Communicate with your feet!

I have ridden horses all my life but not until I took lessons many years ago did I start to understand that there is a lot more to all this than meets the eye. As a youth I was taught to keep my toes forward and parallel with the horse’s body. I was always a little bow legged and it was hard for me to achieve but I tried. A little later on in my development I realized that you could not put your low leg on the horse while keeping your feet pointing towards the horses head. I also realized the heal and ankle of my foot was necessary to communicate with the horse. I relaxed, pointed my toes in a natural direction away from the horse, and wrapped my legs around the horse’s belly. WOW! What difference that contact made in my horses performance. If you are still gripping with your knees and inner thighs then you need to let your toes point out and hug your horse with the ankle of your boot. You will notice immediately that your balance is transferred back into your seat away from your shoulders and control and communication with your horse just jumped light years ahead. Carl Wood