might I have done during the riding session that may have caused body issues? Was I sitting straight or dropping a seat bone? Were my legs quiet and evenly appropriate beneath me without kicking too much? Were the reins of even length (particularly difficult for me since my left arm is nearly two inches shorter than my right)? Was the horse being ridden honestly straight from my core, or was I unbalanced? Did I sit upright or lean forward a touch which threw my horse on her forehand? Were my elbows flexible with steady hands which allowed consistent contact? Could I hold and then release the reins without ever pulling back? I have always wanted to ride
well and have aspired to model myself after riders who look good and at the same time are effective in the saddle. I have a newfound goal to learn to control my rogue body parts and relax my tense joints and muscles. It became evident that my horse needs me to ride more correctly since her fit, healthy body was displaying issues that were a mirror to my own physical deficiencies. Based on my experiences
with my own horses, I started to observe riders with a different eye. Once I was certified with The Masterson Method, I would watch a client ride her horse before massaging and working on her horse. Consistently I found that the horse’s body, assuming no significant medical issue, mirrors that of the rider. For instance, stiff arms and tight or overly busy hands often correlate with tight polls; a dropped seat bone or uncentered rider can cause unilateral lumbar soreness; a rider’s tight back and restricted hip joint can inhibit the horse’s ability to use his back freely restricting his fluid movement.
RIDING WITH CONTACT Here’s one specific example of how I have applied the techniques of The Masterson Method to my riding. Correct and effective contact is one of the most difficult skills to develop as a rider. From my work as a Masterson Method practitioner, I have theorized that when hands are unsteady or stiff, the horse first tries to stick his nose out so that the bit hits the lips, not the bars of the jaw. Secondly, if forced to drop his nose through heavy hands,
he absorbs the shock of the hands in the poll to protect the mouth. And third, the horse drops his head behind the vertical to once again avoid the impact of unsteady or pulling hands. Through my experience practicing The Masterson
Method, I have come to recognize the vital importance of steady hands so the horse can relax into a consistent, following contact. Steady hands does not equate to rigid, unmoving hands and arms. I discovered that as his body moves through the motions of walk, trot and canter, my arms, especially my elbows, needed to remain flexible and soft in order to steadily follow his mouth. This requires a lot of “feel” in the beginning. Once my horse trusted my hands and the contact was steady, I could begin to experiment with different levels of rein pressure in my hands depending on the situation. Could there not be value and purpose in a range of intensities akin to squeezing an egg yolk, grape, lemon and lime? It seems to me that in riding it is important to develop the contact-feel when there is resistance on the part of the horse akin to my experience in practicing The Masterson Method of bodywork: to understand when
to hold (without pulling back) the contact through the resistance followed quickly by softening when the horse begins to yield, when to soften proactively and re-ask to lessen the resistance, and when to proactively soften and give the contact before the resistance is frank. I now have a much better feel for what my trainer means when she asks me to “hold . . . now soften” during a riding lesson.
LASTING INFLUENCE I believe it is at the second rung of the dressage training pyramid, relaxation, that lessons from the practice of The Masterson Method can be most helpful. Yet it also helps with the contact and suppleness aspects as well. Thanks to my training in this technique, I feel I have gained good ground on being able to answer my fourth question, is my aid a fair question to ask of my horse? Now I’ll keep working on questions one, two and three. Combining The Masterson Method with my dressage training is a fascinating process that promises to last a lifetime.
Above: Coralie and Jim Masterson stand with the mare Bella Nova owned by Whitney Jaeger. 40 July/August 2012
Photo by Ann Bennett/Windrush Hill Farm
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