info@chrisirwin.com
Now we see a lovely frame of body = a wonderful frame of mind. Now Walter has let his legs relax completely and, in fact, is using his right “inside” leg to bend Flip’s barrel in order to balance her entire body on the arc of the turn to the right he is asking for. He is also using his left “outside” leg to turn the outside of her bending body into the right turn. Walter is now aligned with his center (look at his belt buckle) perfectly straight with Flip’s spine so that they are both on the same track of the right turn. When we see how soft the reins are we know that the shape of Flip’s body is coming from Walter’s seat and legs instead of his hands. Now his right hand is no longer pulling right but instead merely blocking any unwanted left turns while the body is bending and sent to the right. As Walter truly rides Flip “from front to back” and from “inside to out” with his body language - instead of pulling on Flip’s face - we now see that his mare is relaxed and focused on the task at hand. Great riding Walter!
www.chrisirwin.com info@chrisirwin.com
Our final photo is Chris riding his 3 year old Friesian x Hanoverian mare Ekwa. This is only Ekwa’s seventh ride of her young life and she is being ridden alone, without the company of other horses, on her first trail ride into nature. Although this is only Ekwa’s seventh ride of her life - look how relaxed and focused she is while being ridden away from the other horses and into the wilderness. Although she is so young and inexperienced we see a profound level of calm and relaxation in Ekwa because during her few rides Chris has only ridden her with his body aligned properly with Ekwa’s and Chris has never used the reins to pull on her mouth. Ekwa has only experienced being ridden in a comfortable frame of body and therefore she maintains a comfortable frame of mind. Proof positive that with horses - it’s not how much you do something - it’s how well you do it - and it’s not “where you go” with horses but “how well you go.”
www.ridingmagazine.com www.ridingmagazine.com | March 2014 | California Riding Magazine 61
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