The horse is capable of travelling at a gallop of up to 60km/h, negotiating obstacles, shying from dangers, and coming to a complete halt within a few metres. It should be obvious that any rider needs a high level of physical intelligence. Those who are physically intelligent by nature are the ones that can be galloping on their first ride. Those who have less physical intelligence, may need a few lessons before they feel comfortable cantering and galloping.
In addition some riders will have more upper body intelligence, whereas others will have more lower body intelligence. The truth is this. On a horse, lower body intelligence is more important. If you have lower body intelligence, you legs will naturally do a lot of the things that keep you in the saddle. If you feel secure in the saddle, you won't hunch and hang off the horses mouth. The horse will feel good, and be willing. You will gain confidence and ride better. As you ride better, then horse will gain trust. And so on. Upward spiral to success. Brilliant.
If you have more upper body intelligence (like me) then you need to work, think and train your legs. Your natural reaction will be to rely on your upper body to keep you in the saddle, rather than your legs. The only time the upper body will keep you in the saddle is if you hunch forward and hold onto the horse's neck. This will make the horse freak out, it will make the rider less confident and more likely to hold on more, which in turn makes the horse lose trust. Downward spiral to giving up.
The good news is that you can train your legs to have the required intelligence. It's not actually that hard. But you need a coach who understands your problem.
The Coonara
8 years ago
1 comment:
Hmm, this is really interesting. I'd never thought about physical intelligence, just natural or sporting ability. I don't have it in spades. I remember when I started horse riding years ago that it took months before I found my "balance". Part of that was having a bad fall in my third or forth week -- I ended up with a hairline fracture of my pelvis and lost my nerve. But I really wanted to ride so I persisted, even though I'd be ill before each session.
When I'd been riding six months, my brother came along and was almost immediately comfortable. I couldn't believe it. The same when we went ice-skating. The first time we went he was able to skate, whereas six weeks down the track I was still wobbling along, at which point I did give up.
He was always better at sports than I. Now I'll have to tell him it's because he has more physical intelligence. He'll like that!
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