All I need is the "feel"

[funkyfilly_sos]

So, apparently I'm a competant rider. But out of all the things that is missing from my riding, its "feel". Some of you may of heard of my great friend who rides really well (better than me even though shes been riding less time), she says I need to "feel" more (yes! I'm getting lessons from her :D )

Now, I've heard of feel..... but how to get it I have no idea. I can feel the horse moving under me. I can tel when I'm on the wrong diagonal without looking and I can tell if I'm on the wrong canter lead without taking a peek at the outside foreleg. But I'm sure this isnt the same "feel" she means. I can antisipate some horses movements before they do it, but I dont think this is what she means. What is "Feel"??

It's the missing link between me being a passinger and being a rider. I wanna do what my friend does. She has success with every horse apparently down to how she can "feel". She can get every horse on the bit and in an outline from the word go. And I eventually want to be able to do this.

So, the question is what is feel and how can I develop and get it? Any suggestions much appreciated as I continue learning the more complex side of riding. :)
Thanks!
xxxKellyxxx

[Vez]

I'm really not sure! :o I'd like to know! Does she mean a contact?

[Daffy Dilly]

To me feel is knowing where each leg is at a certain time. Whether that's realising that as your hip rises his leg moves forwards, as long as you can identify where a leg is without looking I think you have it.

I work on feel by shutting my eyes, or even schooling in the dark. Perhaps you could call out which foreleg is infront each time you reach a letter in the school, then do the same for the hind leg?

[JustJas]

After years of hacking I realise feel is knowing your horse. I can pinpoint Jazz 's legs and balance under me. That is feel I am told. But if soke asks me if I am right- I wuss...

[eml]

I think what your friend means is a natural ability to correct the horse without thinking and to maintain and improve its way of going without conscious analysis.

I have had this discussion before with a rider who to me has so much 'feel' they never appear to have to do anything on any horse and yes they do not think about legs moving and frequently get wrong diagonals but 'feel' correct natural rythm, horse starting to shift weight, not be straight etc and correct it without concious thought.

Equally I can work with riders without this feel but understanding every footfall etc and get uninspiring results.

I don't think this feel can be taught as such, the best way is with an instructor who will tell you when you have produced the right result...I often resort to 'I don't know what you just did but do it again!' Good lunge lessons on a true advanced schoolmaster will help you understand what you are working for but sadly it often takes that magic 'lightbulb' moment.

[Skyhuntress]

The bad news is that you can't really teach feel. The good news is that if you ride enough horses, get to know different ways and how they move, eventually you'll develop your own feel.

Getting a feel is working in harmony with the horse-its a question of knowing where and how the horse moves and fixing your body and aids to help the horse.

[Bay Mare]

If there's an equisimulator and a good teacher near you get yourself there for a lesson or on a course. You don't have to worry about a 'real' horse and can concentrate on you and what you're feeling. You don't tend to get time in lessons to really learn what's going on where. I only started to really understand and not have to look down at the diagonal/canter lead when I got my own horse.

They're (simulators) great for learning 'feel' with regards to which leg is where but only if you have a good instructor who can explain it all to you :)

[RustyMary]

If 'feel' is the awareness of a connection with another living being, can it be learned or taught on an equisimulator?

[coss]

to me, feel is knowing when a horse is showing the pretty picture but not working from behind and being able to "feel" what to ask to get the horse working better. its when you can do a turn about the forehand and tell if the horse has crossed the hindlegs under and how much by without looking and that is when you need a good riding instructor so that you can feel what is happening and they tell you what is happening so you can connect the two things. you have to be part of the horse too, you move with the horse so it doesn't look like you're moving at all.

not every horse will go in an outline. what horses does your friend ride? i can get many horses working correctly but there are a few that need teaching and you can't get a consistancy with those horses. don't get yourself wound up about the outline thing. aim on being able to feel what the back end is doing and improving it with a consistant rein contact and the outline will come - that is the lightbulb moment.

[MrDCBags]

Small Boy has more 'feel' than me. i am a very naturally uncoordinated person and riding challenges me altho I can feel if I am on the wrong diagonal without looking down!!!

I have to concentrate all the Small Boy scrambles on and just looks "right". he has done since the day i sat him on a horse at 2 and a bit. I think Eml is right some people have natural feel and some of us to work at it!

[Frances]

Well this "feel" is all very well and good. I couldn't actually tell you where any leg is because I don't particularly care about it. I ride an Icelandic and as he is so busy inventing gaits just to get us from A to B, it is his job and not mine to interfere - but that is just us and our relationship! As long as we are safe and happy, I don't really notice much.

Anyway, for me "feel" is knowing your horse - knowing the minute you get on when something is not right, you can't put your finger on it, but he is not well.

"Feel" is just as useful when you do groundwork with them, when you drive them, when you groom them. It is listening to their thoughts and speaking the same language. I think it is a very difficult to explain and now I am trying to, I am struggling.

I would recommend lots of just being around the equine. I take mine for a walk (broken ankle excusing at the mo), chat in the field, be on a one-to-one relationship, without interference, some time together. That is how my relationships and "feel" develop.

I hope this helps. Probably doesn't - probably will be shot down in flames for not knowing or particularly caring about legs in the right order.

Good luck. Go and read a book together, sit down and chat to him, sniff, touch and enjoy each other (that sounds pervy but it isn't!).

Fx

[Wally]

Frances, if your darned horse put his legs down in the sma order twice in a row you might be a bit more inspired to look to patterns and predictable foot falls.

AS he has no intention of ever doin that, I thin youa re right not to worry about it. He's happy, you are happy, that's what most folk strive for.

You can teach mechanical feel, hip down=back leg forwad, etc. You have to learn feel by experience. I agree with eml, there are some wonderfully talanted folk with wonderful co-ordination who know the mechanics of riding to the minute detail, but through this the sparkle and flare and brilliance is lost. Spontaneous, quick responses are about feel, but without the mathematical accuracy some folk use.

'Tis a hard thing to quantify.

Maybe think of a highly schoold dressage horse, going through the motions like an automoton. Then look at another rider/horse combination, you cannot put your finger on it but there is a je ne sais quoi about it.

[MrDCBags]

Wally you're right there. Small Boy and his adopted Shetland just looked fantastic to day. They both had smiles on their faces as they zoomed round leaving other ponies eating sand.

They were just at one with each other and the whole communication thing worked.

SB and the shetland both looked particularly mischievous when the kicked sand in the face of a child and pony twice their size.

[funkyfilly_sos]

Thanks everyone! Your thoughts, suggestions and detailed explainations have really helped! As usual, you all never let me down! :)

Coss, my friends rides all the horses I ride from the riding school I go to. She also schools them and at 16 years old, is a head helper. She helps out at my RS every day and I learn so much by watching her. Due to her riding the same school horses and ponies as me, it makes me wonder why I cant do the things she does on them. She told me a lot of it has to do with this thing called "feel".

Any more explainations and expansions on ideas would be very well appreciated (sp). Thanks everyone, your knowledge means so much to me! :)
xxxKellyxxx