This will be my last entry on the subject for a while. In the previous entries I explained several important aspects of riding a horse on the bit with the help of the old masters. Now I want to give a few practical pointers of my own.
The most important thing to keep in mind when you are trying to ride a horse on the bit, is that it is not a superficial form, or a posture that is limited to the horse’s head and neck that you are trying to emulate. It is above all a practical function, a feeling the rider gets in his entire body. It’s the feeling that all body parts of the horse are connected to each other and to the rider’s body. It’s the sensation that the rider can reach all of the horse’s muscles with his aids. Having the horse on the bit means that the energy of the hind legs gets passed along by the spine, from vertebra to vertebra, until it reaches the bit and the rider’s hand. From there it is recycled back to the hind legs.
The prerequisite for this is that there are no muscle blockages and no energy leaks in the body, i.e. no stiff, braced muscles, and no false bends. The prerequisite for this suppleness is that the horse is balanced. Being balanced means that the horse’s hips and shoulders are aligned properly on the line of travel and that the tempo is as regular as a metronome. It also implies that the thrust and the carrying ability of the hind legs are more or less equal.
The horse’s straightness, i.e. the alignment of his hips and shoulders is always relative to a specific arena pattern, which means that straight lines must be straight and circles must be round. Otherwise, the horse cannot really be straight and balanced. Therefore, each ride is a geometry lesson for horse and rider. One must at all times ride one’s horse on a specific arena pattern, just like one always drives one’s car in a specific lane on a specific road. Wandering around aimlessly is counterproductive. That’s why the directives of the Spanish Riding School specify that riding around arbitrarily is forbidden under all circumstances.
Another element that plays a role here is the energy level. If the horse’s energy is either too high or too low, he will not go on the bit, either. Too much energy leads to tension, too little energy results in inadequate thrust, so that the horse’s back will not swing and his top line will not arch. Instead, he will either invert or lean onto the bit.
When the rider establishes a steady tempo, the correct alignment of the horse’s hips and shoulders on a specific line of travel, and an appropriate energy level, then most horses will come on the bit in a frame that is acceptable for their conformation and training level. Some horses may still stay a little inverted, because they still hold tension somewhere in the body. If that is the case, the rider has to go in search of these stiff muscles and release the blockages through specific exercises. Once these blockages are gone, the horse will find the correct frame and come on the bit.
So, the strategy is not to force or hold the horse in a superficial frame, but rather to set up the parameters of arena pattern, alignment, tempo, and energy level so that the horse can find the right posture himself. The rein may play a role in this by flexing the poll and neck laterally. Its job is to remove blockages in the neck and poll, so that the horse can find the best posture.
This also means that the rider has to allow the horse a little bit of time to experiment with its posture, because the optimal frame, in which the horse is most balanced, should also feel most comfortable to him. If he gets a chance to experiment with different postures, he will be able to compare them with each other and come to the conclusion that being balanced and on the bit is more comfortable in the long run than being crooked, on the forehand, and braced. The correct posture makes the job of carrying the rider easier for the horse.
The final component is the rider himself. Any imbalance in the rider’s body causes an imbalance in the horse’s body. Any stiffness in the rider’s body causes a stiffness in the horse’s body. Any crookedness in the rider’s body causes a corresponding crookedness in the horse’s body. Imbalance and crookedness always lead to bracing. Therefore, the horse can only really be on the bit, if the rider is straight, balanced, and supple.
If a horse is not on the bit, the rider has to check himself in this respect, as well. In addition, he has to check the abovementioned parameters of tempo, line of travel, alignment, and energy level. It is almost certain that one or more of these parameters need attention. Once the deviation from the intended setting has been corrected, the horse will come on the bit in most cases.
Feel free to e-mail me with questions and comments.
Thomas Ritter
