RIDING TIP:
HOW TO RIDE WITH RHYTHM!

Barrel racing is the most exhilarating sport in western riding. It’s not only the actual runs that thrill, but also the trips to horse shows, the people that you meet along the way, and the dedicated horses that make it such a wonderful experience. What a great way to spend the weekend for both adults and youths.

If you want to learn more about barrel racing, visit our website at www.wildwoodranch.com. We offer lessons for riders of all ages and skill sets on well broke, seasoned barrel horses. Don’t worry, we do start slow and build up to the faster speeds, so you don’t have to have a lot of knowledge of riding to join. Our goal is to have fun by providing a safe and educational experience for both horse and rider.

Sign up today for barrel racing lessons, they're only $40!

Put on Your Dancing Shoes…

Everything to do with horses is like a dance. When you go out to the field to catch him you move slowly in a fluid motion, so that he doesn’t become spooked. When you groom him the brush strokes are gentle but firm, so his skin won’t be irritated. When you ride him you are flowing gracefully, so no one can tell the separation between horse and rider. Or at least that’s what you hope for. But, like a lot of things, it’s not as easy as it looks.

First time riders tend to feel awkward and unstable on their horse. This is normal. If it feels somewhat uncomfortable at first it simply means you haven’t found the horse’s rhythm yet. When riding you feel out of control of your body motion, and the harder you try to regain that control, the more you bounce around in the saddle. Well, it’s time to relinquish that control! An important aspect of riding is understanding that you must let your horse’s rhythm lead your rhythm. Let’s face it. He weighs approximately 1000 lbs, and trying to direct the movement of such a large animal is physically impossible for even the strongest of people. The trick is to go with the flow. Find his motion and move with it.

Riding is a graceful sport, and we have to be very conscious of maintaining our posture and remaining as still on the horse’s back as possible. To accomplish this focus on allowing your body parts to move independently of each other. While your lower body is moving with the motion of the horse, your upper body is maintaining your posture and frame. A rider should always appear to be still in the saddle, regardless of the pace. What’s the proper way to perform such an optical illusion? Let’s take it slow and begin at the walk.

The horse walks in a four beat rhythm that’s quite smooth and easy to sit to. The important thing is to maintain your posture with your heels down and your back straight. Sometimes the tendency for riders, though, is to relax a little too much at this gait and then every part of their body begins to sway with the horse. You have probably witnessed this, either in real life or in a movie. The rider’s head is swaying, the shoulders are rocking, the torso is bending, and the arms are flapping. Not a pretty picture. Your shoulders and upper body should always remain still by locking your frame, from your belt buckle to your cowboy hat. To do this, pull your shoulders back, hold your slightly bent elbows tight, sit up straight, and keep your head held high.

At a trot the gait becomes a two beat rhythm, that’s usually short and choppy. The best way to negotiate the trot is to push your heels down hard in the stirrups, relax your upper body while keeping your shoulders back, and allow your hips to rock with the motion of the horse. He will move in a quick side to side movement, and if you’re too tense your body will move counter to his, causing you will bounce. Try to relax, push yourself down into the saddle, keep your posture and let his rhythm lead the movement of your rhythm.

The lope, or canter, is a three beat rhythm that feels as though the horse is leaping. This is one of the easier gaits to coordinate your body with; it’s all in the hips. The horse’s back rocks forwards and backwards at the lope, much like a rocking horse. You have to sit deep in the saddle and roll your hips in a slow backwards, circular motion, while keeping in time with the horse’s rhythm. As your lower body is rolling with the beat, your upper body is remaining as still as possible with your shoulders poised and your back straight.

Remember To Breathe…

Breathing is supposed to be a natural body function, right? You would be amazed, however, at how many people forget to do just that when they’re concentrating on trying to stay in time with their horse. When the key is to relax, breathing is the perfect exercise to help you to do just that.

By focusing on breathing it makes the motion of your body more natural and fluid. In the back of your mind you should be thinking “heels down, sit deep, roll your hips, shoulders back, back straight, relax, etc.” over and over again, but in the front of your mind you should be repeating, “inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale”. Shortly, you will begin to relax into the motion of the horse without even realizing it.

Keep Your Hands Gentle and Still…

Soft, or gentle, hands is the most rewarding gift you can give to your horse. Forget carrots and apples … they don’t last! But soft hands will make your horse’s mouth last for a lifetime.

How do you define “soft”? Ideally, you should be able to turn and stop by squeezing the reins with your finger tips. Remember, your horse is wearing a steel bit between his teeth, and if you’re pulling with all your might there’s a good chance that you’re causing him pain. Often you’ll see a rider using their whole body to get the horse to stop. Now let’s do some speculation; if that person is able to pull 100 lbs of weight on the ground, they are in essence applying that same amount of pressure to their horse’s mouth when they use all their might to stop him. Imagine 100 lbs of pressure between your teeth!

Always try to apply the least amount of pull to your reins as possible. Begin with your finger tips, and if he stops then release the pressure. If there’s no response, pull a little harder, but remember to release the pull the instant your horse responds. This is his reward. When you can use your finger tips to control your horse, your arms will remain stationary, and your body frame will be maintained. Using the least amount of movement to control your equine friend, you’ll not only be creating a great relationship with him, you’ll be more in rhythm with his gaits. In essence, your balance won’t be compromised by hard hands.

Be a Leader…

Horses will try to challenge their riders on a regular basis, it’s just part of their natural instinct to always try to move their way up the pecking order of their herd. And guess what? You’re part of their herd, and until you become the official leader you are fair game to be challenged.

You need to be a leader. Be assertive with your horse, be persistent and make him do what you want. Remember: who ever is the most determined usually wins. The horse may be bigger, but you are smarter. Brains vs. brawn. Use the horse’s natural instincts to get him to do what you want, and always reward him when he’s completed the task. No matter how frustrated you are, make sure you reward him with a release of pressure or a stroke on the neck. If this reward is not present you will find yourself in situations of resistance more often than is desirable.

The less amount of energy you spend trying to get your horse to walk forward when asked or lope on command, the more you can focus on riding with rhythm. Think about it; how graceful and in sync does a rider look with their legs flapping against the horse’s sides or their arms jerking around to steer? The more you assert yourself in a leadership role, the more your horse will respect you and the more you can concentrate on staying balanced on his back.

A Slight Hope, known as “Hope” around the barn, came to Wildwood in September of 2004. A beautiful paint mare, she was trained as a pleasure horse but had all the right components to be a successful barrel racer. As a pleasure horse she was trained to walk, jog and lope in a perfect frame, perform flying lead changes with ease, bend, and move off of leg pressure. All of this base training aided in developing her into a competitive barrel horse.

It took about six months to fully prepare Hope for the 2005 competition season, and it didn’t take long for her to begin placing at the events. She is a fast horse, who likes to run. More importantly, however, she can execute tight turns around the barrels at top speeds. At the end of the season she finished 4th in the 2nd division of the Limited Open and 8th in the 1st Division of the Futurity.

Hope is a Quarter horse/Paint, and is registered with the American Paint Horse Association. This means she’s a purebred Quarter horse with a certain amount of white markings on her body, and one of her parents was a registered paint as well. Hope is mostly dark brown in colour with minimal white, making her a “tobiano”. There are two famous stallions in her bloodlines; Poco Bueno and Zippo Pine Bar. Zippo Pine Bar was one of top pleasure stallions in the USA.

Therefore, Hope has a lot to live up to. Regardless of the sport, however, she does well because of her competitive attitude. She has a strong will to succeed, even though this often means she’s competing with her rider! There’s no doubt about it, Hope is a first class horse, and she knows it. She loves to be at the center of attention at all times. From her markings to the way she carries herself, she constantly attracts the watchful eyes of both spectators and competitors alike.

Quotable Quotes!

The wind of Heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears.

- Arabian Proverb

Experienced riders are not prone to brag. And usually newcomers, if they start out being boastful, end up modest.

- C.J.J Mullen

EQUINE FACT: HORSES CAN SEE WITH COLOUR

The belief has always been that horses are colour blind, and until recent years no one has researched this subject to truly find out if this is the case. Knowing whether or not a horse can see colour could be important when working around these large animals, especially if they are sensitive and mistrusting of a certain hue. After all, we want to promote a calm and amicable relationship with our equine partners, and make them feel as comfortable as possible when we’re working with them.

Lately, researchers have discovered that horses can in fact see certain colours. The back of the equine retina holds hundreds of tiny little light receptors, cones and rods. The rods and cones both sense light, each particular to a certain type of light. The large number of rods enable horses to see well in dim lighting, meaning they have good night vision. But this doesn’t reveal to us whether or not horses can see colours. With no evidence of colour distinguishing mechanisms, physically it’s difficult to tell if horses can see blues, reds, yellows, etc, and so we have to rely on observation to answer this age old question.

Within the last decade scientists have begun testing the notion of horses being colour blind. By teaching horses to push coloured panels with their noses for a food reward, researchers could see if their subjects would differentiate between hues. These studies were conducted at different institutions from around the world. After a few hundred tries (the horses had to learn which colour to push), it was clear that the horses knew the difference between blue and gray, and red and gray. There were mixed results, however, with the yellows and greens.

So the next time you go to step into your saddle, remember that your horse might be sensitive to your bright red or blue coat. It’s not his fault, though, because those two colours are a large contrast between his otherwise gray surroundings.

References:
1. http://www.horseoz.com/Horse_Talk/COLOUR/colour.htm
2. http://www.completerider.com/horsemanfeb2003.html
3. http://www.horsewyse.com.au/howhorsessee.html