ANSWER:
Riding horses just with the seat alone, without any participation from hands
and legs is more of an ideal, a goal to work towards, not so much a
realistic expectation. We will be able to obtain this state of perfect
balance for brief moments, but they generally don't last, just as most
people can apparently achieve the state of one-pointedness in meditation
only for brief periods of time.
In order to bring the horse's poll up, we need to ask the hind legs to step
underneath and engage more first, because the hind legs have to lift the
front end up and carry horse and rider. This is falls into the communicative
realm of the rider's calf. When the hind legs follow the calf's request, the
seat can take over and direct the energy that is building from behind. In
the case of lifting the front, the seat has to flex the hind legs more by a
repeated, quick contraction of the abdominal muscles, with a possible
participation of the shoulder muscles, which is transmitted into the hand on
the side of the grounded hind leg.
The hand is connected to the seat via the elbows, as an extension of the
seat bones. It can set a limit for the horse. Sometimes the seat cannot
contain all the energy. Some of it spills past the seat into the hand, and
the hand has to send it back to the seat. My teacher Thomas Faltejsek used
to say: "The hand has to refer the horse back to the seat." My students are
familiar with this expression, because I use it on them as well. Egon von
Neindorff often compares the hand to a filter that allows some of the energy
to go through, while it absorbs other elements. You could also compare it to
a valve that alleviates the pressure of the little steam engine underneath
you by opening and closing. If there is not enough opening, the pressure
builds until the steam engine explodes. If, on the other hand, it is always
completely open (clearly the smaller mistake), there will never be enough
pressure in the steam engine to do any productive work. This is at the heart
of the misconception that many people have who think that reins are a bad
thing. The use of reins is the smallest common denominator in all equestrian
cultures, even more so than the use of the saddle and stirrups. They are
obviously considered indispensable. Otherwise, they would not be so
pervasive. The reins don't need to be attached to a bit. A cavesson or
hackamore can do the same job, which is why the German expressions "durch's
Genick" (through the poll) or "am Zuegel" (on the rein) are a little more
appropriate than the English term "on the bit".
The bottom line is not to be afraid of using the reins. Just make sure you
use them correctly, i.e. at the right time (and *briefly*!), in the right
intensity, and in the right coordination with the rest of the orchestra of
the aids. The specifics are difficult to lay out in an abstract description,
because considerations such as the stability of your waist, the placement of
your shoulders, etc. play a role as well, and if you have difficulties
making the transition from stretching forward-downward to stretching
forward-upward, they are most likely connected to these things as well.
- Thomas Ritter
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Last Update: January 13, 2007