It makes me sad to see how rare it has become to teach a beginner rider or one that needs to overcome bad habits using the longe line. This is a method that can be used in all disciplines of riding. The purpose of teaching with longe line is so the rider can develop correct position in the saddle without having to control the horse or get in the way of correct use of his physique for the demand of the movements. Depending on the rider’s position or tenseness, different exercises are used to establish correct position and develop feel for the horses movement. Keeping our spinal alignment in coordination with our horses, allows them to use proper rotation for turns, lateral bending and longitudinal flexion. For instance, a rider who’s weight is being thrown to the outside, interrupts the correct muscle energy needed for the proper rotation of the spine. When an instructor is able to teach the student correct balance as a foundation, this in turn helps the rider to learn what a balanced horse feels like.
Horses are very sensitive but because of their amazing defense mechanisms, they are able to turn off pain or circumstances that interfere with their comfort. Allowing riders to learn without developing the proper seat, coordination, and balance, it becomes unfair to both horse and rider. It takes knowledge to prepare these horses for correct movement with the weight of a rider, no matter how large or small, it can be harmony or interference.
Horsemanship is a skill as well as an art. Both skill and art become faded when less and less riders are taught the coordination and preparation to correctly maneuver the horses body.
____A horse is a thing of such beauty……none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor.
-Zenophon, on horsemanship
Comments