Here’s a news flash.
Your style of riding may actually manifest the behavior in your horse that worries you the most.
I did not learn to ride until I was in my late 20s. My mother was afraid of horses and even though they made my soul sing, I was not allowed to be around them much.
Consequently, when I rode I actually had a decent seat, but I tried to “hold” my horse into good behavior. My reins always had a lot of contact and were raised, and my legs were actually usually gripped around my horse all the time.
Fortunately, I rode a saint of an American Saddlebred, and his 16.2hh self tolerated my silliness with grace.
One day, my 8 year old watched me canter him and said to me with great wisdom, “Mama, you’ve got to learn to drop your hands and take your legs off. Some day you are going to be riding a horse who will be very upset and forward with you riding like that and you are gonna get hurt.”
You know what? She was absolutely correct.
And I had to work on myself for almost a year to correct those 2 bad habits.
#1 if my horse decides to run off, my tight reins are not going to stop him, and my clamped legs will actually skew my balance, so that I am more likely to not stick with him.
#2 Doing these things communicates tension and worry, and causes your horse to be more jittery and animated and ready for flight anyway (Unless you have a saintly Saddlebred ironically named Charger)
That picture you see is another Saddlebred we currently own. He went with my teenager to be in the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade. Unfortunately, youth rules required he had to be ridden in a tie down, so you see one there (but we fake rigged it to comply and be of no action lol).
That kiddo rode him through all those shenanigans with relaxed legs and loose but ready reins. She only gave him contact to give him some direction or redirection. He made it all the way through as the American Flag bearer in good form, with a 100 piece band behind him and a giant inflatable in front.
Had she ridden Bug all clamped down, he’d have been a snorty, fancy mess who’d have not been reliable enough to carry that flag in any honorable way.
Some horses are by nature upheaded and looky. They notice everything. You know what? That’s okay.
But these guys are going to depend on you to be a potato up there who could care less about anything.
A ready potato, but a potato that projects easy nonchalance and an unflappable nature.
For some of us riders, this takes quite a bit of practice. And for some, if you are honest, you’ll not ever be able to make yourself get there. You just won’t overcome what you perceive is a loss of control over the situation.
If the latter is you, then be careful what type of horse you purchase for yourself. You’d not ever get along with my “Bug” for example.
Just remember…
That does not mean horses like Bug are bad horses. Nor does it mean that all Saddlebreds (for example) are bad horses.
It merely means that you are not going to be the appropriate partner for those horses. If you cannot learn to be a ready potato, then do yourself and those horses a favor and find one like Charger.
If you at all can, teach yourself to ride relaxed but ready. Truly you’ll enjoy your trailrides and other activities more if you can.
And so will your horse
