Building Leg Aides Awareness

My mother reported to me at the weekend that she bought a horse. After breeding some of the finest horses in Morgandom for 30 years, my mother retired, moved to Arizona, [where, I'm sure my father thought was far enough away to cure her of the horse disease] and then decided she would learn how to ride a horse. She told me her new horse was trained with leg aides and that she'd have to learn this fast.

So, I thought I'd dedicate a blog to what seems to me as simple common sense, but which many people relate more to brain surgery. Leg aides can only be aptly applied if the rider has adopted the correct position of seat and legs first. There is a big difference between sitting on the saddle and sitting in it. If the rider uses the saddle like a chair, the backs of his legs will probably wrap along the sides of the horse with knees and feet pointing away from the horse's sides and heels pointed directly into the horse's sides. This is a compromise of balance for the rider, however it is how most people do it. By straddling the horse with the legs and feet, the hips form a "V" causing the seat to raise out of the saddle and the rider becoming top heavy.

To correct this position, you must sit in the saddle, bringing the inside of your knees to touch it, turning your toes parallel to the horse and dropping weight down into the stirrups. Think of your hips as an inverted "U" with your legs being straight under and not forming a horseshoe shape. To make sure your feet are directly beneath your seat, stand in your stirrups by straightening your knees. If you can't, your legs are too far forward. If you can, but your bum comes crashing back down in the saddle, your feet have moved too far forward as you stood. If you fall forward onto the horse's whithers, you are probably standing on your tip toes, not rising from your knees, or your feet are too far back. Keep practicing standing in your stirrups until you can keep your feet consistent and maintain your balance. When you have this, return your seat to the saddle, but wait, don't move your legs!

It takes a good deal of coordination and muscle memory, but it is the foundation of leg aides. Once you can do this at a halt, practice it at the walk. Your horse will wonder what the !@#$%^& you are doing, but ask him to be patient to help you and he usually will, as long as you aren't bumping him in the sides with your feet. Once you can master this incredibly odd looking exercise, try sitting and rising to a four beat tempo: up, down, up, down. This helps you polish your leg position.

Leg aides are direct and passive. The direct aide is applying pressure from your inner calf muscle on the horse's side either in front of the girth [to direct the horse's shoulder and front end] on the girth [to direct the horse's barrel] and behind the girth [to direct the horse's hind quarters]. When applying a direct aide, make sure your corresponding leg is giving a passive aid: not touching the horse, but in a position to help him identify with the corresponding direct aide.

Since your legs are attached to your seat which is attached to your torso, shoulders, neck and head, this is a team effort: leg aides require the whole body to be really successful. If you are turning to the right, turn your head, shoulders, upper body, your hip bones and your legs [left slightly forward of the girth but not touching the horse] right leg slightly back of the girth, also not touching the horse] to the right before you start pulling on the reins or giving any aides. Usually, the horse will just move under your body's position and turn to the right because that is the way you are facing. If you need to use an aide, touch the horse with your left leg slightly forward of the girth to move his shoulder into the turn, maintaining the passive position of your right leg. Horses are trained to move away from pressure for our convenience. Reverse the process turning to the left.

Riding with leg aides is the most satisfying aspect of horsemanship. The horse and rider appear to move as one unit, with grace and subtlety. It often seems as if the horse is reading the rider's mind, as the cues of legs, seat and hands are almost invisible. It takes a great deal of practice to develop muscle accommodation and consistency, but if you ride with balance, your horse will move with balance and the picture will be worth all thousand of my words.

[Good Luck, Mother!]

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

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