Photo: This is the kind of confidence – horse having confidence in rider and rider having confidence in horse – that you can look forward to if you do the work. The whole herd came down the laneway with Steve & Oliver, sped up and then galloped past and away from them and Oliver and Steve are still completely connected – mentally, emotionally and physically. And then they had the most fabulous relaxed but incredibly powerful ride in the same big paddock as the herd was in. I don’t know too many people in the horse world who could do that…
The Lesson
Taking your lovely, safe, strong, light and incredibly magnetic butt from the chair to your horse, to small movements on your horse, to really understanding the feel of the flexion of your pelvis and spine while you ride, to walking, trotting, then cantering, then galloping – all of that involves whatever BABY STEPS it takes to re-program your muscle memory effectively into this new tension and resistance free framework.
And this IS the Fast Track to Brilliant Riding – it is the way to chop years off your horse’s training and years off you learning to be a good rider and for some people it will take them to a level of excellence that they never could have achieved any other way.
And if you are going to keep all of that beautiful seat as you progress, then understand that you should be going slow enough (in moving to the next step) to take significant periods of enjoyment, with that listening inside yourself feeling, to program feeling really good on your horse into your muscle memory – mentally… emotionally… and physically in your seat too.
Now here is one of those statements that wants a drum roll to introduce it because it is so important.
You want to go that slow and feel THAT good, because the biggest motivation for your horse is feeling good. Why would they want to have you up there on their back otherwise?
Do you get how big that is?
If you want your horse to love you being up there on their back, if you want them to follow your lead, if you want them to follow your dance – then they had better be feeling seriously good about you being up there – and they can only feel good about you being up there if you are feeling seriously happy about each of those baby steps yourself as you progress.
You’ve seen with your horse how effective baby steps are – so now, no matter how good a rider you are – give yourself a break, go back to these baby steps and do it for yourself too.
The Fast Track to that powerful circuit of energy that the great riding masters talk of – for those of you who are looking for it – is in the breaking down of those steps forward into baby steps.
Fast Track is about the listening inside yourself that notices every resistance and every tension so that you can resolve them – easily and quickly and have that glorious feeling of wonderful, in every dancing step.
Here are some tips about things that can cause you to lose your magnetic riding seat:
1. The biggest cause of losing your magnetic riding seat at this stage of your re-programming, is for either you or your horse to be out of your Comfort Zones. Read that again folks, because that is incredibly important.
2. Having stirrups too long for your pelvis’s ability to flex. Don’t be afraid to shorten them for a while or forever – who cares – it’s the effect you have on your horse that’s important and if you are straining to over flex your pelvis past it’s ability to flex in this moment, you will be bracing somewhere and that WILL hurt your horse’s back – and of course hurting your horse’s back will take away any motivation for them to want you there.
3. If you push your heels down, you will lose your magnetic butt (crikey – all those “heels down!” yelled across arenas and yards – well sorry folks, try it for yourself, heels down will cost you your magnetic butt.)
4. Turning your toes in towards the horse, so that your feet are parallel with the side of your horse and you can grip with your knees – all of that will cost you your magnetic butt – you will lose it. (Gosh, was there ANYTHING we were taught that was actually “right”? Well maybe it was right in THAT context, but it’s not right in keeping a magnetic butt – and we want the security and safety and pure enjoyment for horse and rider that comes from a magnetic butt.)
5. Review that video from Fast Track Lesson 70 of Jeremy, our Korean wwoofer on “Magic”, showing you a few other things that will cause you to lose or decrease your magnetic butt. Click here to watch Jeremy again.
Revision Lessons
Now – with that question “Why would your horse want you on their back?” firmly in your mind, go back and review the lesson I call The Way of the Child – where our horse had a picnic in the hay while they learned to Pay Attention to you in a very relaxed way – while you played around on their back.
Also with that question “Why would your horse want you on their back?”, review the lesson about re-programming a tension free effortlessly powerful, magnetic riding seat while you graze your horse.
What you are looking for in taking action on these reviews, is to program into AUTO-PILOT both you and your horse feeling really, really good together as you are on their back.
Take the time to ANCHOR that chilled out happiness feeling on your horse’s back. Spend time soaking up every good feeling with appreciation, noticing what ALL your body feels like inside.
Because THAT HAPPINESS, that feeling good – THAT is the motivation for your horse to want you on their back.
Can you see how BIG this is? How fundamental?