you move with intention, the horse picks up on that. You stop pushing or pulling them into a transition, and they start flowing into it with you. Youāre no longer just a passengerāyou're now a partner in motion.
And hereās where it gets even better:
When you ride transitions with your whole bodyāespecially your seatāyou naturally encourage your horse to engage their own.
Thatās the doorway to better self-carriage, balance, and collection. When you prepare your body for a transitionāwhether itās a walk, a stop, or a rollbackāyour horse learns to prepare theirs. They start stepping up from behind, rounding their back, lifting their shoulder, and carrying themselves with better form. Thatās not something you can force with reins and legs. That has to come from a horse thatās tuned into you and trusting your feel.
Now, Iāve talked before about the three phases of rider development.
In the first phase, everything feels mechanical. Youāre learning where your hands and legs go, like driving a truck with no power steering.
In the second phase, you start to develop feel. You begin noticing how your horse reacts, and your timing starts to improve.
**But in the third phaseā**and this is what we all strive forāriding becomes instinctual. Youāre no longer thinking about the steps. Youāre feeling your way through them. Your body and your horse are speaking the same language.
And this conceptāinitiating movement with your seatāis a huge piece of getting to that third phase.
Because the third phase doesnāt come from practicing cuesāit comes from practicing connection. When you ride with your whole body and start feeling those moments before they happen, your horse starts feeling them too. Thatās when transitions become seamless. Thatās when your horse is right there with you, waiting for the next breath, the next shift, the next subtle change in rhythm.
So next time you go to ask for movement, take a breath and ask yourself:
Am I riding yet? Or am I just sitting still, waiting for the horse to start the ride?
Let the movement start in you.
Let the seat, the core, the posture, the energyālead the way.
Ride first. Cue second.
Thatās how you build softness, balance, engagementāand eventually, instinctual horsemanship.
