Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine February 2018 Vol 3 Issue 1

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

hamper your performance and might even cause injury as you tried to compensate for the burden. Yet many riders ask their horses to turn a barrel, work a cow or lope a circle with little regard for their own position in the saddle. It may be done unknowingly or stem from bad habits, but focusing on riding centered in the saddle makes a difference in every discipline. The rider’s core and the horse’s core is where all of the strength comes from, if the rider is sitting centered, their core will in the right place and in a balanced position. That position helps a horse perform to its best ability, whether it’s a mounted shooting horse, a Reiner or a cow horse. If the rider is leaning too far forward, their body weight is on the front half of the horse, if the rider sits straight and centered, the rider is riding the back half of the horse, where the horse’s drive comes from. The more centered and balanced the rider is, the less chance of

error they will have, the less compensating the horse has to do and the smoother everything will happen. Centered Seats While a rider’s posture may change depending on the speed of the horse or the maneuver it is performing, starting out with a centered seat is ideal. In mounted shooting competition, a rider has to get forward to accelerate, but when in training a rider should not be riding a horse’s front end, if the rider is riding on a horse’s front end through a turn or around a barrel, all the riders weight and all the horse’s weight is on his front end, which locks his shoulders. If you lock the horse’s shoulders, his front end is not free to move, his balance is not on his back end, and therefore he can’t get that inside pivot leg under him. Even if he did, he can’t use that leg effectively because all his weight is on his front end. The rider’s body in that position makes it really difficult for the horse to rock his weight onto

his back end to make a fast, smooth, one-motion turn. Any horse that’s preparing to turn around 180 or 360 degrees should shift his weight to the back end so the front end is free to come around. That’s why the rider’s body should be centered and your weight should be balanced on his back end. Then the horse will be able to drive his hind end and his front end will have the freedom to move, resulting in a horse that’s free and balanced. A rider’s seat position affects how much, or how little, a rider does with his or her hands. In any discipline, the deeper your seat, the better the rider will sit on the back of your horse and the less the rider’s hands have to do. The less the rider’s hands have to do; the less distracted the horse is going to be. There’s less motion from the rider, less stress on the horse, and his movement comes more naturally. “Our horses mirror us,” If your

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