Riding your horse ‘through’: 5 tips
Throughness during riding a horse is a subject that cannot be talked about enough. A through horse can carry you more easily. But how does throughness actually work?
Not only the neck counts
A through horse looks nice. But that, of course, is not the main reason why a horse is asked to take the lead. Throughness is more than just having your horse's neck in the desired upward curve. When your horse is properly restrained, the whole body works together.
Throughness starts with the hind legs. You can practice this by making a lot of transitions. Because the hind legs, among other things, come under the body better and the neck sinks, the back of the horse rises.
Resistance vs. To pull
By stimulating your horse to better place his hind legs under the body, he tightens his abdominal muscles and starts walking forwards and downwards with a relaxed top line to the rider's hand. The rider must resist this to ride the horse together. With the latter, the mistake is often made that the reins are pulled instead of being resisted.
What exactly is the difference between resistance and pulling? It is good to relieve the pressure that a horse gives at the front. You must, however, continue to give. So don't block. One horse needs more support than the other. How can you test if you give too much resistance? Release the pressure. Does your horse sink or does it go faster immediately? Then chances are that you keep too much pressure. When you release the pressure a little, your horse should keep running at the same pace and in the same position.
Activating the hind legs means…
Activating the hind legs does not mean that your horse has to run faster. There must be an upward urge, but no increase in pace. To train the hind legs you can drive gears. Be careful not to float continuously. Give the help once and only do this again when you feel the impulse being lost. Before you can start with throughness it is important that your horse is on its feet. If this is the case, then it is not necessary to float at every step. A good, independent seat for the rider is also important.
Too heavy in the hand?
One horse is easier to handle than the other horse. These horses are harder to move to wear and become heavy in the hand. What can help is driving back the pace. Is your horse still in control? Then look for the corridor in which your horse emulates the easiest. Then try to hold on to the right feeling from there.
Beware of curling up
If the rider offers too much resistance with the bridle, it can happen that a horse is taught to walk too deeply and loosely from the bit. If your horse runs loose from the bit, the connection with which you communicate with your horse is lost. In this case it is recommended to let your horse stay longer in the neck and to drive forward. Do this until your horse looks up the hand itself.
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