"Go Forward!" - Does your coach repeatedly say this???

​Many challenges in riding can be taken back to an underlying problem with the go forward button! Have you ever had your coach repeatedly ask you to “Go Forward”? I would say 99% of riders would answer yes to this problem.

Horses that are “In front of the leg” are horses that travel forwards by themselves. They take responsibility for the maintenance of the pace without constant reminders from their rider. In addition to this they respond quickly to a light leg aid to go forward to a higher pace or to increase the energy within the current pace.

Why do horses seem to find this concept so difficult? Or is it the rider that in fact finds the concept a challenge? Or after a while do many horses revert to conserving energy like most living beings and do as little as possible?
Does their training start to become less interesting to them?
Have they been pushed too far too soon and learnt to conserve their energy as they don’t really know how long the session will become so realise there is no point giving it everything they have at the start?
Have they become sore or not recovered fully from previous sessions?
Have they been overfaced with a movement, so the rider has asked with stronger aids and now the horse doesn’t really hear the quieter aids?

As you can see I have no answers but a lot of ideas and I think in many cases it is a combination of many of these scenarios and probably many more that I have not listed here. The important thing is that we, as riders do whatever we can to be aware of any of these creeping in.

Has the rider blocked the horse? I think this is a big one and much, much more common than we think. Everyone is well aware of the rider who pulls the horse’s mouth or restricts them too much in front when asking for the go forward in an effort to have the horse “on the bit”. The old “clash of the aids” trick that hopefully is outdated now. What I think is way more common is the rider who becomes too strong, potentially a little stiff in his/her body in an effort to sit still or to get their horse uphill or change its way of going and is in fact blocking the horse's natural movement. I see this so often in riders who come to me struggling with canter pirouettes, piaffe or passage. They forget to allow their horse to move and to allow themselves to move! This rider tightness isn’t just in these particular movements but is actually in all the movements. Gradually over time the rider has become stronger in their legs and seat without even knowing it. Finally it comes to a movement where it is not possible to ride this way and the horses says no. Some of these cases are totally unbelievable to see when they do the Rider Aware part of the Equest Connect Rider Course. All of a sudden these horses that were being ridden with a whip and spurs are travelling by themselves! It is just wonderful to see! It takes a really great person to commit to totally changing their riding style but these are usually highly driven riders who can feel the difference and are hooked from that moment!

A few years ago I designed the Equest Connect Rider Program. I honestly believe this is absolutely the best way to become incredibly aware and in control of your own body so that you can move in sync with your horse and develop the feel to know when, how and what to ask for at the correct time. Exercises are done on and off the horse to develop body awareness, flexibility and stability and these new feelings are linked to powerful imagery and self-selected cue words, ensuring easy recall during future rides. This allow riders to make rapid, long-lasting change and develop the ability to ride with super light aids that are easier for your horse to hear by reducing any unnecessary background noise (body movements) and easier for them to respond to by ensuring no part of your body is in conflict with what you are asking. I run these as individual or shared sessions, tailored to your own specific needs. Best of all, these complement what you do with your coach and are by no means designed to replace or interfere with your current training.