Bringing Dance to Riding

I talk considerably about movement, dance, rhythm and harmony in my book, “Centered Self, Centered Horse,” and cannot emphasize it quite enough so thought I would once again write about it. Why is the presence of ‘dance’ so vital to our interaction with the horse? To sum it up, we cannot expect from the horse that which we cannot do ourselves. What I mean by that, is if we cannot hold a rhythm and beat, how can our horse? Certainly, as in most every aspect of life, there will be exceptions. There will be the horse which takes up the slack for his otherwise ‘two-left-footed’ owner, but for the rest of us our left-footedness will show up with a horse who is awkward, clumsy and not as balanced as we would like. Perhaps it is manifest by poor canter departs, sloppy or delayed stops, difficulties in collection, the inability to piaffe without breaking rhythm and so on.

So often I hear, “yes, but I don’t dance.” This is a very common remark, and one that is similar along the lines of, “I don’t sing.” The word don’t is not synonymous with ‘can’t’ and that is the decisive factor. If you have a body that is capably under your control, you can dance. Even if you don’t, you can bring that dance, that beat, into your mind, into the inside of your body. If if you are unable to express it as fluidly as you would like, if you can manifest it in the mind you have grasped it.

Now that we have dusted off the dancing shoes and hauled out the old record player, let’s get some basics. First is the timing. Timing is a good place to start, because without it you can get pulled into all sorts of directions and find yourself foot-loose and fancy free in a completely different room and with the wrong dancing partner without realizing it. With timing it helps to set a count, less than 8, to repeat in a consistent manner. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. How timing plays is it gives a consistency to your actions. One will find that they begin making movements in correlation to the timing. For example – 1, walk, 2, walk, 3 walk, 4, canter depart. Or, 1, canter left lead, 2, canter left lead, 3, flying lead change, 4, canter right lead.

Next is your dance step. You have the timing, now you need to find where you will place your feet. Two steps forward and one back can be good with a count of three. You could also take a count of four and for example – 1, 2, 3, 4 (shoulder in), 1, 2, 3, 4 (turn on the forehand), 1, 2, 3, 4 (shoulder in), 1, 2, 3, 4 (turn on the forehand). Your dance partner (the horse) will come to recognize the timing and the dance step and work to harmonize himself to you. This lets you be present, mindless (or thoughtless, letting go of thinking about what to do in order to get the horse to respond in a specific way), and find success.

Now, for those who are raising the eyebrows and saying, “yes, but I DON’T dance…” like everything new it takes time and practice. Because I have never flown a plane doesn’t mean that I can’t. It just means that I haven’t yet. There might be some hesitation, some thoughts that hold me back from running out and taking instruction in flying a plane at this very moment. Those same hesitations could be what holds you back from not dancing, with yourself, with your spouse or significant other, with the horse. Perhaps you feel uncoordinated, or foolish, or like someone will see you and you will feel uncomfortable that they found you dancing with your horse. Perhaps you are afraid that you will fail. Beneath all of these reasons and explanations as to why you “don’t dance” are just that, reasons and excuses. Dancing doesn’t mean that you must do it well. Just like riding, it isn’t just the experts who ride horses, everyone can enjoy it and do it. If you waited until you could dance well to actually dance, you would never do it. If you waited until you were an Olympic Gold Medalist Equestrian to ride, you would never enjoy sitting on the back of a horse.

From timing and a dance step, as you get more comfortable with the movement and the consistency, you can play more. Bring focus and attention into creating more fluidity. Experiment with what it feels like to move your arms softly like petals of a flower lilting in the breeze while you dance. To bring a sense of sway into your whole body and core while you move. To put such subtle emphasis into your legs as they move that it is only perceptible to you. Play with the different things you can do with timing, from three-count to eight-count.

And remember, it is your dance! You’ve invented it, it is between you and the horse.. and if you should feel so inclined you can even provide the musical accompaniment as well by way of your vocal chords. Enjoy!