Light Bulb Moment

Hwin and I have been working on the Prix St. Georges movements. In a recent lesson we were honing our canter pirouette skills. Well, trying to do anything that resembled a canter pirouette. One of the exercises we used was haunches in on a small circle to get the feeling for the bend and help in collection. We were struggling. I felt like she was simply against the outside leg. Her haunches just wanted to come out instead of in no matter how much I put my leg on.

I was getting rather frustrated and in exasperation said, “I just can’t put my leg on any more.” Katie was in the middle of the circle and couldn’t see exactly what was going on but asked, “What direction do you think your hips are going?”

Well, of course they were going to the outside because of how hard I was putting my leg on to get Hwin to respond at all. I took my leg off a little but kept it back and shifted my hips to point to the inside. It was like magic. Suddenly her hips were on the inside of the circle with barely any effort from me at all!

Later that week, on my own, I decided to test my new found ability. Renver, traver and shoulder in all accomplished with ease simply by shifting my hips and shoulders. Why had I not figured this out before??

I had always heard the whole “the horse’s hips and shoulders mirror the rider’s hips and shoulders” thing but never truly thought about what it meant. I was always more focused on what my arms and legs were doing to create bend and direction.

How amazing is it that I can have her shift her body the way I want to just my shifting my body the same way. The light bulb moments can be few and far between sometimes, but when they hit you it makes you remember why we do this crazy sport to begin with.