I’ve always been proud of being a quiet rider with really quiet, soft hands. However, I just bought a horse who is bouncy and lazy. I find myself using so much lower body to keep him going that I am just letting my arms do whatever they want to do…loose, and now I it appears I am moving them way too much. On a smooth or forward horse, I sit still and pretty with good arms but on a bouncy horse who is also lazy, how can I keep my arms still? Any tricks for this particular situation. Again, smooth or forward horse, I have no issues. Thank you.
Mac Cone said to quiet your arms you need busier (stronger) legs. Once your horse is moving off your leg better (spurs? ), your arms should quiet. If you get busy with your arms, add leg.
You do not have independent hands and legs. You need to do lots of riding in the half seat/jumping position (real jumping position-- not just standing up in your stirrups) will help, because if you hold yourself up on the reins, the horse will come to a stop.
Ride at least 1/2 the time in the half seat, while asking the horse to collect, extend, change gait, circle, etc. You will quickly see that you are using your reins to hold your body in position.
Once you learn how to separate your aids, then one thing will not affect the other.
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Thats the C word-core strength. You haven’t needed it on your previous rides that carried you. Now you got one YOU have to carry. A lot of the bouncy is a result of not enough forward and too much up down. The horse needs correct flatwork with extensions, collection, halts and laterals to loosen him up and you need to hit the gym and do those many well known excercises to strengthen your core,especially abs. You need to work on correct alignment of your weight into your heel all the way down through your hamstrings and work in half to full to two point transitions in your seat.
Low moving, forward horses do tend to spoil us Equitation wise allowing us to float along above the tack needing only subtle aids.
If it makes you feel better, it’s easier for most to go from the “light” ride to the “heavier” one then it is to go from that heavier ride to a light one. Getting your riding stronger is easier then lighting up a horse used to subtleties. Not enough on the heavy ride they just plug along. Too much on the lighter ride,you get run off with and horse might try to get even on landing after you over ride to a jump.
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I agree with Find Eight! I was gonna say go forward and get a core. Lazy and Bouncy is, IMO, the HARDEST thing to sit still on because you can easily get sucked into working too hard and they are hardly working. The forward button has to be working first and then the core gets to act as the “shock absorber” instead of the arms. I used to end up in a gallop of one lap in the beginning of each ride on a lazy bouncy beast. This was usually the result of me asking nicely once, no reaction. Asking more firmly again, no reaction; and then me going to a quick and firm stick after I asked the third time. By firm I mean there was no way he wasn’t going to move forward and listen after that. Some horses can’t take that push so it depends, but usually the lazy ones can. He would protest, usually give a kick at the stick, then finally go somewhere and I would keep kicking him on for one lap. Then bring him back, walk, lots of pets and telling him he was a good boy, and then we would go to work. I also had to be doing stuff with him to keep him interested and forward. Transitions, shapes, counter canter, things like that, or I’d loose his interest and subsequent motor. Still the hardest horse to sit ever, but forward made a huge difference. I also think these are the horses that actually teach you how to be an effective rider and have a seat because you can’t fake it. You have to be correct and strong.
For the core part…Once you have a more forward horse think of your waist as like a shock absorber. It will move forward and back a little with the bounce, catching that impact, while the rest of you stays still. The thing is, this will take more strength then normal to look quiet enough for eq because you aren’t just collapsing, you are holding and bending with a bounce. If you think of your waist as supple and strong, not rigid or locked to stay still, it will help. When you watch some of the tall eq riders with long waists, you can see this in action a bit more clearly. They may look a little “noodley” through their waist only (it will look subtle most likely), but the rest of them is still. This take lots of work without your irons, and lots of sitting trot. Sometimes I find it helpful to work on sitting trot when I am working on the horse’s balance first and not so caught up in my own eq. I find I will naturally find this position more easily when working on thing like leg yields, shoulder in, haunches in and moves that have me focusing on the horse’s balance more then my own equitation. Then once you have the feel you can start incorporating it into your eq practice and really strengthening and getting endurance.
fwiw you might also want to check out George Morris concerning keeping elbows elastic which allows hands to stay quiet. He has very elastic elbows.
The deal is, on a smooth horse, I have very independent hands and legs…it’s just on a bouncy horse everything falls apart. It’s weird.
I think will be my best option…I will try this .this weekend. I watch videos of me on a smooth, forward horse and it’s nice to watch…then on this bouncy horse…ughhh. Thank you! I guess, to get back to my quiet riding, I have to make the horse that forward, smooth horse I look so good on… I will work on this thank you!!!
