Equestrian Dynamics

09/09/2026

To all my friends (close and far) feeling sadness from the loss of one of their best horses, recently, too many! 😢 💔 🙏
Sending hugs and love your way!

09/09/2026

So many good memories with Debbie & Rocky!

RIP Rocky ❤️

08/26/2026

RIP Dolly Parton

We will always love you!

08/14/2026

✔️ Balance...
✔️ Stability...
✔️ Mobility...
✔️ Awareness...
All while on the horse underneath us has its own way of moving...

🏁 Learn how to move together❣️

The Biomechanical Problem Sitting on Your Horse🔥

We spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to improve our horses.

More balanced. Better transitions. More engagement. More relaxed. Better behaviour.

Meanwhile, sitting on top of this entire biomechanical improvement project is 50 to 90+ kilograms of human, listing slightly to left, gripping with one thigh and wondering why the horse is crooked.

Awkward.

So here is today's Collectable Advice:

🚩If you want to improve how your horse moves and behaves under saddle, have a look at the body sitting on top of it.😎

Because your horse doesn't just carry your weight.

➡️Your horse has to manage what your body does while it carries you.💥

Riding position isn't really a position

We tend to teach riding position as though someone might burst into the arena with a protractor.

Shoulder. Hip. Heel.

Excellent. Nobody move.

Unfortunately, the horse has.

Horses don't experience our position as a photograph. They experience us as *mass in motion*.🫣

Every stride, the horse is generating, absorbing and transferring forces through its body. Its back moves. Its limbs load and unload. It accelerates, decelerates, bends and changes direction.

And perched on top is you.😬

You with your dodgy left hip, a collapsing ribcage and that might not have done anything resembling cardiovascular exercise since 2017.🫠

The horse must now incorporate you into the movement.

This is riding.

Our job is essentially to manage our own body well enough that the horse doesn't have to manage it for us.❤

That requires:

1️⃣Enough stability to contain our own body.

And:

2️⃣Enough mobility to allow the horse to move underneath us.

When we can't?

If your trunk collapses every stride, the horse accommodates it.

If you consistently dump your weight onto one side, the horse accommodates that.

If an old injury means one hip doesn't move properly, the horse feels it.

And if you brace every available muscle in an attempt to “sit deep”, congratulations.

You have transformed yourself into a 70 kg backpack containing several bricks.

The horse still has to carry it.😕

And horses respond.

They may shorten their stride, rush, hollow, drift, fall through a shoulder, struggle with one rein or become tense when you sit....or just become spooky and scared of the world‼️

This doesn't mean *everything is the rider's fault*. Horses come with their own asymmetries, weaknesses, discomfort, training problems and occasionally strong opinions about wheelie bins.

But horse and rider are a *moving system*.

Change one body and you change what the other body has to manage.

Which gives us something surprisingly useful to work on😃

Ourselves.

Improve your fitness.

Develop enough muscular integrity to stop various parts of you departing independently at the trot.

Work on mobility.

Manage your injuries.

Notice your asymmetries.

Develop balance, coordination and body awareness.

Not because you need to look fabulous in beige breeches.

Because every improvement in your ability to manage *your own body* potentially changes what your horse has to manage underneath you.

There is also the minor matter of survival - you improve your chances of remaining in the saddle if s**t happens!

Which is generally preferable.

So here is something you can start asking yourself..

*“Am I making myself easy for my horse to carry?”*

Because good riding isn't about arranging yourself beautifully on a horse.

It's about having enough control of your own body that you can move *with* another one.

And before we spend another six months trying to straighten the horse, perhaps we should take a quick look at the slightly asymmetrical cripple primate sitting on top.🤪

Collectable Advice 271/365.

Please SHARE if you made it to the end of this without being offended 😆

08/02/2026

RIP Monty Roberts

You were and will continue to be a huge part of my horsemanship.

Thank you and my horses thank you!

07/16/2026

❣️

07/16/2026

*Conveniently located, quick, easy, access, main roads

* Peaceful, country atmosphere

* Individually, tailored lesson program focusing on balance & stability while enjoying horse-human partnerships

*Certified, professional instructor over 40 yrs of knowledge and experience

*Call/text to schedule lessons

07/15/2026

Rhythm vs Tempo

(Yes, students nothing new, you have heard this from me also. 😀)

In the German training pyramid, a pure rhythm and a steady tempo form the foundation of gymnastic training. Rhythm can be defined as the footfall sequence of the natural gaits. The walk has 4 individual footfalls per stride, which is why it is traditionally referred to as a 4-beat rhythm. The trot has 2 individual footfalls per stride that are separated by a suspension phase, which is why it is traditionally referred to as a 2-beat rhythm, and the canter has 3 individual footfalls per stride, with a suspension phase at the end, which is why it is traditionally referred to as a 3-beat rhythm. Disturbances of the rhythm are always a sign of a loss of balance as well as stiffness in the horse’s back and rib cage. In addition, the hindquarters, neck, and poll are usually affected by this stiffness as well.

Tempo can be defined as the speed of the footfalls and can be measured in beats-per-minute (bpm), just like in music.

A steady tempo is tied to the horse’s longitudinal balance. If the horse speeds up and slows down at will, he is unbalanced and fluctuates between rushing and sucking back. Speeding up generally means that the horse has fallen onto the forehand.

Different gaits, turns, and movements require different amounts of strength or effort, and some horses have a tendency to slow down when the work is getting harder and to speed up when it’s getting easier again. E.g. small turns like corners and voltes require a bigger effort than straight lines, which is why some horses slow down in corners and speed up on the long side.

A shoulder-in is more work than going straight on a single track, which is why some horses will slow down when you start the shoulder-in, and they speed up when you go straight again.

Half passes require more strength than a shoulder-in. Consequently some horses may slow down if you transition from a shoulder-in to a half pass, and they speed up when the half pass is over.

Some horses slow down when you transition from rising trot to sitting trot, and they speed up when you transition from sitting to rising trot. This is often caused by the rider’s seat that restricts the movement of the horse’s back.

It is important that we pay attention to the tempo during these transitions between straight lines and curved lines, single track and lateral movements, between different lateral movements, and between sitting and rising trot. Otherwise, the horse will not be able to balance himself, he won’t be able to use his back properly, and he won’t be truly permeable for the rider’s aids.

07/07/2026

I ❤️ my students...

Me: "yikes rain"

Student: "That's okay. I'd still like to learn whatever off the horse!!"