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    [RC] Right-Handed Riders/Diagonal (long) - Mary


     

    I tend to agree at least it is the same for me.
    For years I assumed my old gelding had a favorite diagonal as they do in the canter leads and he would constantly bump me over to the left diagonal.  As we went along together for about three years and did very well in our 50 milers, always in top 5, I never worried much about it and just figured horses are no different than people and prefer one side over the other (as in right or left hand)  As he became more and more built up on one side in shoulder and the hip muscles I also thought, hey, people aren't perfectly balanced either, right.  A lot of us have one leg slightly longer than the other or tilt a little at the hip because we have poor posture.  But as time has gone by and I have truly learned the hard way its not the horse its me!   He started to show soreness after a ride and would be slightly off and we no longer did well in competition.  Then with my next Endurance Mare it started to happen again.  So I feel, and so does my instructor, that I have made them one-sided and unbalanced in their muscle definition because of my build and poor balance.  Kinda like the chicken and the egg thing which came first?   Did he cause me to ride one-sided or did I make him one sided?  My saddle even needed to be re stuffed on one side and one day I discovered my favorite winter riding pants had lost all the lining in only the left leg!   
    With training and Dressage work and always being aware of my seat and balance I try and not allow this to happen in my new gelding.  It is working so far.  I always try to change the diagonal and even spend more time on the one I'm weak at because in one year with this new horse I have already started to make him favor his left and I believe its because I favor it not him.
    Mary
    ----- Original Message -----
    Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2002 6:36 PM
    Subject: RE: [RC] Right-Handed Riders/Diagonal

    This is going to be even more controversial probably than the other posts,
    but I have a theory that diagonal preference has something to do with the
    rider's handedness, only in how handedness relates to their abdominal
    oblique muscles happen to be. I know I used to have an imbalance in my
    oblique muscles and when I first started riding 8 years ago, I noticed I had
    a definite strong preference for the right diagonal and posting the left
    diagonal would just about jerk me out of the saddle. After I figured out it
    was me and not my horse, I strengthened that weak side of my abdominals and
    it got almost as easy as the right. I still to this day have difficulty
    hitting the L diagonal right off. I always, always rise first on the right
    and then switch to the L diagonal. The imbalance is in me. I am right
    handed. During the posting movement, your abdominals contract reciprocally
    to counteract the twisting action of the diagonal trotting gait. If one side
    is weaker than the other, that is where the preference comes from.  JMHO

    Susan and Fly Bye
    >
    >
    > Ok, I'll be different (nothing new in that...). I am right-handed
    > and prefer the left diagonal. I have to constantly check my
    > diagonal. Since I unconsciously post the left, I'll purposely
    > change to the right as often as I remember. Tanna will bump me
    > back to the left, but I'm not sure if that's because HE prefers
    > it, or because I do and thus it's easier to carry me when I'm
    > comfortable and probably more balanced?
    >
    > However, he shows his own signs of left-hoofedness. He can really
    > bend into a tight left turn, but he doesn't bend as well into a
    > right-hand turn. He also prefers the left lead on the canter. (I
    > have the hardest time getting him into the right lead, but we're
    > working on that.) He was that way from the day I bought him.
    > Shows how well I've been working on that right side, huh? :/
    >
    > However, I do think a person's level has to do with it. Once I
    > rode a huge hunter jumper type back at my old barn, and I had the
    > hardest time posting on the right diagonal. Wasn't him, it was
    > me. I also did the same thing with a little morgan-type mare.
    > I've been working hard on my right diagonal and I think I'm more
    > balanced than I was last year at the right diagonal, but it's
    > still not my favorite diagonal.
    >
    >
    > April
    > Nashville, TN
    >
    > Dbeverly4@xxxxxxx wrote:
    >
    >
    > >I think it has more to do with handedness in the rider not the horse. A
    > >right handed rider almost always prefers the right diagonal so
    > they'll make
    > >the horse stronger on that side.
    > >
    > >I'm left handed and definitely prefer the left diagonal....all
    > my horses do
    > >too. Its me not them.
    >
    > __________________________________________________________________
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