Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show.......A Little on Balance.......and Boots.......

Part 1

During the show, I had realized I was having an issue with my show boots. I know that my legs are in two different positions when I ride. It stems from an old injury. My right leg comes out of my hip at a slightly different angle than my left and therefore my right leg "hangs" in the saddle a little differently than my left.

Now, I know all the dressage riders must be having fits at this point. Sitting squarely and correctly is a big deal to getting the horse moving correctly. I get that but I have also learned that balance is really the key in how we affect the way the horse moves. I know that my balance is not compromised by the angle my leg comes out of my hip because I have lots of experiences riding with air between the horse and the cinch or girth and that can't be accomplished without perfect balance. I am notorious for having a saddle that sifts as I get off my horse because I ride with the cinch that loose yet I rarely have to adjust the saddle when I ride.

The dressage teacher I worked with all those years ago actually let me ride an entire lesson on Dandy with several inches of air between the girth and my horse. It was only when I went to dismount that he stopped me knowing the saddle would roll and I might get hurt. When I asked him why he'd let me ride that way, he told me he had enjoyed seeing how correct my balance was.

I know that my body is not going to be corrected on this point or the fact my shoulders are rolled slightly forward either. That too is the result of an old injury and the physical therapists could not get it fixed. I may be able to push the very tips of my shoulders back but my back is not affected. It may look better that way but it doesn't help my horse because it is not the real correction in posture that needs to be made.

It is frustrating to know that my body is my worst enemy when it comes to riding. In dealing with this I have to remind myself of a conversation I had with a very successful BNT many years ago. While his comments weren't particularly sympathetic to the horse, they did make a very important point. A horse can be taught to move correctly even without the rider being in a perfect position.

Considering the success and the posture of this particular trainer, I would tell you what he said was correct. Without perfect posture, we much find a way to compensate that will help the horse to carry us. For me it has to do with how I place my feet in the stirrups or irons. When I get my feet right, I can get my balance right and with that I can get the horse right without causing a problem for my horse.

I have always been aware of my "compromised" position but I haven't been particularly aware of how I compensate to "fix" it. This only became obvious to me at the Daffodil All Arabian Spring Horse Show when I found myself having trouble with my balance but only for my classes.

Once I realized that I was not having an issue when I was schooling but only when I was showing, it didn't take much to realize that my show boots were causing the problem. My big clunky winter boot gives my foot no room to move out of the correct position while the narrower show boot leaves room for movement.

With my big clunky winter work boots, my foot takes up pretty much the whole area inside the stirrup and supports me quite well. I can maintain the angle I place my feet to affect how I carry my body weight on up through both legs. My show boots are much narrower and I can't really say that I have ever noticed it to be a problem before the show this spring. That doesn't mean it hasn't been a problem though, only that I didn't notice it until now.

I think the reason it was more obvious now probably stems from the fact, like my horse, I too am out of shape from lack of riding time this winter. The lack of strength made it harder for me to maintain the position of my foot inside the stirrup with the narrower show boot. The only way I could figure out how to fix this was to ride in my clunky winter boots.

I've made no bones about relaying the kind of conditions I school my horses in at the park. The footing there is sand and with this winter, that means very wet sand. My tack, my boots, my clothes and my horses all show the signs of these conditions. That means my winter boots are NOT pretty! and believe me when I say NOT pretty I mean it even with the thorough cleaning I did before taking them to the show.

I had begun to put the pieces of this dilemma together on Friday but it wasn't really until Saturday morning that I began to realize the correlation to the width of my show boots. I tried the leather cleaner I had to spruce up my winter boots but they still were not pretty but I convinced myself that only my toe was going to show so I showed with them anyway.

The result had been that open western pleasure class where my horse felt so nice and square underneath me. I had not struggled in that class to keep my saddle in the middle of my horse and if anyone notice d my ugly scuffed up toes on my work boots no one had mentioned it. Before riding championships on Sunday, I took those boots home to be polished by my husband. With years of military expertise, and many many payments for polishing others boots for inspection, Dave is an expert at making UGLY BOOT beautiful again. I knew he could fix it for me and Legs wouldn't have to deal with my being unbalanced in the saddle again.

To be continued................

Out of Balance......and Thoughts on Showmanship....

I think this is Scandalous Chase not too long after he was born.

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