336 | Why is Your Horse Falling In

Why is your horse falling in?  More importantly, how do you know if your horse is falling in?   The quickest and easiest way I can explain this is to imagine you are riding a circle that you have planned out beautifully in your head, but as your horse travels around it you seem to be getting more and more off track with each passing stride. In fact what started out as a 20m circle is soon resembling a 10m triangle, drawn by a three-year-old... Another area where this problem can tend to rear its ugly head is when traveling around a corner and, again,  just like before you have set the course. You half halt, but your horse's actual path and the one you envisioned in your head are worlds apart.   The initial problem is then compounded by the frustration that it is happening so regularly, there being 4 corners in every arena and all.   Welcome to the world of falling in... Which is almost exactly what it sounds like.   You set a course, and instead of following it, your horse 'falls in' on the shape. Now while we may initially blame ourselves for bad planning or awful usage of basic shapes and, very often, after we reach for our markers to help guide us along, we begin to realize that far from this being our inability to correctly execute a circle, this issue stems more from our horse's inability to balance himself while being ridden on the said circle. This is a frustrating and annoying problem that  may represent a fundamental flaw in a horse's basic training and what is actually happening is your horse cannot balance himself correctly. Read More... Additional Resources to Help with This Topic Your Independent Seat is Everything in Your Riding The Evolution of Your Aids in the Saddle Improving Rider Coordination The Direct Relationship Between Your Fitness & Your Riding Lunging for Riding Online Community for Equestrian focusing on Planning and Mindset Connection; the Online Membership for Equestrians