Leaning, gripping, and being "on the bit"!

[BlackJackBreeze]

I have been riding for just over 3 years. I half lease a 10 year old connemara pony gelding who's been wonderful so far but I have issues with my riding that I would really like to correct before I move on to jumping him and doing more intense riding.

At the barn I used to ride at, I usually ended up riding the spooky, bucky, quick, or green horses instead of progressing my riding to more advanced figures and movements. As a result, I never did much sitting trot or canter circles. I recently switched barns (I love the new one, its great for me!) and now that I am riding more independently, I'm finding some problems. First is that when I ride the sitting trot my stirrups "float" below my feet and i end up gripping with my thighs. It's only on my lease horse though and when I ride school horses it doesn't happen even though I'm not worried or scared on the lease horse. Also, when I ride canter circles, I feel like I'm leaning to the inside and my instructor mentions it also. I've tried sitting more to the outside but then my turns go too wide. I think I need to turn from the waist and shoulders instead of leaning in the direction I want to go.

Last is a concept I want to be able to apply every single time I ride (which is twice a week). I want to have the horse underneath himself, engaged, and "on the bit". I've heard these terms along with "rounded topline", "on the vertical", etc, etc. But I have no clue how to accomplish this "dressagy" movement from my horse. Does anyone out there have any tips on how to get my horse engaged and on the bit, or any description of what it feels like when the horse IS engaged, etc? Any advice is much appreciated!

[lneill84]

It will be impossible to get your horse "on the bit" without proper riding technique. Take your stirrups away for a couple of weeks. As much as it sucks, you will learn to stay balanced and not grip with your thighs. You lean one way, and youre going onto the ground. Something else you can try without stirrups is pulling your thigh, from your hip, away from the horse and holding it at the walk, and eventually sitting trot and canter. It just sounds like you are weak in your legs, which is fairly common. Start doing leg exercises on your days off, and work on your legs becoming more independent. Horses go on the bit when they are engaged behind. If you are leaning one way or another, or gripping with your thighs, you will not be able to "push" him up to the bit. Everything comes from a horses hind end. If he is supple and responsive, you should be able to get him in a frame without ever touching his mouth. You will feel him engage his hind end-he will get bouncer and step up more. Fix your problems first, and then work on getting him up.

[DomBee8]

I totally agree, ride without stirrups for a while. That will force you to grip with your calfs instead of your thighs. And if you canter and lean in, you'll loss you banlance and fall. It will teach you to stay centered. If you leg only falls back on your lease horse, it could be because he just has a different trot. Or, in most cases, it means that your more relaxed. I see a lot of people that are fine and very focused on their riding on a lesson horse, but as soon as they hop on their lease horse or their own horse they get lazy and make careless mistakes. Riding without stirrups should solve the first two problems. For the last one, I would ask for help from and insructor. They will be able to teach you the proper way to execute these moves or get those results.