Learning diagonals

From: Alyss Broderick

Hi, I love your mailing list. It has been really helpful for me. Keep up the good work.

About three months ago I started leasing a new horse. She is a 16.3 hand Thoroughbred mared named Thora. We have been getting along pretty well and I am beggining to take English equitation lessons on her. I have been riding on and off for about six years on other horses but only western and gaming.

I have been doing really well but I just can't seem figure out which diagonal I'm on. My instructor says I have really good rhythm and I stay on the same diagonal, but I don't know which one it is or when I'm on the right one. My instructor says that my biggest problem for just basic riding is that I look down too much. She says that I am telling Thora that there is something there to look at and making her nervous. So looking to see which diagonal I'm on is not a great idea since I am trying to break that habit.

Do you maybe have any tricks or ideas that might help me out? Thanks a million for any help.

Alyss Broderick

Hi Alyss -- diagonals can be tricky when you're first learning to ride, especially if you're riding a horse that has a smooth trot and is equally comfortable on both diagonals. There are some things that will help, though!

Your instructor is right about looking down -- when you do that, the weight of your head and neck makes your shoulders round, pulls your seat up out of the saddle, and makes you hold with your knees while your lower legs get loose! Looking ahead of yourself, looking where you are GOING, is what you need to do to keep your own position and balance, and to help the horse keep hers.

But, you're thinking, how the heck can you know what diagonal you're on if you don't LOOK? The answer is, at first, YOU CAN'T. So you need someone else to look for you! Ask your instructor if she will spend an entire lesson, or a good section of your next four or five lessons, working on this with you. If you can ask the horse to trot, begin posting, and then have someone else say "That's it" or "Change diagonals", you won't have to look down. You'll be able to know for sure that you're on the correct diagonal, and then you can focus on how it feels. If you can do this safely, close your eyes for a few strides and focus on the feel. Tell your instructor what you're going to do, so that she can alert you to anything that you would need to LOOK at (another horse coming in to the arena, for instance!). Closing your eyes cuts out a lot of distractions, and lets you focus entirely on feel.

You can also practice this without your instructor! Anyone can help by standing in the arena and telling you if you're on the correct diagonal (some people may have to be bribed to hang around and do this). If the person who is willing to help doesn't know much about diagonals, you can do what we do in Pony Club -- wrap your horse's legs in different colors, say red for one diagonal and blue for the other. That makes it easy for someone on the ground to see whether you're rising with the outside foreleg.

At your lessons, ask your instructor to help you learn to GLANCE down at your horse's shoulder -- this is an art in itself, because to do it correctly, you can't change your position or balance. This means you can't drop your head -- just your eyes. Another Pony Club trick is to put a small piece of brightly-coloured tape, or even masking tape or duct tape, on the LOWER end of your horse's shoulder -- this makes it easier to drop your eyes for just a moment and check your own diagonal. If that piece of tape is coming FORWARD as you are rising -- good for you. If not, sit an extra beat and then come up so that you can post the outside diagonal -- as we say in Pony Club, "Rise and fall with the leg on the wall." Do a lot of trotting on turns and circles. If you have a patient horse, circle and practice changing your posting diagonal while you are still on the circle. You should be able to tell immediately that posting on the OUTSIDE diagonal (rising as the outside foreleg and inside hindleg are coming forward) lets your horse circle more easily, more smoothly, and in better balance; posting on the INSIDE diagonal (rising as the inside foreleg and outside hind are coming forward) will make the circle less smooth, and you will feel the horse lean in slightly as your weight shifts to the inside and unbalances him a little.

If your instructor can put you on the longeline to practice this, you will learn the feel even more quickly, because you'll be able to focus entirely on the feel -- you won't be responsible for your horse's speed or direction, and when you begin trotting and your instructor asks "Which diagonal are you on?" you'll be able to tell from the way it feels. ;-)

Jessica

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