"The horse triggers the unilateral leg aid himself every stride, because the calf contact has to increase when the hind leg touches down on the same side, since the lateral swinging ceases and the chest now approaches the leg.
We feel the movements of the torso not only with the relaxed calves. With some practice, you can feel with your seat the movement of the hind legs as well as their position at the halt. When the right hind leg advances, when it rests at the halt, or when it does not carry weight, the right half of the croup and loin drops a little (three leg support). The rider sits therefore on a mound with the left half of his seat, while there is a depression underneath the right half of his seat.
If you concentrate in the walk, you can feel a thump in your seat on the average horse, when the hind leg touches down. During the ensuing support phase, you feel a pressure in your seat on the same side. During the increased pressure on the left side, the right side of the seat floats over the depression, and vice versa. The thump of the landing hind leg diminishes in gymnastically developed horses, so that only the alternating pressure indicates the loading of the hind leg on the same side."
Last Update: January 13, 2007