Is your horse tense and nervous? Is their head is in the air and you just don’t know what to do? You can’t get them to slow down or pay attention to you. Then you get tense and nervous too because your horse is tense…this is no fun!
If you are feeling this way in your riding, you’re in luck! This week’s video is all about getting your horse relaxed and supple. In Dressage, suppleness refers to the physical and mental relaxation of your horse. So if you have a tense or nervous horse, working on suppleness will help you a lot!
Speaking of suppleness, which is the second level of the Training Scale, I’m doing a Free Webinar all about the Training Scale this Sunday, June 23rd, at 12 noon PT. I’d love to have you join us! We will be learning all about how to use the Training Scale to plan your rides, overcome training obstacles, improve your competition scores, and more! The Training Scale is such a valuable tool, and once you know how to use it, it’s only onward and upward from there! Learn more about the webinar here.
Okay, now back to the tips! Here are three things to focus on to help you get your horse relaxed and supple:
· Rider Position and Breathing – When our horses get tense and nervous, many riders lean forward and pull. It’s common for us humans to go to fetal position when we feel insecure, but in reality, leaning forward and pulling only makes your horse more nervous, AND it puts you in a vulnerable position if your horse were to spook, buck, or do something silly. When you feel your horse get tense, focus on your alignment and maintaining a straight line ear, shoulder, hip, and heel. Focus on breathing into your belly to help you sit deeper in your seat. This will help you and your horse feel more secure and relaxed.
· Steady Tempo – The next time you ride, pay attention to the tempo of your horse’s gait. It’s super common for horses to speed up if they’re drawn to something (like the barn) in one direction, and then slow down going away from that object. Inconsistent rhythm and tempo makes it really hard for you to balance, leading to your horse feeling tense. Try counting the next time you ride, even play some music, and pay attention to the rhythm and tempo of each gait. Rhythm and tempo are the first level of the Training Scale, and focusing here will really help you get your horse more relaxed and connected to you.
· Bend/Lateral Suppleness – If your horse is tense and nervous, they probably are very stiff and have their mind on other things. Working on getting your horse bending left and right (lateral suppleness) will help to refocus their attention (mental suppleness) and also relax their bodies (physical suppleness). Ride circles and patterns with bending lines like serpentines, figure eights, the Snowman, etc. You can tell when your horse is bending when you can see their inside eyelash and space between your inside rein and your horse’s neck.
I hope these tips help you and your horse! I know that when you focus on getting your horse more supple, they will relax. If you need more help getting your horse supple and relaxed, RSVP for my Free Training Scale Webinar. I will be going over the Training Scale step-by-step and giving examples of how you can use each level of the Training Scale to structure your rides.
Happy Riding!
Amelia
