Stressing the Basics

With Cody up in Lexington, I have been riding very beginner/ low level horses. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to ride other people's horses while Cody is away but sometimes it can be discouraging to only be able to do very basic things. We take for granted how lucky we are to even be riding First level! I've never realized how great of a horse Cody is and how far he has come. It has really opened my eyes to see that Cody is so much more advanced than I thought. Not only so, but how far I have come. 

Although it is not as exciting as riding a half pass or shoulder-in, the basics are very important to our riding structure. The more we ride the lower level horses, the stronger our seat becomes and the more understanding we have for training horses up the levels. 

Tori, for example, is not a very advanced horse. She only been ridden a hand full of times, so I take things very slow with her. I make sure she completely understands something before I move on. However, I can't drill her or else she'll get bored and not focus. She's also very soft to my leg, so that forces me to ride with a quiet leg and seat. 

The basics aren't just focused on the horse, riders have basics, too, that we must master before venturing on up the levels. Basics, for example, of having a quiet leg leads to soft, quiet flying lead change aids. Too many riders ask for their lead changes with big, loud aids because the horse has become dead to the leg that they must make a big deal to get a response. This leads to so many other problems because the rider never learned to have a quiet leg. There are many other examples of this and, unfortunately, it happens more often than we think. 

A great way to work on improving your basics is jus signing up for a Dressage Seat Equitation class. They only ask for basic First Level movements and it's a great way to get feedback from the judge on how your seat is coming along. I've learned so much from just the several tips and suggestions they've given me from doing the DSE classes.

I can't stress enough how important the basics are. Judges see when a rider has a correct seat and an understanding of riding- even at Training Level. And it's not just a comment on the back of your test, it's an important factor in riding and training horses. Next time you ride, pull your stirrups off and just go back to the basics and focus on your seat. You will be amazed at how big of a difference a correct, basic seat will have on your horse- and your scores, too!