The goal of every rider is the same as every horse -- Better Balance.

The great equalizer between all styles of riding is the quality of the ride itself.  Regardless of which discipline you take on -- dressage, reining, cutting, jumping, polo, cross country, trail, or pleasure -- all riders have one common issue that plagues them.  They all constantly strive to improve their riding.  Riding in harmony with our horses, staying balanced and fluid.  This is the one common goal of every rider.

Ask any horseman what makes a great ride and they will tell you things like, “I felt so close to my horse,” “It was if we were one,” and “We couldn’t make any mistakes.”  Shortly after those comments, you will often hear, “I wish he was always like that,” or “If we could only do that every time…”

Imagine what your horse might say to the other horses in the barn that night.  It would probably be something like, “Finally my rider got in tune with me, and we cleaned up.”  Or “Now that we’re riding in balance it’s so easy to go over the jumps.”  And, of course, “Why can’t my rider ride like that every time?”

I think the goal of every rider is the same as the goal of every horse: to have a ride in which both are in perfect balance.  Too often I believe we try to blame most of the imbalances on the horse.  Novice riders have not had the time to develop their own balance and often hang onto the horse in one way or another to improve balance, often without realizing it.  Intermediate riders have enough balance but still need refinement and can mistake their own balance faults on the horse.  Expert riders often blame the horse’s lack of forward movement or imbalanced confirmation as contributing to the lack of harmony and balance.  In each case it is often the human who needs more balancing than the horse.

We as humans try to seek harmony and comfort in almost everything we do.  We conform our bodies to the seats in a car to maintain a comfortable body position.  We conform to the position of the keys on our computer keyboards.  Yet with our horses we almost always try to change the horse to conform to us, instead of conforming ourselves to them.  Certainly we assume a riding position, but few riders try to ride in simple balance, without changing the frame of the horse. 

Almost all riders use a saddle, which is one of the first changes to his movement that the horse must experience.  Not that riding in a saddle is bad.  But relying on a saddle, or reins, to keep your balance interferes with your horse’s balance, which in turn causes him to try to rebalance you and sometimes give a difficult ride.   Imagine what it would feel like to wear a backpack that moved around and was not balanced while you tried to run in a circle.

Perhaps when we have balance issues we should re-examine our riding practices first and seek to improve those.  Instead of finding a saddle that helps us retain our balance, perhaps we should work on our balance first.  One great way to do this is to ride with a bareback pad.  I can hear some of you saying, “Are you nuts?  I have enough trouble in the saddle!”  Or “My horse is too busy and high-strung.”  To both of these arguments I will simply say: balance is still the issue.  The better your balance, the easier it is to ride, and the easier it is to sit a high-strung horse. 

So how do you improve your balance with a bareback pad?  You start out with a calm horse that you are comfortable riding.  Always start at the walk.  If you’re concerned about the horse, then have someone lead you while you ride.  Once you’ve gotten on your horse, the object is to do the least that you can with your aids and still have your horse move forward.  You don’t even need to steer (this doesn’t mean ride your horse without a bridle), just let your horse walk around the arena and feel what his movement does to your body. 

Don’t over analyze this.  Just let your horse walk and relax your body.  Instead of trying to figure out how your body moves the horse, figure out how your horse moves YOUR body.  If your horse is walking calmly and you are allowing your body to relax and follow the movement, then try taking a deep breath, hold it tight, and sit stiffly.  Your horse will probably stop walking or, at a minimum, slow its pace.  Interesting, huh?  Your horse stops because you quit riding, not because you pulled on the reins. 

Relax your body and move forward again.  Feel your hips move, feel your legs move, feel your back and shoulders move, feel what happens to your ankles, to your neck, to your head.  Relax and feel.  Don’t think.  And don’t worry about your equitation.  Just remind yourself to follow the movement of the horse.  Hold onto his mane or the strap on the bareback pad if you’re unsure or unsteady.  Do not balance on the reins. 

Practice this exercise for twenty to thirty minutes.  Why so long?  Because anything less than that and you will not truly relax.  What happens after about ten to fifteen minutes is that you get comfortable and your body gets tired of trying to hold itself in an artificial position and then it relaxes.  Then the movement truly comes through to you.  Now you begin to ride in balance and relaxation.  Practice this balancing exercise until you feel the relaxation and balance right from the beginning of your ride.  Then progress to the trot.