Before you get on--What matters most in horse and rider development--Part 1

When I was ten years old, I wanted to learn to jump.  I had a great Arabian gelding who was very eager to fly over obstacles, albeit a bit chaotic. I managed to stay on over the jump (most of the time) but really was eager to be trained. So, I sought out the help of an older trainer who had a fantastic reputation of teaching English riding, including jumping and dressage.

I will never forget my first lesson.  I tacked up my horse and began to warm him up.  She observed me quietly for a bit and then called me over to chat.

“You want to jump, yes?”

I answered in the affirmative, of course, that’s why I was there.

“Your position is all wrong.  If you start to jump now, you will be all over the horse.  That will be very difficult for him, discourage him from jumping and even maybe hurt his mouth and back…Is that what you want?”

I was absolutely stunned and a bit ashamed, “No, of course not.” I muttered.

I guess I was expecting to start jumping right away, and she is telling me that I could hurt my horse? 

“Well, then, we must first teach you a correct seat, then we can look at jumping, but not until then.”

I couldn’t believe what she had said, I thought I rode pretty well, I mean, I had won a lot of awards  but apparently there was something I was missing.

I took lessons from her for months and was instructed strictly with my equitation.  We did not focus much on my horse but rather the correctness of my aids. The alignment of my hands, the position of my legs.  A few weeks into the lessons and she brought out ground poles, then cross rails, then finally combinations and verticals.

What I noticed after her meticulous instruction, was that I was secure over the obstacles.  My horse seemed more confident and less erratic.  Other things began to improve including my transitions and the consistency of my trot and canter.

Looking back, I realize she wasn't simply teaching me to jump. She was teaching me something much more important than equitation:  before we ask a horse to perform for us, we have an obligation to prepare ourselves and to prepare the horse. So that the horse can not only perform at his best but so that we do no harm.

That lesson has stayed with me for decades.

Today we often think of riding as beginning when we place a foot in the stirrup. Classical horsemanship takes a different view. Riding begins much earlier—with observation, preparation including ground work, balance, and awareness. Everything that follows in training depends upon our attention to the details.

One of the first concepts that helped me understand what my instructor had been trying to teach me was the idea of center of gravity.

Every time we mount a horse, we change his balance. We ask him to reorganize his body around the weight of another living creature. Yet remarkably little time is spent teaching riders how that balance changes—or how we can help rather than hinder the horse.

Over the next several months, I'd like to explore this subject together. We'll look at what happens to the horse's balance before we ever ask for collection, impulsion, or advanced movements. My hope is that by understanding these principles, we become not only better riders, but better stewards of the horses entrusted to us.

Before we concern ourselves with contact, collection, or demanding movements, we should ask a much simpler question:

Have we prepared the horse to carry us well today?

I believe that question may be one of the most important—and most overlooked—in all of horsemanship.