How often do you hear your coach telling you to “Ride forward”?
You've probably heard this said a thousand times. But what does it mean exactly? Riding forward is a technique used to move the horse with energy and commitment in the direction it's facing. It does not mean to go faster. There often seems to be confusion when it comes to the difference between riding forward versus fast. Understanding the difference very important for any rider, so taking the time to break down and understand what riding forward means is extremely helpful.
Riding forward means to prioritise:
- Quality
- Balance
- Engagement
- Adjustability
- Impulsion from the Hind End
A common misconception is that speed is needed in order to make it around a course of jumps, although in reality, power is needed. This is where quality, balance, engagement, and impulsion come in. When the quality of canter improves, the horse is able to use their body more efficiently, resulting in a more engaged hind end. From there, your horse is able to create more impulsion, making it easier for them to collect, extend, and make it around a course of fences.
You can "ride forward" in a downward transition from trot to halt so, rather than focusing on speed first, focus on power and quality. These two components are necessary to practice and understand before speed is added. This will greatly improve the quality of the canter.
Learning how to ride forward can take time and it's 100% okay to feel uncomfortable when you first begin to create a more powerful, forward canter. This is normal and part of the learning process.
Remember: riding forward is not relying on strength, but rather feel. It's the only way that the horse will ever become resistance free, and travel correctly with the energy moving through its supple body into the rider's hand. This can be particularly difficult on a strong or overly forward horse but the rider must still think of riding forward from the leg.
Exercises to increase impulsion without speed
Circles encourage your horse to step under with his inside hind leg and help you manage the tempo while improving your horse’s lateral suppleness.
Exercise 1 – Spirals
This exercise is excellent for horses that like to get a little bit too quick, as the spiral inwards can help you to gain control of the tempo.
- Ride a 20-meter circle and establish a good working trot (or canter if you prefer).
- Gradually spiral the circle inwards to a 10-meter or 15-meter circle (depending on your horse’s current level of training).
- After one circle revolution, spiral your horse back outward onto the 20-meter circle.
- Repeat a few times before changing the rein.
Exercise 2 - Cavaletti and poles
Polework can improve a whole lot of things; suspension, cadence, strength, balance, engagement, and more. Adding regular polework to your schooling session can also help keep your horse forward.
Partly this is because they enjoy the variety and change from their usual schooling routine – but it’s also because polework keeps your horse alert and focused. Poles can also help to set the correct pace and to encourage your horse to open up their stride and engage their hindquarters.
Rather than just setting up three or four poles and riding back and forth over them in a straight line every time, play around with formats.
Use fans of poles:
Ride over four or five poles on a 20m circle with the poles spaced out at a distance of 4 foot 6 inches (see the diagram).
Imagine that you have 3 different tracks going through the poles – inside, middle and outside. The inside track requires shorter strides because the distance between the poles is shorter, the middle track should be the natural stride length for your horse and the outside track should encourage slightly longer extended strides. This will help you to increase and decrease the horse’s stride length while keeping him supple on the circle.
When asking for shorter strides, gently half-halt to collect the horse, but keep your leg on to maintain impulsion. To ask for longer strides, gently put your leg on and rise taller in the saddle, keeping a softer contact on the horse’s mouth.
In summary, here are some tips for riding forward:
- Focus on quality and power: Before adding speed, focus on developing power and quality.
- Use your legs: Lightly squeeze the middle of the horse's ribcage with your calves to ask it to move forward, you must be riding the horse with your leg into your hand.
- Look for longer strides: A horse that's riding forward will take longer strides instead of lots of short, choppy steps.
- Avoid pulling back on the reins: Pulling back on the reins or having no leg on the horse means you're riding backward no matter what speed the horse is going at that moment.
- Don't confuse forward with speed: Riding forward is not the same as going faster.
- Riding forward helps build the correct muscles in the horse: It improves its strength and thrusting power and helps the horse develop a desire to move forward with enthusiasm.
