Anyone that rides, stopping short of, say, McLain Ward, rides with faults. I have piano hands and what I guess must be a mortal fear of holding my outside rein, too much of a lean with my upper body, and a tendency to duck and/or twist in the air over fences. (Just to name a few.) My intention, with every ride, is to work on fixing all of these things. I think the upper body lean will be the last to go because I learned it as a defensive way to ride young, green, or opinionated horses and it’s a bit of a security blanket. The thing I feel most strongly about is the ducking and twisting over fences. That habit has a direct and undesirable affect on my horse, so if I could fix anything magically, that would be it.
If there is something you could change right away about your riding, what would it be?
Oh my god SO MUCH. Like, most things. But if I had to pick just one, I’d probably pick my toes. For whatever reason, they point straight out over fences and it is completely awful. I have no idea why I do this. It’s why I wear super mild rubber spurs and put them really low and ride a super chill horse- because I accidentally goose him. It takes SO MUCH focus for me to try and keep my toes pointing forward.
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That is a hard thing!
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OMG this is me too. Like… people are impressed my ankles can turn that much. 90 degress from the horse’s side- no joke
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I blame my classical ballet training….that I haven’t done in 10 years haha
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YES this is me too – I have no dance training, but literally can’t physically point my feet straight (on the ground or mounted). I actually have photos where my toes are PAST 90 degrees. Like, what? How?
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I’m a forward leaner and I try to see spots that I have no idea what I’m looking for. I’ve only jumped with proper instruction for about 3 years so I have a LOT to learn still!
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I don’t think I will ever get rid of my lean
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I have an over-active middle – I look like I’m actively belly dancing at the canter and it’s not only awkward looking, but also makes it harder for my pony to hold himself together when I’m not holding myself together!
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In many ways, I am glad my discipline allows for riding in a half seat pretty much all the time
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I would gps my outside leg
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Ha! I might need that, too
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Why the hell does my body think I need to give with my chest? Leaning, ducking, whatever. Stay up and open chest!
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SAME. UGH.
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Leaning and my leg slipping. Related obviously. One day I’ll learn to sit back.
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I’m with you – I am a ducker, so if that could magically go away, that’d be great!!
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Right??
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So many things….
Same on the upper body–it needs to be fixed but it’s very deeply ingrained at this point.
Better left hand. Sitting more even in my seat.
Those are my top contenders.
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Oh yes, my left hand, too. It wanders.
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Aaah, what wouldn’t I fix? The leaning, the ducking, my opening fingers, my swinging left leg, and whatever the hell my right hand is doing because I don’t even know anymore.
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My shoulders. They like to hunch. It’s not great to let my shoulders fall forward when I’m trying to get my horse’s shoulders to lift. And also my lower leg. It’s pretty okay most of the time but every once in awhile it goes rogue and ends up way too far back.
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I get hunchy, too. Makes for a downhill ride
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Literally my existence. All the time.
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Definitely my shoulders. Sometimes I just tense them so tightly that my arms will go numb and I can’t move them for a few days without pain. Other times, I hunch and slouch like a damn monkey, which messes up everything below.
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I relate to that — sometimes I scrunch my shoulders up into my ears and I have no idea why
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Same! And then I think people are crazy until I see the pictures. xD
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First, my leg/ankle. Second the thing in my brain that says “look down” when I don’t see my distance.
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Speedy healing! My brain doesn’t even say anything, I think “look down” might be my default factory setting.
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My hands, they are bracing and not relaxed enough plus they get wide over time!
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Ooooh, my hands occasionally drift apart from each other and I realize rather quickly how much that makes everything worse.
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In dressage I’d love to be able to sit the trot, in jumping a steady lower leg. But all around I need to close my damn fingers around the reins
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I think sitting trot is one of the hardest things to master
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