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Using Your Weight to Turn?

4K views 27 replies 8 participants last post by  xxBarry Godden 
#1 ·
Does anyone use their weight to turn your horse in Hunters?
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm not exactly a "Hunter rider", but I definitely use my weight as a steering aid. Just sitting a little deeper on one seat bone versus the other, no leaning or anything. The weight aid works together with leg aids to guide and encourage the bend and hand aids to guide the shoulders.

Weight can be a really powerful, yet subtle aid. A simple adjustment of balance and weight distribution from the rider can result in a dramatic change in the horse's balance and the way he comes through a turn, for example.

Sally Swift has an excellent discussion on the use of weight aids and how to think of them in her Centered Riding book.
 
#7 ·
the weight controls the speed and it is used to put your horse on the hindquarters in jumping and cross. In the show ring your suppose to smile and show as little movement as possible in hunter so you would mostly try to move him with as little movement as possible by your hands meaning that since the legs are less obvious to the judge you would use then more often to move your horse.
 
#11 ·
Um... weight controls balance, not speed. Your seat can control speed, in a way, by either creating driving or retarding energy(tilt pelvis back and flatten back to drive, tilt pelvis forward and put more S-curve in the back to retard). Legs create energy together to drive the hindquarters forward, or independently to move the ribcage and control the hind legs more precisely for lateral work. What puts the horse more on his hindquarters, in my understanding is the creation of energy via seat and legs, and the recycling of that energy through the hands. As far as I know, that applies over fences as well as on the flat.

I can't think of much that is less conspicuous than a simple weight shift to control your horse's balance, thereby influencing his direction, gait, or speed? :?
 
#8 ·
What did your instructor tell you, exactly? Not to use your weight at all?

IMHO, that's almost impossible. Applying leg changes your weight distribution, so weight is almost necessarily a part of leg aids... You can try to keep from weighting one side versus the other, but I know if I were to try that I would stiffen and have a hard time following the horse's motion.
 
#10 ·
Well... I'm just a western trail rider, never been to a show or event in my life. But my general rule of thumb is to control the horse the same way you do from the ground; with your whole body.
Like what Scout said, just put more weight into the direction you wanna go, keep eyes up and use the subtle changes in your body to cue your horse before leg and then rein.

At least that's the method I've used for three years, and it hasn't failed me yet :lol:
 
#12 ·
ilikehorses95: I know your supposed to move as little as possible, and I try to do that. My main goal every time I ride is get the horse to do their best, and not necessarily what looks the best. They is because I usually ride the horses that no one else likes because they are difficult.

Scoutrider: My instructor told me not to use my weight because it would cause me to lean, and it would put me in a bad position if he spooked.

I have yet to try not using my weight to turn, but I have a feeling that I would become very tense if I did.
 
#16 ·
Scoutrider: My instructor told me not to use my weight because it would cause me to lean, and it would put me in a bad position if he spooked.

I have yet to try not using my weight to turn, but I have a feeling that I would become very tense if I did.
There's a difference between shifting weight and leaning - perhaps your instructor is seeing you lean, and is hoping that my getting you to think about not using your weight, you'll correct the lean without losing your weight aids? A few times in my riding lesson career, my instructor has had me think about not doing something, or over correcting, to get the right idea in practice - the big one for me was always being told to lean back - sitting straight is what is needed, but to get really straight I had to think of leaning too far back... if that makes sense, lol. Perhaps your instructor is trying to get you to do something similar?

I love Sally Swift's discussion of weight aids; visualizing it as mentally moving more weight into one leg, thinking of one leg as heavier than the other. The thought often does enough to shift your weight properly. If you are actually leaning, you're trying too hard. :wink:
 
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#20 ·
True or not true when jumping your suppose to get off the horse's back, and when going downhill your suppose to sit more into your set
Sorry, it looks like you had a second image attached under the one of the rider in the red sweater? It's not coming up...

As far as jumping, you're precisely correct that that is what you do, but that has very little to do with speed or directional control. In that case, the idea of jumping position, or shifting your weight forward or back with incline, is all about maintaining balance with your mount's center of gravity. Leaning forward while going downhill overloads the forehand, and makes it harder for the horse to negotiate the terrain. "Getting off the horse's back" while going over a fence is still about balance, about allowing the horse to "do his thing" with minimal rider interference. It's a different use of the weight; staying out of the way, rather than influencing, as in the case of a transition (change in direction, gait, speed, or balance).
 
#17 ·
Having just attended a Larry Whitesell clinic in St. Croix Falls Wi. I have a whole new way of riding and its wonderful! We were taught to use only our pelvic to turn.. When you use JUST your pelvic the rest of your body automatically turns with it and its very undetectable. We also use our weight to slow down or speed up our horses... I no longer use my heels to "WALK ON" but instead gently "Roll the BALL".. meaning I use my pelvic in a forward motion curling my lower back forward. To slow down my horse I straighten my back and sit my butt gently but deeply into the saddle. My normally Jiggy mare loves my new way of riding and the cues are so subtle one can hardly know what I'm doing..... It has made a great difference in my communications with my mare and we are both so much more happy on the trail...
 
#19 ·
Scoutrider: My mom was watching me ride (She has been riding for 20+ years now) and she said that I wasn't leaning one bit. My instructor also didn't tell me that I was leaning at all during the lesson. Otherwise that is what I thought at first. I will have to look into Sally Swift.

Deej: I will have to try this method in my lesson. I haven't heard of something like this, and I think it is worth the try. Thank you. :D
 
#22 ·
Scoutrider: My mom was watching me ride (She has been riding for 20+ years now) and she said that I wasn't leaning one bit. My instructor also didn't tell me that I was leaning at all during the lesson. Otherwise that is what I thought at first. I will have to look into Sally Swift.
Huh... well, that kills that theory, lol. :lol: Then again, I'm not a trained hunter rider, so perhaps there's something in the theory that I'm not aware of regarding the use of weight aids in that discipline that I'm not aware of. In terms of sheer common sense, though, weight is going to factor in to your turns no matter what. Even to simply remain in balance, to be a non-interfering passenger, you need to apply your weight to stay in balance with the horse's position and motion through your turn... All the actual weight aid is is using your own weight and balance to make it easier for the horse to adopt the correct balance and posture...
 
#24 ·
Yes I do shift weight to the inside seatbone. Ive never heard of not doing that but I've never done hunters either. Doesn't make sense to me not to in all honesty. It helps balance the turn.

And to whomever said that you would be leaning - no, you don't lean. You stretch the side you are sitting into.
 
#25 ·
YW SpottedDraftRider! It does take practice and its hard not to swivel your shoulders when doing this at first. My mare was a Jiggy beast on the trail when I rode with a group. This method has calmed her alot... Its a part of a Natural Horsemenship style of riding with Dressage thrown in... I am a western rider and don't know much about Dressage but after learning a few of theses basic cues I hunger for more.... ;)
 
#28 · (Edited)
The thing to keep in your mind always is that there are several ways to modify a rdiing style to suit a sports discipline. If you ride 'light' as one does in a dressage test and you try to ride in the same way when out hunting a fox, then you'll come off at the first sharp turn. Likewise if you don't shorten the stirrups when competing in a show jumping competition, then you'll lose some shock absorbing ability when landing.

But back to using your weight - yes, use it to turn - in dressage just drop a hip but when hunting or out on a fast hilarious cross country ride, then when you go round a sharp bend or want to dodge a puddle then lean in and push down on the inside cheek. You've got to stay with the momentum of the horse and must not disturb the horse's balance.

A naturalised American, a Russian by birth, named Vladimir Littauer, used to write books on the 'Forward Seat' and he promoted coming up off the saddle and leaning forwards -Capt Caprilli style- which is sacrilege in modern parlance.

But Littauer and Caprilli rode their horses to war and neither visited horse circuses in Paris. Both guys, sadly, are long since dead.

Littauer trained cross country teams and he used to do things like galloping downhill and galloping along twisting turning woodland paths - and in such circumstances the rider definitely uses his/her weight and comes up off the saddle and pushes weight onto the stirrup irons.

Go play Chase me Charley in the woods and lean into the turns. That's fun - so long as you have a sure footed horse.
 
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