So, it’s time for another thrilling adventure in dressage neepery. This time it’s all about the importance of the leg in riding, particularly in dressage.
This all started when my coach blew my mind by telling me that in the leg yield (which is a maneuver in which the horse steps sideway while keeping their body parallel to the rail while still moving forward) the yielding leg ie the leg that is pulsing against the horse’s body and telling them to step sideways remains directly under the rider’s hip.
I had alway thought that the yielding leg moved back slightly, but the coach said, “No.” It is the outside leg (meaning the leg in the direction the horse is traveling that moves back until it is slightly behind the yielding leg.
And it worked so much better. Vento remained relaxed, stepping forward while doing a very good cross over. We just sort of floated from the center line of the arena to the rail.
So, then I”m riding the young horse and he kept dropping out of the trot into the walk and sometimes he would try to stop when we were walking, Coach was trying to figure out what was happening.
She had me come over and halt and she slipped her hand between my calf and Odyssey’s side, and she couldn’t believe how tightly I was gripping him. Because I’m one of those people who figure if 100% is good 120% must be better.
I had been taught that you “drape” the leg along the side of the horse or “rest” the calf on their sides, but I was way overdoing it. I had also been taught to grip with my thigh and knee which is completely wrong for classical dressage. Thanks to my coach I had begun to relax my thigh and knee. Now I had to learn to do that with my calf as well. One friend said she had been taught that you are just barely touching the hair of the horse.
And again — mind blown. Once I started relaxing, softening, and easing up on my muscle tone Vento just floated and when I rode Odyssey yesterday he was so light and forward and wonderful.
Now this isn’t to say the leg is just hanging their like a dead fish. The inside leg will occasionally give a pulse to keep the horse’s momentum and also to keep reminding the horse to step through and be quick with their inside hind leg but you don’t want to strangle the horse. You can accomplish this with a soft press of the calf and sometimes just wiggling the ankle will do the trick. And if the horse is really dropping behind your leg rather than a sharp jab with the spur you turn your toes out and just gently scrape the spur along their side.
It’s always wise to remember how sensitive they are. A horse can feel a fly land on them which is why an equine massage therapist has to be so gentle when working on a horse.
