Communicate better with your horse from the saddle - effective tips
Have you ever heard the saying "the quieter you speak, the more carefully your horse will listen"? When you find a way to communicate with your horse effectively, you will barely need to do more than adjust your seat and breathing when you want to signal your horse. There are many ways to improve communication with your horse, and in this article, we will share some useful tips.
How does a rider communicate with their horse on the saddle?
The horse listens to everything the rider does when he or she sits in the saddle. Even small gestures and movements the rider may not notice doing, affect the horse. Your horse is always listening and if the rider does not know how to effectively communicate with their horse, there will be miscommunication and confusion - on both sides.
Riders can communicate with their horse in the following ways:
- By using their legs and feet
- By using their hands and arms
- By using their weight and balance
- By relaxing and tensing muscles
- By using their voice
Effective tips for communicating better with your horse
Riders can learn to communicate with their horses effectively and with minimal effort, but it takes years of practice. If you've ever seen Olympic dressage riders communicate with their horses... well, you don't see much.
In the video below, you can see a great example of minimal use of signals.
In the video above, you will see rider Charlotte Dujardin with her horse Valegro, breaking the world record.
So, how can you start communicating effectively with your horse? We'll look at some of the best tips next.
Improve your balance
One of the best ways to become a better rider is to learn to sit quieter, and this can be achieved by improving your balance. You can improve your balance by riding on a lunge line, strengthening your core, and doing balance exercises off on or off the saddle.
When your balance is better, you will sit quieter and your horse will be able to recognize any changes in your weight. This allows you to start steering your horse with your seat, or even change the tempo of the gait.
Improve your strength
Many riders think that they don't need to work out or do any other sports. While horse back riding is an excellent sport and can surely make you sweat, hitting the gym or taking up another sport can help you to build strength that is needed when riding, too.
Having stronger legs, core, and back will help you to sit still, have a better posture, and control your body better. When you have good awareness of the movement and tension of your limbs, you can learn to relax yourself and control your movements.
Get magnetic safety stirrups
You probably wouldn't have guessed, but magnetic safety stirrups can help you to communicate better with your horse. For instance, many of our customers have reported the following benefits when using our Ophena S or Ophena S Pro:
- Improved leg position
- Improved foot position
- Better balance
- Better posture
- Decreased knee and join pain
- Better confidence
When you use our magnetic safety stirrups, the magnetic connection will pull your foot into the right spot and keep it there throughout your ride. This will ensure correct foot positioning which also affects how your leg is positioned. Simply by using our magnetic safety stirrups, you might start a snowball effect that starts from correcting your foot position, continues to correcting your leg position to improving your posture and giving you more confidence and better balance.
Don't believe us? Take a look at our stirrup reviews.
Ophena stirrups only from Ophena.com
Ophena safety stirrups are only available at Ophena.com. We have three popular and loved stirrup models: Ophena S, Ophena S Pro, and Ophena A.
- Ophena S is our original magnetic safety stirrup that has received over 1,500 five star reviews.
- Ophena S Pro is just as awesome as Ophena S, with some extra sparkle: improved grip for those who ride in any weather.
- Ophena A is our non-magnetic safety stirrup suitable for all disciplines.
Take a look at our stirrup models here.
Ready to get yours? Here's how you do it:
- Choose your preferred stirrup model
- Choose the color
- Choose the size of your magnetic insoles if you chose Ophena S or Ophena S Pro
- Fill in your details
Your stirrups will ship to you fast! You will also have a 60-day money-back guarantee (this makes them a wonderful present or a gift to someone you love, too).
