The holy grail of excellent riding, “feel” refers to the near-magical skill that all great riders possess—the ability to sense where your horse’s body and mind are at every moment of your ride. Good feel is key to so much you do with your horse, but developing it requires a lot of time in the saddle.
Why is it crucial to learn how to ride off feel? When you’re able to immediately sense when your horse unbalanced, crooked, tense or off the rhythm, you can quickly make any necessary adjustments with your aids, position and pace.
An improved sense of feel will also help you refine your aids for a better connection; as a result, your horse will respond better for a more fluid ride. Plus, knowing when to adjust your aids and how to read your horse’s body language will help you put him in the correct position, making his jumping efforts much easier.
Here, master show jumper Ronny Riemer explains why feel is so important and how you can develop it.
Feel Fundamentals
“There are three things you must master to ride a course off feeling. You must know where you’re coming from, where you are in the moment and where you have to be next. Focus on helping your horse while also staying out of his way so he can give you a good jump.
“For example, as we have set up here, if I’m doing a single vertical and rolling back to the right to a second vertical, I’m going to be very aware of where I’m going after the first fence.
“Knowing that I have to turn right, I’m going to start looking in that direction as soon as I land while opening my outside rein and stepping into my outside stirrup. I put my weight in my outside stirrup because I don’t want my horse to just follow that inside rein and lead with his inside shoulder.
“To maintain my horse’s shape through the turn I push around with my outside aids while working to keep my horse balanced and right underneath me. Then, I exit the turn to find my straight approach and ride my horse off my leg and into my hand while staying tall with my upper body to free up his front end.”
Close the Doors to Push Your Horse Into Straightness
“Think about riding your horse through a straight corridor full of doors. If you leave all the doors open, your horse might go through the corridor and think, ‘Oh, what’s in this door? Look there’s another one! What’s in here?’
“But if I close all the doors on the sides and just leave the one open in the front, my horse will seek that one. You will never be able to pull a horse into straightness with your reins. If your horse is crooked, and you pull on your reins to straighten him, you’re just going to make him crooked the other way.
“You’ve probably seen it a million times—a rider navigating a line of jumps where the horse fishtails in between the fences because he’s always following guidance from busy reins. So, think hands down, while hugging your horse with your legs to push him into that straightness you’re constantly seeking.”
Key Takeaway
“Remember, you don’t win at horse shows. You win at home. You just drive all the way to the show to pick up the ribbon. It’s the work you do at home to find straightness and rhythm and trusting your horse’s stride.”
Read more with Ronny Riemer here.
About Ronny Riemer
German native Ronny Riemer is a skilled grand prix show jumper and has competed successfully at the FEI and national levels. He trained with German Olympians Franke Sloothaak and Paul Schockemöhle and made a name for himself as a rider and trainer throughout Europe and North America. Ronny and his wife Chanel have a sales and training business, RCR Equestrian, based at Diasti Stables in Ocala, Florida.