photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
Stories & Inspiration
Ride with L.E.O.
One of my instructors once jokingly said: “I don’t know what you are complaining about: You just have to focus on 100 things at the same time…”
Well, he is right, isn’t he? But there is a way to make it a bit easier:
Let me introduce you to “LEO”. LEO is three things that are fundamental to your riding. Focus on them in this order!
1) L – Line – WHERE you are going.
2) E – Energy – With what LEVEL OF ENERGY you are going.
3) O – Organization – HOW you are going.
Let me explain the basic idea behind each of them, and then you will get more detailed information on each of them in the coming weeks. 😊
The Line: Right from the start of your ride, make sure that your horse goes where you want him to go.
The line can mean the circle line you are riding on, or the straight line along the rail or whatever arena figure you have chosen.
Horses think along lines (more about that next week), so leading him with clarity and confidence onto the line that you have chosen makes you the leader.
Energy: After you know WHERE you are going, make sure that your horse finds the level of energy that you would like him in. – Not too slow and not too fast…
More on how to do that soon. 🙂
Organization: When you are clear about where you are going and you have enough energy, you can “fine-tune”:
Check in with yourself: How are you positioned in the saddle? How can you connect your seat to your horse? Etc
As long as you don’t know where you are going (Line) and you don’t have any Energy, it will not make a lot of sense to try to get yourself Organized.
During your ride you will have to go back and forth between these three:
Sometimes your horse needs your full attention just to get him to go WHERE you actually want to go, then again you have time to check on yourself, etc.