#1 Secret to Riding in Balance and Confidence with Your Horse, Part III

In our previous videos, part I    • #1 Secret to Riding in Balance and Confide...   and part II,    • #1 Secret to Riding in Balance and Confide...  , I discussed and demonstrated the #1 secret to riding in balance and confidence – and it had nothing to do with the rider’s experience or skill sets either. We looked at what that looked like with Lovey and will dive in even deeper in this video today.

Being a good or even great rider begins with a good or even greater riding horse. No matter how big the movement is with our horse, having a horse that is smooth, relaxed, and regular will help most riders learn to ride well, feel confident and in balance.

Not to mention, riding a smooth riding horse allows the rider to focus on themselves, learning the many pieces of rider mechanics necessary to being a good or great rider.

Developing a horse’s movement should begin on the ground and with the lunge, preferably the free lunge. This allows the horse the level of freedom needed to relax, open their topline and round it and engage their hindquarters – the 3 most important areas to develop during lunging and training overall.

In part II I showed you what equipment I use, the size of my lunge circle and I began talking to you about how to train your eye to your horse’s biomechanics – the way they are moving so you can assess whether they are moving correctly or not.

Unlike the previous two videos we are going to begin today in the round pen. This is where I recommend beginning all lunging. Lunging should be free for the horse at first so they can develop self-regulation - control of speed and direction and control of their mind. This teaches the horse to find relaxation and mental discipline through focus – focusing on where they are traveling, how and your guides (aids).

Of course, learning how to free lunge takes time and training, just like training your eye and your horse’s movement. In this video I will show you the first phase of lunging which begins with training your eye and the second phase, developing the horse’s walk.

After I talk about what I want you to see, developing your eye, I will show you how to begin developing your horse.

Equipment and recommended area:
Long lunge whip
50’ diameter circle

Where to begin and how:
Begin at the free walk
Use your focus, energy, body and lunge whip as tools to guide your horse’s speed and direction
Get your speed and direction first, then;
Focus on what you see in your horse’s movement, then;
Guide and correct unbalanced movement

In the beginning, most horses will:
Not be able to walk straight
Will be crooked, drop a shoulder, lean in on the circle
Carry a high headset, higher than their withers
Be nervous and quick, rush at the walk, pick up the trot
Have a short stride vs long and stretched stride
Not be able to track up

This list represents most, about 95% of horses. Whether your horse is all of these or just a couple, they are showing you they are not balanced, and their movement needs improvement.

Please click here to learn more about how to develop your horse while you develop your riding skills https://www.taoofhorsemanship.com/mas...

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