A good connection, that’s what we all want… but how do we accomplish this?
What if your horse wants to curl up or keeps taking over the tempo? Or gets tense when you try to ride him towards the hand?
Rien explains it according to the Circle of Energy.
What is meant with the Circle of Energy?
The Circle of Energy means that you ride your horse:
- from back to front,
- towards the hand,
- and you keep the energy within your horse.
And not, what you often see… The rider establishes enough activity, but it’s given away at the front.. because the reins are too loose.
Or when the rider is working backward with his hands. At that point, the energy he creates from behind evaporates at the front. The challenge is to find a balance between these two.
Loose reins never accomplish a connection
We all know we shouldn’t block our horse at the front and we shouldn’t force our horse in a certain head-neck frame. Your horse needs to go forward, from back to front, towards the hand.
But did you know that loose reins will never allow you to establish a good connection?
During the Live Q&As with Rien van der Schaft, we see this problem sometimes with our members.
They’re aware of not wanting to work backwards with their hands, however, as a result, they actually give away too much rein.
And with a loose connection like that, the horse can never get the right connection towards the hand, on the bit.
Make sure the water gets in the bucket
Rien always compares it with a water hose.
Imagine you have a tap with a water hose and a bucket. The goal is to receive the water in the bucket. If you place the bucket too far away (compare it with giving too much rein), then you can spray very far (raising activity), but the water will never reach the bucket.
Do I have a connection from back to front?
If your horse is using his body in the correct way and is forward, how do you know if there is a right connection?
You can check this by opening your hand. With a good connection, your horse will search for your hand in a forward and downward motion
If your horse escapes (throws his head in the air for example), then the frame was absolutely made the wrong way.
It’s crucial that when you give your hand, your horse wants to follow it forward and down.
