Best Horseback Riding Lessons in Burgess Hill

What is self-carriage?nnThe term self-carriage literally means the horse is maintaining its balance without needing support from the rider.nnI hear this term thrown around a ton and my most frequent response is -nn“I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”nnOr more accurately - nnTheir perception of where the horse should be balanced is incorrect, and the rider is rarely allowing their horse the true opportunity to practice it. n.n.n.nIn order for your horse to maintain its balance without needing support from the rider, two things must happen. nn1.) They must be properly developed through their thoracic sling so that they have the muscles to support where their center of balance should be (under the saddle) instead of bracing with their ventral neck to fix their poll and using that for balance. - See image below. nn(My preference is to develop these first in-hand before asking them to utilize them under the weight of the rider).nn2.) The rider must ride with a goal of helping their horse FIND their center of balance and in a habit of frequently dropping the contact to ALLOW for the horse to practice carrying itself there to further develop aforementioned muscles. nn(Whereas with modern dressage and many hunter/jumper horses are subjected to unrelenting pressure on the bit and often the same from the riders' legs so there is no chance of ever achieving true self-carriage)nnHorses that can be ridden at liberty are often celebrated as masters of self-carriage, so are many western disciplined horses, but most of the time you will find those horses with a braced ventral neck, fixing the position of their poll to use that brace for their balance. nnBalance at the expense of their body. nAn expense that causes nerve compressions, chronic arthritis, and a slew of undiagnosed lamenesses. nnIt is important for us as an industry to start recognizing dysfunction and compensatory patterns instead of just “training”, ie- can the horse do the thing vs HOW is the horse doing the thing, so we can truly improve equine welfare. nnJust like a human can lift weights for years and years without proper form and eventually blow out their back, the same happens to our horses when we do not take into consideration what muscles are required for proper function of the demands we are putting on their bodies. nnFor more information on how to properly develop these muscles starting in-hand and all through the levels, visit -nnWww.balancethroughmovementmethod.comnn#balancethroughmovementmethodn#selfcarriagen#equinewelfare n#equineperformancedevelopment...