Horse Training Tips

Trainer Tip: Relax vs. Go Limp

12
Jun

Guest post from VIP Rider Heather Blitz, 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Reserve & Team Gold Medal WEG

Don’t mistake the prompt to relax as a prompt to become limp.

 

Many riders are told to relax in their lessons, but instead make the mistake of then becoming limp. Unfortunately, limp muscles won’t help when trying to stabilize yourself on a powerfully moving object, a.k.a. your horse.  If riders become too limp, they’ll invariably fall behind the motion, not matching the forces of the horse underneath them, therefore causing more of a feeling of desperation and clutching.

As a rider, you should concentrate on a powerful body that can keep up with your horse’s movement in all three dimensions. Riders who do that really well appear to be “relaxed” much like an elegant ballerina performing highly advanced moves.

heather-blitz-pb-derby

 

 

Nick Hartog

In 1994, Nick Hartog became an owner and President of Grand Meadows Equine Supplements bringing his talents and extensive background in domestic and international equine sales and manufacturing. He has a reputation for plain speaking of the truth. In 1997, when the US horse supplement market was something akin to the Wild West with a complete lack of standards, Nick personally tested 32 different horse joint supplements to see if they matched the label. Unsurprisingly, to him at least, only 2 products matched the label claim. Read more...