My lesson this morning included really working on soft hands, arms, elbows. This led to a segue into other bits and pieces relaxing for responding to the aids.
One of the websites my trainer directed me for learning how to release when my horse responds, was eurodressage.com. There were some very interesting articles on the art of release. So, taking some of this information from the article, I began to pay attention to what my seat/buttocks do while I'm riding. To my (horror) surprise, I found that even while just sitting on my horse listening to my coach, I was holding mild tension in my glutes.
Earlier in my warm up at the walk, I was feeling pretty tuned in to how much tension I had in my glutes. For example I'd compress my seat and he'd halt immediately, I'd then relax the muscles of my hip/butt. As the lesson progressed, all this attention to the muscle tone went completely out the arena, I'm always concentrating so hard.
I'm still in learning and experimenting mode. I would love to hear more about just how relaxed I "should" be. And how much is too much? TIA.
One of the websites my trainer directed me for learning how to release when my horse responds, was eurodressage.com. There were some very interesting articles on the art of release. So, taking some of this information from the article, I began to pay attention to what my seat/buttocks do while I'm riding. To my (horror) surprise, I found that even while just sitting on my horse listening to my coach, I was holding mild tension in my glutes.
Earlier in my warm up at the walk, I was feeling pretty tuned in to how much tension I had in my glutes. For example I'd compress my seat and he'd halt immediately, I'd then relax the muscles of my hip/butt. As the lesson progressed, all this attention to the muscle tone went completely out the arena, I'm always concentrating so hard.
I'm still in learning and experimenting mode. I would love to hear more about just how relaxed I "should" be. And how much is too much? TIA.