We are all looking for that connection when we ride when the horse is in sync with us and things start to feel easy. How do we get there?

As a teacher, I have found that breaking it down into steps can be helpful to the rider to understand WHAT they need to do.

1st is straightness. This means teaching the horse to move the outside shoulder away from the outside leg and lift up the inside shoulder when we use the inside leg. Once the horse understands this it leads us to step 2: the horse naturally comes through the topline because he is more even in the shoulders.

These first 2 steps generally are the bulk of the work in the beginning, and it takes time to create this idea. The reason for this is that we are asking the horse to turn without leaning in or falling out. This is not the horses’ natural way of turning so it takes practice on everyone’s part!

This horse and rider understand how to move the outside shoulder (straighten) and are starting to think about lifting up when the rider uses the inside leg. It is important at this stage to not allow the neck to turn more than the body when you use the inside leg.

3rd step. Once the horse is straighter and we have a natural flow, we start to connect the horse from the inside leg to the outside rein. We have already established the ability to direct the shoulders from our aids. Now the goal is that when you push with the inside leg, the inside hind, and rib cage yield and come under. The outside rein directs the outside shoulder up and around the inside leg. This brings the outside hind leg more under and up instead of out and back. It is this connection that allows you to collect the horse with a round back and a soft contact.

This second video is a horse understands the connection, the rider is learning to find it. The steps are the same.

4th step, collection. We can start to add energy from behind. This comes in the form of asking the horse to come more under in the hind legs and moving the horse laterally. The reason we can add more energy is we can adjust the horse’s shoulders and it flows through the topline when we engage the hind legs.

This horse is more educated and understands the connection (inside leg to outside rein), and it is something to maintain and study in your everyday work. This day we were working on the left side staying under and the right side lifting up.

To the left, we are working shoulder in inside hind under, outside around, and up (forward). To the right, we are working on the same sequence but traveling in a different direction, which translates to outside over (left side), inside up (right). Tracking to the right is a more forward exercise because the right side is the inside. I am looking for the right side to lift more than it is, in both directions.

Thank you to all the participants in the videos! Lisa and Sport, Wendy and Sarrio and Donato, my Lusitano stallion.

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