Photo: Notice Bree’s terrible riding position. All it took to fix this, was to allow her to sit there long enough without moving, to find her Comfort Zone – get her to think about Bobby, pet him a little occasionally, and smile. Or you could even get on and off a few times.
Your riding position has been anchored in your seat work, it just takes developing a Comfort Zone from both you AND your horse, to have that beautiful seat happen automatically.
🙂 Here’s a reminder of what I said a couple of lessons ago – that Frederic Pignon, one of the greatest horsemen in the world, GETS OFF if he feels any tension coming up in his horse. ANY TENSION… ANY TIME… And he does that because he’s looking for a happy expressive horse who’s turning themselves inside out to be with him and any tension will get in the way of that.
I was thrilled to discover that someone I think of as one the world’s greatest horsemen did the same thing as Bobby told me to do all those years ago, to find our deep happy Comfort Zone – it was lovely validation. 🙂
You might also get off if you feel that you lose your connection or you might stay there for a while holding YOUR end of the connection, waiting for them to come back to you. BEing Present will help you flow the perfect answer and you can take comfort from the fact that there isn’t a wrong answer…
Watch out for the two lessons here – one audio, one video. The video lesson is down in the Keys to Success.
I have heard it said by someone VERY big in the horse world, that you can’t bake a cake twice, that you cannot undo what has been done to your horse and re-do it better next time. I have heard it said that you cannot make the horse as good as new once someone has stuffed it up.
Well throughout this Fast Track Program, I have been demonstrating that this is completely untrue and that with this model, you are changing old behavior patterns for your horse.
I smile and wonder sometimes if you realize how big a deal this is – and how incredibly unique in the horse world.
This lesson is an incredibly important next step. This is your opportunity to undo some of YOUR OWN old behavior patterns, some of YOUR old body patterns that were created from an old time of tension when you first learned to ride, that came from being in the Not Too Sure Zone for too long.
And when you find the place where you first feel REALLY good on your horse’s back, when you find the body position and emotional place where heaven and earth meets on the back of your horse – then ANCHOR IT. Anchor it by taking the time to just sit there and absorb the wonder of everything that that feels like.
You are doing for yourself what you have been doing for your horse:
1. In your chair/horse work you have done the RELEASE of some old stresses and tensions.
2. In this Lesson you get to RE-LEARN a wonderful tension free way to sit on your horse’s back.
3. Then you get to RE-PROGRAM yourself – to anchor that beautiful feeling, that strong, safe, magnetic seat – to put it into AUTO-PILOT.
Don’t be afraid to slow down and listen to your horse
Don’t be afraid to slow down and take that time to fully absorb that lovely feeling – this slowing down is what will actually Fast Track you to the brilliant riding that you are looking for. This slowing down will allow you to RE-LEARN your reactions as you get back on your horse and then RE-PROGRAM them, anchor them into AUTO-PILOT, so don’t short change yourself here!
What to do if you feel a Not Quite Right
This is not a failure! A Not Quite Right is MAGNIFICENT! It’s keeping you and your horse being and feeling safe. This is a well supported Program and there may be some of you for whom this Lesson may bring up “stuff” that needs assistance, that hasn’t yet been cleared by the simulation work in the chair.
So if you have any of your five feels giving you an early warning signal that something is Not Quite Right – for heavens sake DO NOT GET ON! You are MEANT to take action on your Not Quite Rights.
Review the lesson links I’ve put below first – they’re designed to repeat them as often as you need to. We’re all different, we’ve all had different life experiences that have brought different amounts of tensions in our bodies.
Our horses too have had different life experiences that require attention. Taking action on your Not Quite Rights is the where the joy is. Jeez – even Frederic Pignon gets off if there’s any tension! can you see me smiling? It just means there’s something else to know or do and we have to figure out what that is.
Notice the critical success tips below and as always, you can put your hand up in our monthly seminar. And if you can’t get there live, ask me to do a lesson for you and we’ll do it anyway and you can have the recording. Or there’s always the private lesson option for the really big stuff.
As usual, there’s a written version of the audio below.
Click here for the alternate recording of The magnetized butt on your horse
Critical Keys to Success
1. Stirrup length – there is a modern tendency to look for very long legs in very long stirrups (specially in dressage and some western) that results in many people actually creating stiffness and less than optimal riding. And yes I am being polite there!
Since I became aware of it, it amazes me how many people need their stirrups raised. You can strain your hip joint with stirrups too long and like everything else, if your hip joint is in The Not Sure Zone for too long, then it becomes chronically stressed and chronically tense – the opposite of what we are looking for in good riding.
2. Get someone to hold your horse for you if you need to, in order to do this seat change on your horse for the first time and for it to be in your Comfort Zone. For some horses, the change will be big and someone holding onto them from the ground will help them realize that they do not need to move while you are doing this exploration. That will allow you to concentrate on what you need to, to achieve success.
3. Froggy legs on your horse – your position on your horse includes allowing your feet to comfortably turn out from your horse and your knees to be gently away from the saddle too. This is not an exaggerated position, just unclenched knees. When your horse moves, you will be surprised at how much difference this will make to their ability to step through from the hindquarters. I am telling you this now, though, so that you have a chance to FEEL the comfort of this now and anchor that comfortable leg position.
4. And the biggest success tip of all – smile and make the soft eyes that we have been talking about in some of the Quiet Mind work. Notice the difference in your seat when you frown and when you smile even a little and make soft eyes – it can make the difference between heaven and earth meeting on the back of your horse, or not!
There was another freebie lesson produced that demonstrates how big an effect these things have on your magnetic butt – click here for the Youtube of A brilliant riding seat From Your Horse’s Heart.
Revision Lessons
Revise your chair lessons if you need to – because a larger Comfort Zone on a chair will enable you to feel and make changes in your Comfort Zone on your horse – the chair is the best place to Fast Track yourself!
– You may need to repeat releasing a fright imprint from an old fall or accident.
– The Lesson where you watched Barb find her magnetic butt
– The humorous look at why you want to ride in this position.
– The audio that took you through finding your own magnetic butt.
– The lesson that released more of whatever was behind your riding tensions.
– Soapy bones all day every day,
– And the lessons about releasing the hip joints and effortless turning.
Written Version of the Audio
Take yourself into that listening inside place, into that Inner Awareness feeling that you learned in your Quiet Mind work. This sentence should have drum rolls and bells and whistles around it because it is so important.
Listening inside yourself, that Inner Awareness place that we have been working on strengthening in your Quiet Mind work, is the most important part of finding and anchoring a good seat on your horse quickly because this gives you instant feedback on whether your body position feels good, better or whether you have the best magnetised butt ever!
Mount your horse and pause to make sure that the sense of peacefulness or happy excitement is still there as you are mounting.
We’ve done the riding position thing on the chair – in simulation and in great detail – and so far, we have been using exaggerations to help you find that place of power and stability. While you are sitting on top of your horse is NOT the place for those big exaggerations.
So use your Inner Awareness, that listening inside yourself feeling, to find that seat on your horse that you learned in your chair.
Scan your body from head to toe, slowly checking out how each part of your body feels. You are looking for the same place, the same feeling that you felt in the chair – where you feel very comfortable and happy and magnetised in the butt and strong and stable in your seat.
Here is a quick reminder of the joints that you can adjust. Check your hip joint, rolling your pelvis slightly, taking your hip joint a tiny fraction towards the back of the saddle, then taking it forwards – and feeling where is best for you.
Slide your tail bone up and down just a little like you have been doing on the chair.
Allow your body to float forwards over the crease in your jeans or jodhpurs until you feel those core muscles tighten and strengthen effortlessly, which mean without you actually tightening them on purpose.
Allow your shoulders to roll back if they need to and allow your shoulder blades to slide downwards towards the saddle.
Notice if your head is stuck up in the air or whether it is looking gently and straight ahead.
Starting at your head and slowly moving downwards, imagine that each of your joints could move in every direction, that each of your bones could slide fluidly against the bone next to it. Remember this is what Peggy calls the soapy bones. You are making sure that all of your joints are available for movement in response to any movement from your horse.
Take your time and don’t rush any of this. This is a whole lesson all by itself. Right now, you are anchoring a new way of being on your horse’s back.
Take the time to ALLOW your mind and your body to tell you what small nuances of position need to change to feel the incredible feeling that I call heaven and earth meeting in the saddle and to actually feel this on the back of your horse.
And enjoy the feeling and enjoy the mental, emotional AND physical connection to your horse.
If you haven’t seen it yet, click here for the Youtube of A brilliant riding seat From Your Horse’s Heart
– that used to be the name of this program a long time ago!