carriage
Conditioning and Training the Whip: Body Awareness and Carriage Driving
Part One: Posture
by Michelle Blackler
Body awareness is essential in top level riding. Cues are subtle: a shift in weight from one seat bone to another, the release of breath, the turn of the rider’s head- imperceptible to any but horse and rider. Driving should be no different. After all, we compete in driven dressage, have our own version of three day eventing, and desire soft, round, forward moving horses. If your hands feel like a brick wall at the end of the reins, your horse will have a different interpretation than yours of just how much weight he is pulling.
So how and where do we start suppling and conditioning our selves? Thankfully, it does not involve expensive gym memberships and exhaustive yoga techniques, but, of course, those help. We can do it simply by addressing body awareness and the beneficial byproducts that accompany it.
Sally Swift, in her excellent series of books, Centered Riding, gives us many tips for improving body awareness. Peggy Brown applies these principles to driving. “When you watch others drive, it is obvious that poor posture is inelegant and unattractive, but lack of posture and balance has other ramifications. Notice the Whip who uses his reins to help maintain his own position in the seat during transitions, turns, or bumps. Watch the Whip who leans sideways on the turns; as if leaning is going to get that horse and vehicle around that turn.” She also notes, “Tension travels like electricity right through the reins to the bit.”
Awareness and Movement
Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904-1984), a Russian born physicist, judo expert, mechanical engineer and educator provides valuable tools for improving body awareness and overall physical and mental health through his techniques of Awareness Through Movement. The most important of those techniques involves an association with posture and poise: mental and physical tranquility. Poor or faulty posture involves muscular tension combined with emotional intensity that is often a result of stress. Habitual tension, coupled with the associated emotional reaction, accumulates over the years and manifests in a variety of discomforts: back pain, stiffness, headaches, etc.
Learning new attitudes and mindfulness about how we carry ourselves is the first step to improving posture and alleviating a multitude of malaises. The most powerful aspect of Feldenkrais’ methods often manifests a shift in our overall perception of ourselves, which can lead to life altering behavioral changes. Here, we will concern ourselves solely with the beneficial changes that can occur in driving and horsemanship.
Exercises In Awareness
Try this exercise, inspired by Feldenkrais. Sit in a chair, with both feet on the floor, do not rest your back on the chair. Think about how your body feels. Is there any tension in your neck? Your shoulders? Your back? Is the weight distributed evenly over your seat bones? Is your pelvis tipped forward or backward? Breathe deeply through your nose. Does your chest feel heavy? Think about how your body feels as you breathe deeply. Now, as you inhale, lift and expand your ribcage. Keep your ribcage from collapsing onto your diaphragm as you exhale. How does your chest feel? Lighter? What happened to your shoulders as you raised your ribcage? Has your posture improved?
I use this exercise both mounted and in the carriage for my riding and driving clients. Their performance increases dramatically and at the end of their lesson they are always vibrant and energized. The very act of raising the ribcage allows for proper alignment and correct breathing. The body simply doesn’t need to work as hard to do its job. Correcting posture alleviates muscle tension required to adopt the incorrect position. In addition to which, by sitting tall, self confidence is markedly increased, making the learning process much freer and more dynamic to the student.
Transfer this exercise to your own vehicle. It only makes sense that if your chest felt lighter to you when you lifted your chest and allowed your body to function correctly, it will feel that way to your horse, as well. Remember the brick wall earlier? There will be a period of adjustment for you and your horse. You will forget and return to your former posture unless you employ mindfulness every time you drive. Your horse has got accustomed to your poor posture and it may take him a while to believe the new you is permanent.
Take time to experiment in body awareness. Make a mental checklist of your body as you are warming up your horse and use the time to warm up yourself, both physically and mentally. Focus on your breathing and lower your center of gravity. Open up your trunk to accommodate your breath and align your posture. Consider the partnership with your horse and do your best to ensure you are being as supple with your cues as you expect him to be in executing them.
In The Tao of Equus, Linda Kohanov describes, “the rush of clarity and serenity unleashed when one’s control of a thousand pound creature begins to flow from the mind and not the muscle…It’s about courage and humility, focus and flexibility.” This statement dovetails with the Feldenkrais and Swift teachings perfectly. And how do we expect our horse to move freely and correctly if we can’t? Through body awareness and correct posture we can begin to improve our performance and partnership with our driving horse, and begin a new journey of self exploration and understanding of our role of ‘Self’ on the box seat.
Michelle Blackler is the president of Serendipity, an
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