Perception or Reality © Bert Hartog

Horse Riding Made Simple

© Bert Hartog

Perception or Reality

 

Learning to ride correctly and effectively is a challenging task as, apart from the horse being a living, thinking being with a mind of its own, there are frequently situations where the rider 'thinks' something is right merely because it 'feels' right. Yet, more often than not and to the endless frustration of instructors all over the world, riders' perception of what they are doing doesn't always match up to the reality seen by those all-important 'eyes on the ground'!

Picture the plight the average instructor faces every day - especially in cases where their pupil has predominantly 'taught themself' to ride - where, in order to make progress with the teaching of a particular skill, they first need to take the rider back a few steps to correct some of the 'basics'. Of course, often in the rider's mind, the habitual way they have been performing a basic skill 'feels right' even if, from the instructor’s visual impression, it's clearly not. When encouraged to change to the 'right' way, the rider then complains the new position 'feels wrong'. Is it any wonder many coaches wish they could put a small monitor on the poll of the horse so  riders can see what they are doing, just as many riders wish their instructor could feel just how wrong the 'right way' seems to them?

See versus Feel

'Feel' is often mentioned as an important quality for riders to have in order to work co-operatively with their horses yet, it can be deceptive and play havoc with the riders' ability to learn and progress with their riding styles. When there is too much reliance on feel (a form of perception) and not enough on what can actually be seen or heard (reality), there can be a tendency for riders to use 'bandaid' techniques to make their shortcomings appear 'right'. This is because our subconscious will always find the path of least resistance, in order to create this sense of comfort in the shortest possible time.

For example, the most basic of riding techniques -the 'upright position' with the imaginary straight line passing through the ears, shoulders, hips and heels - sounds so simple, yet the tendency of riders is to lean forward. This not only happens because most horses are initially higher in the croup than the withers and only after several years of training are they strong and supple enough to lower the croup, is also due to the human tendency to want to lean forward when there is forward movement. This phenomenon also applies when walking or running.

So together, the horse’s conformation and human habit cause a rider to lean forward and  bring their lower legs forward to give better balance. This 'feels right' because, basically, the rider is in balance with what the horse is making them do. When given instructions to sit upright or more vertical by someone who can see the fault, the rider usually only leans a little further back, which realistically leaves them still actually leaning forward. Even when asked to lean backwards in the saddle, most still don't reach a totally upright position, yet to them it feels like they are leaning way back. Sometimes, it is not until riders sees themself in a mirror or on a video that they finally accept they are still leaning forward.

Another common problem is when a rider 'drops' one shoulder, creating a curvature in the spine, then unconsciously compensates for this by slightly shifting their seat to the opposite side of the saddle. In other words, if the left shoulder drops, the seat moves to the right and vice versa. By doing this, the rider's centre of gravity is moved over (above) the centre of gravity of the horse and voila Š they feel in balance - but are they? The riders' perception is they are comfortable and in balance with the horse, whereas the reality is they are not sitting straight up with their spine directly above the spine and centre of gravity of the horse. The subconscious mind has just made the best of the situation.

Straightness and Forwardness

There are also times where the rider unknowingly adjusts to the problems of the horse, rather than the other way around. In the case of a horse travelling with the quarters in - a fault often seen in the canter - the subconscious correction made by many riders is to sit square to the track rather than square to the horse. Their perception is that, because they are sitting square on the direction of the movement, the horse must be straight. The reality is the horse is not straight, as the forehand should be in front of the quarters on a straight line so it is possible to look straight through the horse’s left and right legs from behind.

Of course when the horse travels in a straight line next to a fence there is already a tendency for the horse to go crooked. The horse tries to have both shoulders and hips evenly away from the fence. The problem is that the shoulders are narrower than the hips. So, even when we think we don’t have to do anything to the performance of the horse, we have to ride a slight shoulder fore to correct this problem and make the horse “straight”.

Similar scenarios occur on the circle, often made worse by the rider pulling on the inside rein and having an ineffective outside rein. In these circumstances, the horse 'breaks' at the base of the neck rather than bending evenly through the body, their shoulders travel outside the line of the circle while the quarters are slightly to the inside.

Both these examples are good ways of illustrating where and how perception can deceive us. One of the basic principles of correct riding is that the hips of the rider should remain parallel with the hips of the horse, yet riders subconsciously adjust their position to be square in the direction of the movement because it 'feels right', but it's actually not!  They think the horse is straight or true and it feels good, so how can it be wrong?

Another source of confusion for many riders is the canter of a horse in the early stages of training. Akin to a rocking horse, the  riders feels comfortable and in control therefore, they think they are in a correct collected canter but, in reality, the canter is 'falsely' collected - stiff with short strides and far too slow.

Turning Wrong Into Right

Differences between perception and reality have the potential to cause friction and frustration in the instructor/rider relationship, as no-one likes to be told they are doing something wrong when they are convinced they are doing it right! For both instructor and rider, it's important to take into account that, even when visual impressions are explained in the simplest and clearest language imaginable, they are always open for interpretation by the individual. It's not productive if the rider takes offence at constantly being corrected and gives up trying, and the same applies for the instructor, whose responsibility is to keep coming up with different ways of 'getting through' to the rider.

Once the rider has seen visual evidence of their faults, they will usually accept they don't 'look right' and want to correct their position. This, of course, is what an instructor may have been saying all along but, if riders are going to be successful in changing the habit, they now needs to train their subconscious mind to accept that what 'feels wrong' is in fact right. This is not as complicated as it sounds, but does require continuous, conscious effort in order to be achieved.

Understanding how perception and reality are dealt with by different parts of the brain helps to picture why there is sometimes a 'difference of opinion' between the two and how this affects our behaviour. In simple terms, the right side of our brain deals with subconscious issues such as feeling and creativity, while the left side is the conscious, 'thinking' part. When we want to change a habit, it's as if dialog begins between the right and the left brain. The right brain says "This does not feel right", while the left says "But this is the new way and I know the reasons
why we do this and you (right brain) had better accept this as OK".

When riders don't understand the reasons behind making a change in their position or application of the aids, it is unlikely they will able to overcome what their 'eyes on the ground' see as an area they could improve. This is because their 'feeling' brain will have a greater influence than their 'thinking' brain, so nothing is likely to change. Using leaning forward as an example, some might ask what is so wrong with this if it makes the rider feel balanced and they aren't in danger of falling off. Well, nothing drastic - except if the aim is to improve competitive performance and/or to climb higher up the ladder in a chosen discipline. If this is the case, riders may need to consciously tell themself why sitting up straight is important (for control of the hindquarters and lightening the forehand, for example) and use visual checks rather than relying solely on 'feel' in order to have a greater chance of effecting change.

In some situations, riders have difficulty changing a reality because they don't have a perception of it to begin with. For example, if they don't know what a working trot or canter 'feels' and looks like, how can they hope to recognise and visualise a collected or extended pace? Can the rider tell if the horse maintains the energy with shorter strides and higher leg movement, or does it take half the length of stride with half the energy - meaning a loss of impulsion and collection? What is the difference in feel? To maximise learning, it's usually a matter of using a combination of both conscious  (instruction/verbal) and unconscious (feel) feedback to close the gap between perception and reality.

Completing The Picture

Humans rely so much on their eyes to give them the answers to many of the mysteries of life yet, with riding, we are denied the use of the vital sense to look down to see what is happening underneath us - as this would upset the horse's balance. Nevertheless, feedback can be obtained to compensate for this with the help of knowledge (knowing what is supposed to happen), coaching (instant feedback) or video (to give a visual pictureof what is happening).

The perception of what is 'right' can translate into reality as a result of many, many repetitions. Feedback from the horse is often a fleeting moment and, in the beginning, riders do not always catch it. By consciously repeating the same situation over and over again, it becomes possible to also feel the influence the aids have and to create a close working relationship with the horses. Ultimately, perhaps we should be striving for the feeling that 'it's all so easy, therefore can it possibly be right'! Isn't this what riding is all about?

Here are some exercises that may help

To check your own straightness as a rider when seated in the saddle, 'look down your nose' to see if it is directly above the withers. Another way is to extend your arms straight out to the sides then look left and right while keeping your arms outstretched. Now drop the arms so the elbows are near the waist, bend the elbows and extend the lower arms towards the bit. This exercise also helps with creating an upright position, as it is practically impossible to do while leaning forward. For even greater feedback, perform these exercises in front of a mirror (on and off the horse).

Another exercise is to cup your hands under your seat bones (please, do have someone holding onto the horse). Make sure the horse is standing square. See if you have even pressure on your hands. Now try to push one seat bone down and experience the ‘enormous’ difference in weight on your hands. This is what happens when we sit crookedly on the horse. The other thing we learn is how little is necessary to give the horse a seat aid.

To check 'straightness on the straight' in your horse as you ride down the side of an arena, cast your eye quickly from the poll to the tail. Do this on both sides immediately after one another, because the horse is wider at the hips than at the shoulders so it takes a little time to learn to allow for this. Correct crookedness by placing the forehand in front of the quarters, rather than trying to push the quarters behind the forehand. Once the horse is straight on a straight line, it automatically becomes easier for the rider to keep their hips parallel to those of the horse, rather than to the track. Try to remember this feeling of being 'square to the horse', it will help in identifying when the alignment is disturbed.

Check out our Mini Courses and Short Courses on Jumping and Horse Management here.

Have a nice ride.

Bert Hartog.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.1 Australia License.

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