This is and excerpt from Breaking and
Training the Stock Horse by Charles O.
Williamson. All materials are copyright.
Riding[i]
No one can become a good
horse trainer nor ride and properly handle a
good horse unless he is capable of sticking
on under almost any circumstances. In other
words, he must have a good seat in a saddle.
To acquire a good seat, he must have a
reasonably good natural sense of balance in
the first place. A good rider rides on
balance, not on grip, and even when the
going is rough and there are “fireworks,”
little grip should be necessary.
The type of saddle is not too important
although it is hard to acquire a good
balance in deep saddles with high forks and
cantles and especially in stock saddles with
raised seats in front. The raise prevents
the rider from getting “down” and forward in
the seat when there is action in order to
bring the center of gravity directly over
the center of gravity of the horse. The
canter of gravity of the rider is in the
region of the diaphragm above the stomach;
that of the horse is directly back of the
shoulders and about the middle of the body
from top to bottom. When riding leisurely in
a walk, it is natural and correct to sit
back in the seat of the saddle, but even
when trotting, the seat should be forward
and more on the crotch than the buttocks.
This makes it easier for both horse and
rider. All that is necessary to change the
seat from buttocks to crotch is to sit
straight and ride with back concave instead
of convex.
When riding in a walk, the weight of the
legs only should be on the heels, so that
the latter are a little lower than the toes.
Let the legs assume a natural position. If
the toes are inclined to turn outward, let
them. If they point straight forward that is
all right. Pictures of the finest riders in
the world, at the Olympic games, riders of
high jumpers, often show feet turned at
almost right angles to the horse’s body.
Riders who sit back in the seat of the
saddle with feet thrust forward and who
depend entirely on a vise-like grip of the
legs and the riding halter, bridle, or
hackamore rein to keep them on when the
going is rough should not be copied. Such
methods do not constitute good riding. They
cannot be glowed for more than short periods
at one time.
The rider should be relaxed and should
practice for a good posture with head up,
shoulders squared away, back concave, so as
to tilt tie pelvis forward and put him on
the crotch. If the novice is not tense but
rides in a relaxed ease, he will not become
sore and stiff even from his first ride. The
type of saddle being used makes no
particular difference.
When riding at gaits faster than a walk, not
only the weight of the legs but half of the
weight of the body, should be on the heels,
the muscles of the legs relaxed, thus
bringing the heels much lower than the toes.
Thus the rider more or less “floats on the
saddle. The jar of the horse is thus taken
and distributed in the ankles, the knees,
the crotch, and the waist and amounts to
nothing. The faster the gait, the farther
forward the body should be leaned, the knees
well forward, the heels well back of
perpendicular, by all means not our in
front. The seat just described is generally
know as the “forward seat” and is usually
frowned upon by riders of gaited horses
which are ridden almost altogether in the
show ring and which, because of this fact,
do not require too much balance, but all
good riders of fast turning reining and
cutting horses, riders of hunters and
jumpers and men doing actual hard riding on
the ranges (not rodeo riders), use this eat
when the going is rough. It is seen
exclusively at the Olympic games where there
are no gaited horses or bucking horses. It
is the balanced seat. Much practice is
required to acquire this seat and especially
if you have already learned other ways of
riding but, if you once master it, you will
use no other and will not be tossed over the
horse’s head if he suddenly stops and whirls
or refuses to jump, or plays up, or suddenly
kicks very high. When learning and
practicing for the balanced seat, do not be
surprised and discouraged if, for a while,
it seems very impractical and difficult to
acquire. Some day you will find yourself
using it unconsciously and riding easily
and, after that, no effort will be necessary
to maintain it.
A useful exercise in practicing for the
balanced seat is as follows: with horse in
standing position or at the walk, the rider
having assumed the correct seat as
previously described, practice standing in
the stirrups on the heels, which of
necessity are “down,” ankles relaxed, knees
bent (not straight), body leaning slightly
forward, back concave, seat “floating” in
the middle of the saddle (not to the rear),
hands on the reins and free. At first, it
will be found that the heels must be pushed
far to the rear in order to stand in the
stirrups in this position without steadying
yourself by holding to the fork of the
saddle, but with practice it will come
easier and the heels will be only a few
inches back of perpendicular. When the
position can be easily assumed while the
horse is standing, start practicing it at
the walk, later the trot. After sufficient
practice, it will seem very natural that you
ride in this manner any time there is
movement faster than a walk and especially
when the going is rough and the action
violent.
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[i] Taken from Breaking and Training the
Stock Horse by Charles O. Williamson. All
material copyright.
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