Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 Having taken saddleseat lessons for a while, and owning a TWH,
I have some understanding of what is being referred to here. 
First let me say that I ride my walker flatshod (normal shoing,
no pads, weird angles etc) and am appalled by what is done to
the 'big lick' walking horses.
 As far as leg aids go, in saddle seat you keep your lower leg
OFF the horse - not saying it's right, just how it's done.  In
the walking horse world, the usual saddle-seat position is
modified into an extreme 'chair seat' - riders weight far back
on the loins, feet forward, which makes use of leg aids even
more difficult, as the riders legs are fo far forward.  Shifting
the riders weight back forces the horse to step far up underhim
self (what one post referred to as 'crawling' with the hind end)
which makes for smoother ride, and also makes it easier for the
horse to lift his front feet high (as less weight is on the
forequarters).  Of course it gets taken to a ridiculous extreme
in the showring, and certainly is not appropriate for endurance
riding.  I don't care for this style of riding, but must admit I
have found riding a THW tends to make me sit further back than
optimal since it does smooth out the gait.  I am trying to get
out of this habit... which means finding a better way to
communicate what I want to Idiot Boy who thinks any forward
shift of weight means GO!

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