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As Dressage riders, we’re always working on a nice soft contact and creating a connection from the hind leg through the back and into the hand. Connection is something that develops over many, many years of training, and developing connection with your horse starts with establishing a steady contact.
Remember that contact refers to the relationship between your elbow and your horse's mouth, and connection is the whole horse - the energy of the hind leg, through the back and into the hand.
In order to establish contact and connection, we need to have quiet hands, and for that to happen, following elbows. Your elbows play a huge role in the quality of your contact and the quietness of your hands.
What’s so important about what your elbows are doing to create contact and connection? Let’s look at each gait and how your horse is moving to find out!
Walk and Canter
If you watch your horse move, you’ll notice that their neck oscillates at the walk and canter. This movement is a result of the swinging of the horse’s back in these gaits. When you are riding with contact at these gaits, it’s important that you follow that oscillation with your elbows. If you don’t you won’t be able to keep a steady contact, the bit will bang in your horse’s mouth, and they will probably slow down or even stop! When you are following your horse’s motion with your elbows at the walk and canter, you want to think about your elbow joint bending and straightening slightly as your horse’s neck moves. This will allow you to maintain a nice, steady contact, which will then allow you to create a good connection with your horse.
Sitting and Posting Trot
Though our horse’s neck doesn’t really oscillate at the trot, their back does move up and down! And since we are sitting on their back, we move up and down with them. Therefore, you must follow this motion with our elbows at both the sitting and posting trot. At the trot, rather than your elbows bending and straightening forward and back, they will bend and straighten slightly up and down with the motion of the trot. When you we think about following with our elbows in this way, it allows you to have quiet hands and steady contact so that you can create that connection with your horse.
I hope these tips help you realize how important your elbows are in your riding! Pay attention to how you are following with your elbows on your next ride and I know that you will see a difference.
Happy Riding!
Amelia
00:00 Introduction/Sitting Trot Challenge
01:54 Why Following Elbows are Important
03:21 Follow Elbows Walk
04:24 Following Elbows Sitting Trot
05:15 Following Elbows Rising Trot
06:22 Following Elbows Canter
07:53 Sitting Trot Challenge/End of Video