How to ride "on the bit" correctly
We recently spoke about WHAT riding on the bit actually is (missed it? Read the blog here).
Now it is time to understand the underlying dynamics and conditioning we need to consider before putting it into action.
How to put my horse on the bit?
The horse being on the bit is a combination of:
establishing acceptance and willingness to follow bit pressure,
understanding how to communicate flexion without tensing the neck against the bit pressure,
and the conditioning for the horse to be able to hold the posture required for them to stay on the bit.
And I’ll give you a little secret for free:
On the bit has less to do with the arc of the neck and more to do with the flexion of the hocks.
The straighter the hocks, the straighter the back, the more resistance and pull you get into the bit. If you teach the submission to the frame aid without the hock flexion your horse will lack forwardness, throughness and impulsion. It will still be working on the forehand and will be working either behind the bit or heavy in your hand.
When you are truly & correctly working your horse on the bit, your aren’t controlling the angle of neck flexion, but instead the angle of hock flexion.
How to keep my horse on the bit?
Then keeping your horse on the bit has do with keeping them sitting into their haunches, hocks flexed.
This is why the conditioning is so important and why having your horse on the bit takes a while to develop and hold well with consistency. Our expectations is the difference between me going for a run and me going for a run lifting my knees. They need to learn the poise, posture and lightness of a dancer and then build the muscles to hold that extra effort for periods of time.
How to get my young horse on the bit?
If you’ve just got yourself a young horse and realised that they aren’t as soft and easy to ride as your dressage school master, you’re not alone!
In the naivety that was my youth I thought all horses knew how to work on the bit and the ones that didn’t were because the rider didn’t know how to ride. How wrong I was!
In fact so wrong that I’ve written a whole course on the skills and prerequisites a horse needs to be able to work on the bit.
There is a lot to cover with a green horse in establishing relaxation, balance and suppleness, understanding of the aids, work ethic. Also the depth of frame often required in entry level dressage by far requires movements of an educated horse, such as leg yield, shoulder fore and canter through simple changes.
To be working your horse on the bit at a competition you want to be training at least one level higher than you are training. Most professional riders you will compete against will be training 2 levels higher.
To teach a green horse to work on the bit, we believe it is important that you as a rider are educated in riding true self carriage and not just pull the horses head down. For the horse, they need to develop the strength and power of the haunches to sit deeper and flex behind and engage their core so they can relax and swing over their back.
Once these 2 skills are developed, “on the bit” happens naturally and easily.
A little tip for free: green horses are great for eliciting the gaps in our own understanding and knowledge so you if are stuck on something, review the basics and see where you have missed a core piece of the puzzle in your own understanding and ability.
Riding on the bit requires skill and education, and can’t be achieved overnight. However, with the right effort and training, it will become natural and will look effortless flawless - bring those high dressage scores (as long as the judge likes your horse’s coat colour, of course!).
