It has been pointed out by someone who reads my blog that some things I write about are unclear and confusing. So I'm here to help explain some horse terms to those of you who don't ride or just don't understand in general. Hopefully I'll clarify some things and not just make you more confused. And I'm warning you now - I tried to make these definitions as simple as possible, but some things were really hard to explain. Well, here goes:
Tracking right/left - If you're going clockwise around the riding ring, you would be tracking right. If you're going counter-clockwise, you would be tracking left.
Right Lead - This would be the sequence of footfalls (it's a three beat gait): 1. Hind left leg 2. right hind and left front legs 3. right front leg. This means the right front leg will be the last foot to fall and the foot that reaches out the farthest. A horse would be on the right lead if it's tracking right. Click here to see the right lead canter. Notice how the front right leg reaches out the farthest. I also posted a YouTube video at the end of this post that you can watch. The right lead is the lead that both Captain and Annie have trouble with, and it's actually the lead that I'm the least comfortable with as well.
Left Lead - This would be the sequence of footfalls (it's a three beat gait): 1. Hind right leg 2. left hind and right front legs 3. left front leg. This means the left front leg will be the last foot to fall and the foot that reaches out the farthest. A horse would be on the left lead if it's tracking left (Basically the same thing as right lead but the other way around).
Walk-halt Transitions - It is what it sounds like: it's when you're walking and then you ask your horse to stop, then keep going. Pretty straight-forward.
Inside - When I talk about my inside leg, I'm talking about the leg that is closest to the middle of the riding ring.
Outside - Opposite of inside. The leg (or anything, really) closest to the outside of the circle.
Two-point - I talked about this a little in a previous blog post, but it's when your butt is out of the saddle and your body is leaning over your horse's neck. Your back should be straight, and your heels should be firmly placed in the stirrups because they are your main source of balance. Two-point is used for jumping.
Posting or Posting Trot - A sitting trot is when you just sit in the saddle at the trot (I find it to be too bouncy, so I'd rather post). A posting trot requires you to rise out of the saddle on every other stride. Often people think posting is just standing up and then sitting down, but it's really not. All you really have to do is move your hips forward and slightly rise out of the saddle. I mean, that makes it sound easy, but it's more complicated to actually do. It takes some practice before it feels comfortable.
Diagonals - When posting, there is a certain time when you should be rising and a certain time when you should be sitting. You're supposed to rise out of the saddle when your horse's front outside leg moves forward. Apparently it helps the horse's balance somehow. This took me a long time to figure out how to do correctly, because I couldn't tell what diagonal I was on. Eventually I learned how to switch diagonals (this involves sitting or standing an extra beat) and I figured out what it looked like to be rising with the correct leg. I would say that the best way to learn your diagonals at first would be to have someone tell you if you're on the correct one or not. After that you should be able to look down at your horse's shoulder and be able to tell.
Bending - When a horse moves with a curve in their neck and body. Your horse bends when going around a turn or in a circle, and if you want to pick up the correct lead at a canter, you have to be bending around the riding ring.
Counter-bending - This is when a horse is bending in the opposite direction of a circle or riding ring. If your horse does this their head will be looking towards the outside of the riding ring, rather than looking to the inside. It's also really difficult to pick up the correct lead if your horse is counter-bending. Captain and Annie do this often. They counter-bend and end up picking up the wrong lead, especially when they are going counter-clockwise around the riding ring.
Switching Leads - Basically this means switching from a right lead canter to a left lead canter (or the other way around). You need to do this when switching directions or if your horse picks up the wrong lead. There are advanced moves that high level dressage riders do called flying changes, which is when you switch leads without returning to a trot first. It's very cool to watch, and you often see them in high level or Olympic dressage tests. Obviously I can't do these (yet) Maybe some day.
Well, I hope you learned something today, and maybe now you won't be so confused when you read my posts. Thanks for reading!
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