Rhythm of the Ride

Develop your sense of feel so you can apply the right aid at the right moment.

- BY LAURA BOYNTON JOBSON

Experienced riders have a way about their riding that is no doubt mesmerizing. The communication with their horses is all but imperceptible: quiet hands, relaxed legs, sitting tall and balanced, showing a special connection without saying anything at all. Instructors call this “feel.”

With over two decades of experience riding and training with emphasis in classical dressage, Collette Zimmer of Odessa, Fla., has earned her U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF) bronze and silver medals. She explains that “feel” is the ability to notice what the horse’s body is doing and to respond at just the right moment with the right aid.

But before you can develop good “feel” in the saddle, you must understand one very important thing: how horses move. Here, we will help you understand how the horse moves and how to match your body to the movement so that your riding becomes smoother, quieter, and more effective with Collette’s advice.

TRAIN YOUR EYE

"Before climbing into the saddle, spend a few minutes watching a horse move on the ground in a round pen, on a longeline, or observe horses in the pasture," Collette says. "Notice which feet land at the same time and which move separately in each gait."

A stride is one full cycle of leg movement before the pattern repeats itself.

THE WALK

The walk is the easiest gait to understand because it is slow and steady. It's a four-beat gait, meaning each leg moves separately.

The pattern of a walk is left hind, left front, right hind, right front. This is called a lateral gait because horses move their legs on the same side one right after the other.

What You Should Feel:

Your seat swings forward and back and slightly side to side.

The horse's belly also swings side to side.

The belly swings left when the right hind legs steps under and the right when the left hind steps under.