Quiet Riding

"The rider should be aware as each hind leg is coming forward and when it is on the ground."

"'Feel' is the spiritual part of a person's being. There are a thousand explanations for 'feel,' and they're all correct. Horses have it, and they use it all the time. You can't conceal anything from a horse: he'll respond to what's inside you — or he won't respond at all."

"The cultivation of the rider's feeling should also be kept in mind from the beginning, although it can be developed only gradually in the course of instruction."

"Being able to feel that the horse is straight is the first manifestation of equestrian tact."

"By his seat and legs the rider ought to feel with absolute certainty everything that goes on under him, as for instance, if the hocks are brought more or less under the centre, or if they remain behind; what legs are raised, and to what height, and if the croup is going to deviate from the straight line. By his hands and legs, helped by his eyes, the rider ought to be able to feel the actions and above all things the tendencies of the jaw, head, neck, and shoulders. As the forehand begins the movements desired by the animal, we can say that 'the hand ought to feel the ideas of the horse.'"

"When it's effectively applied, either direct or indirect feel from a person can influence the horse's mind and body to match up with the person's plan of how they want that horse to be doing things for them."

"When you can direct a horse's movements through feel, then there's understanding taking place between the person and the horse. That is the sign of true horsemanship."

"When you have feel that goes both ways, you have that horse's respect and cooperation. Really, it's just about that simple."

"...what we're hoping to do here is to get the idea across of how important it is to the horse that a person learns how to use feel. Once they're convinced of this, they'd just need to learn how to apply it in a way the horse can understand what they expect of him. This way, they can advance on their own with the horse from a better foundation. This foundation we're going to call feel."

"To learn anything that's going to be useful to you in the future, you really need to start at the beginning. Where it concerns horses, you need to learn how to get with their movements."

"If you don't have a feel of where the horse's feet are, then you won't be able to control those feet."

"There are two kinds of feel and it is important to understand the difference in them. Direct feel is when you have a physical connection between you and the horse and indirect feel is when nothing (no physical contact) is between you and the horse."

"A person who understands (how to interpret) the horse's expressions and movements (or lack of movement) knows that feel goes two ways...."

"When a person ignores the little things the horse does to try and let them know how objectionable their feel is — well, that's going to get him going on some habits like head slinging or rearing."

"It's best if you can observe the first tries a horse makes when he's attempting to understand your feel, because there's usually some curiosity and willingness in those responses."

"When we speak about having a connection with the horse through feel, what's meant by the word 'connection' is the part that's in place when what you understand and do is directly connected to what that horse understands and does, on account of his physical and mental systems being tied in to yours, through feel."

"A horse needs to learn how to adjust to the feel that's presented, and he will, when he understands the intention behind each particle of feel from the person that's directing and supporting him to do what he's being asked to do. This requires a person to be trying as hard as possible not to miss those smaller particles of feel coming across from that horse in all of this. Because they all have meaning."

"Pick up the horse's feel, so that horse can get with you, and give no thought to the time it'll take."

"To prepare a horse to lope on a specific lead, or to influence a lead change, a rider must understand what to feel for and how to present what they want to the horse in a way that the horse can understand. To change leads real smooth without causing tightness in him, the horse needs to understand what he's expected to do with his feet, and when. He can't know this if the rider doesn't know where the horse's feet are, and how they operate in all the gaits."

"Where it concerns horses, there's a real fine line between doing not enough and doing too much."

"When you don't get the right response back from that horse, that's how you're pretty sure he didn't understand what you intended. You'd need to change what you're doing when this happens, and not crowd in on his mental or physical system with more feel than he can make sense out of."

"Anyone who is a good rider will tell you that feel takes focus, balance, and practice to develop."

"Feel is one of the most important components of riding and only comes from hours and hours of time spent on and around horses. The more horses you are able to experience — the good as well as the bad — the more you learn about feel."

"Decide when the outside hind leg is on the ground by closing your eyes and feeling the moment your outside seat bone is raised slightly or pushed forward."

"Let us put ambition to one side and begin to listen and to see. Above all, let us begin to 'feel'!"

"We need to be able to feel the movement of the horse correctly"

"The body language of the horse gives away many clues as to how he feels the rider on his back."

"...you can't fix anything until you feel it."

"Getting a feel for 'wrong' things can help you decide if they really would be wrong under all circumstances or might be useful at times. It sharpens your sense of what is 'right,' too."

"How we use our bodies definitely influences the horse, since the horse operates on what it actually feels, not what we think it should feel...."

"Subtle changes in your horse's strides and steps may not be obvious until your diagnostic skills are refined, but that doesn't meant the information isn't there. It means it is worthwhile to become more aware of increasingly subtle information from horses."

"Riders with the most sensitive interface with their horse can learn a lot about the horse by how the horse moves them. That could explain a lot of their behavior, their ability to respond to our aids, and their physical development."

"It is very true that muscles do react when we just think about doing something, or imagine something happening. Horses responds to that level of muscle action."

"The question is whether what the horse felt was what we meant it to experience."

"The question is whether the horse felt what we meant it to feel. Did we convey the message we meant to send?"

"'Feel' by the rider comes from a soft, independent seat."

"A rider sits relaxed on the back of an unknown horse, feels the back with her seat, the trunk with her calves and the horse's mouth with sensitive hands and knows in seconds if the horse will be an unwilling partner that has been trained with force, or will be a compliant partner developed through Classical Training techniques."

"Feel of the horse means that without looking you can tell what foot is going forward, what lead he is on, what his head and mouth are doing, whether he is tense or relaxed, straight and balanced, etc."

"When you are relaxed and in balance, you can develop feel more and more by glancing to see what the horse is doing and then paying close attention to how it feels."

"Try to feel what the horse is saying to you."