Page 14 - CR NEWS Summer 2020

By Lucile Bump
SHARED ENERGY
When working with shared energy, receive as much energy from the horse as you give. Balance, energy and impulsion interact and result in effortless, brilliant movement as horse and rider share their energy.
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Exercises Without Hands-On
When I teach a Centered Riding lesson,
I always ask riders to go through the four basics as they walk the horse to warm up. It is very helpful to talk a rider through the basics.
Here are a few Centered Riding exercises you can teach the rider from a distance.
Knee-up/heel-down exercise
This exercise must be done at a standstill with a steady horse who doesn’t mind the rider’s movements. You may need to hold the horse. If the horse is nervous, for safety reasons, you may have to choose a different exercise.
While mounted, the rider brings one knee up and over, toward the pommel. Now, the rider stretches the heel down straight to the ground, stretching the calf of the leg, and then releasing. The release is the most important part.
In addition, make sure the rider does the stretch gently and stops if it becomes too much. This exercise will stretch the inner thigh and the calf. Continue by alternating legs.
This exercise can also be done at a walk, trot and canter, depending on the horse and rider. The rider may hold onto the pommel. This exercise gives the rider a longer leg and a deeper seat.
Another knee-up/heel-down exercise
While the rider is seated in the saddle,
and without bringing up the knee, ask her/him to stretch the heel on one side down toward the ground. At the same time, ask the rider to raise the opposite hand, stretching it up toward the sky, with the thumb toward the back.
The objective is to feel the diagonal con- nection through the body. Once the rider feels it, ask her/him to change and do the same exercise on other side. As the rider continues, ask her/him to observe which
side is more difficult, and to continue working both diagonal stretches – ideally, until they become equal.
The rider will need to accept that she/he may not achieve an equal stretch on both sides in just one lesson. This kind of change may take a long time.
This exercise helps to equalize the two sides of the body, and helps to straighten students whose bodies are unbalanced.
In every corner and through every circle, ask the rider to raise the inside shoulder, then send that shoulder blade back and down toward the opposite seat bone. This will help the rider find the turn in the body and will keep the rider from collapsing on the inside. It also puts a little weight toward the outside of the turn.
Hand under seat bone
Another riding exercise I like is to ask the rider to put one hand under the seat bone, palm up, and ask the horse to walk. The objective is to feel the push of the hind leg and how much movement there is.
This helps the rider learn to follow that movement of the horse. If someone leads the horse, the rider can put a hand under each seat bone. If no one is available to lead the horse, just one hand at a time works fine.
The “Punching” exercise
Level II Centered Riding instructor Carolyn Fairchild shared with me an exercise she calls “Punching.” This can be done with someone leading or lunging the horse, or while the rider is riding free in the arena on a very trusted school horse. In any case, be sure to stay safe.
Ask the rider to drop the reins and knot them, then punch their arm forward, as if to hit a punching bag. The rider should make sure the back of the hand is up at the end of the punch. The rider can continue punching
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