ridecamp@endurance.net: Tai Chi for riding

Tai Chi for riding

Wendy Milner (wendy@wendy.cnd.hp.com)
Thu, 17 Apr 1997 10:39:36 MDT

ChacoL@aol.com wrote:
>My dressage instructor called to inform me of a clinic "coming to our
>neighborhood soon" on Tai Chi for riders.
>
>Is there ANY other sport that finds more ways for participants to spend
>money??

Tai Chi is great for riding. Don't laugh. For dressage we need
balance, flexibility, strenth, "feeling hands" (I can't come up with
a better description just now), and many other things.
Tai Chi will teach this.

My dressage instructor and I have taken Tai Chi. Now, when I'm a
bit turned in the saddle, he can say "Ward Left", and I know that
I need to turn my entire body just a tad to the left, not just my
head which is what I do when he says to look left a bit. Since we
both took the classes, our communication is better. But even without
the communication issues, Tai Chi has helped my riding.

Tai Chi, when taught correctly, will help you flatten your back.
While the perfect flat back is great for Tai Chi, you'll want to
not go so far with your riding, but it'll still help.

Then there is the feeling of the horse through your hands. Is he pulling,
giving, leaning into your left leg? There are some exercises done in
Tai Chi with a partner. You let your partner move you around and you
don't resist or help. You have to feel the slightest movement from
your partner. Then you switch and you guide your partner. Now,
with a horse, you want to give a bit with the reins and have the horse
take up the slack, stretching out his neck or stretching down. If the
horse doesn't do this, you give appropriate cues. If the horse starts
pulling, can you feel it with the horse is just thinking about it?
In endurance we don't think about such light changes, but in dressage
it is very important.

I think that Tai Chi is a great art to take and practice. It is
very easy on the joints (unlike other martial arts of which I do have
a black belt), any one of any age can participate, and it has a carry
over to many other aspects of our life.

End non-paid pubic announcement.

--
Wendy

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Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000 Hewlett-Packard Company e-mail: wendy@fc.hp.com Mail Stop A2 Telnet: 229-2182 3404 E. Harmony Rd. AT&T: (970) 229-2182 Fort Collins, CO, 80525 FAX: (970) 229-2038

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