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Question and Answer Forum
"About Thighs"
Question:
My instructor teaches that if your thigh muscles are soft (not flexed) then they are squished into the form of the saddle that they are resting on. If you cuddle that squished flat thigh to the long muscle (push it closer to the horse without tightening it), the horse cuddles back & lifts in front in the process. I don't know why it works, but it did. It felt like having more power. What do you think?
Answer:
I'm glad your teacher has you use your thighs. It's a highly useful and versatile aid. There are several points that have to be taken into consideration, in order to use the thighs successfully.
- The femur has to be rotated inwards, so that the adductors and the insides of the knees are flat against the saddle. If the thighs rotate outward, then the back of the hamstring is sitting on the saddle and the knees have no contact, which creates a very different effect.
- The knees have to be stretched forward-downward into the knee roll. This creates a certain stretch of the hip flexors and the quads. It opens the hip joints and makes them flexible. It also pulls the pelvis closer to the pommel and helps to lighten the seat. If the rider pulls his knees and heels up, the hip joints are blocked, and all the weight is sitting on the seat bones, which makes the rider feel heavier than s/he really is. Together these factors suppress the back, and make it impossible for the horses to swing with their back.
- The adductors have to be relaxed. This requires engaged core muscles. If the core muscles are too slack, the adductors will grip, and so will the hands. The hip joints will lock up at the same time. When that happens, the horse's back and consequently the hind legs can no longer swing freely; the gait deteriorates.
- The glutes have to be relaxed as well. If they are pinched and tight, the rider gets pushed upward/backward out of the saddle. This requires good separation of the various muscle groups, so that the rider can engage specific individual muscles, but not their neighbors.
- Spreading the weight out over the insides of the thighs results in fewer pounds per square inch, because the support base for the rider's weight is larger, i.e. the rider becomes easier for the horse to carry. There will be less weight sitting on top of the horse's back, so that the horse can lift his back more and swing more. The hind legs can consequently engage more. This creates the feeling of more impulsion and power. Sitting more on the seatbones results in more pounds per square inch, because the support base is smaller, i.e. the rider feels heavier for the horse. This can be helpful in flexing the hind legs under the body mass. But applied at the wrong time, or too long, it will kill the swinging of the back, the engagement of the hindquarters, and the impulsion of the gait.
- A brief nudge of both inner thighs and knees can become a forward driving aid.
- A hug and hold of the inner thighs can become a part of the half halt, or a stabilizing, balancing aid. In this application, they act as a part of the seat aid. They can anchor the seat, weight, and rein aids and help them come through. It's as if the torso started at the height of the knees, which gives it more leverage against the haunches.
- The inner thigh can also act as a sideways driving or bending aid.
- The knees help to control the tracking of the shoulders. They play a role in all turns and lateral movements.
- Horses with a weak or sensitive back often appreciate the use of the thighs, because it protects the back, whereas horses with a short, strong back and strong hindquarters may need to be ridden with more weight on the seatbones, because this allows a more direct bending effect on the haunches.
You can't find these things anywhere in the literature, but they work. Try them out and experiment with them. You will make lots of interesting observations. The 10 points above are just general rules of thumb that require customization and adaptation to each individual horse and rider. Keeping the hips mobile and the glutes and hip flexors supple while using the thighs is the key here. Being able to isolate and separate individual muscles and to combine them with any other muscle is crucial. As long as the body involuntarily contracts all kinds of other muscles in addition to the intended muscle(s), the results will remain flawed.
Thomas Ritter
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