Horsemanship & Training Articles

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Teaching Balance
and the Conservation of Energy
by Kathy Bennett-Mann

Without balance, the rider requires force to hold their posture as segments of their body fight against each other and the ever present forces of gravity. This wasted energy and motion creates disharmony with the horse. The horse who also struggles to support  poor balance is inefficient and inhibited from his full athletic potential.

In balance, two opposing forces or factors are of equal strength or importance so that they effectively cancel each other out.  An item in perfect balance requires almost no energy or force to maintain its position or stability. 

Think of a person standing on a balance beam. They start to tip, and some segment of their body on the other side will quickly shift to compensate in an effort to equalize the weight on both sides of the balance (center) line. It can be quite a dance and if things aren't evened out on both sides, they will fall.

If that same person stands on the ground and starts to tip, they will quickly catch themselves by stepping over to create a base of support to offset the forces of gravity. 

When we ride, the horse is our base of support. He compensates and deals with our weight within his actions and being the big strong animal that he is, he is usually able to do this without much help or notice from us. 

However, enter into a flow of movement that requires the un-balanced horse to perform a balanced action, such as a flying lead change, and you get a nifty little cross-fire or refusal instead because the horse really can't defy the laws of physics (no matter how many times he gets a spur in his side) to compensate for overwhelming balance offsets while he is suspended is mid air and he knows he has to land on all fours. We can be grateful for this considering the alternatives.

Balance is a harmony in which the various parts form a whole and nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest. In this state of balance there is a conservation of energy and the good news is that balance is a straightforward law of physics with a few simple rules. Rule number one, don't fight gravity.  

Let's go back to the flying lead change. The horse must rearrange his legs while in an upright position with all his parts balanced on both sides of the center line. It's simple for him if he is upright with all legs equally hung from his body in the suspension phase of the stride. He just switches his legs and lands in the new lead. But, if the rider is out of balance, the horse must work as a base of support and must use the landing phase of the stride to catch the rider's offset weight.

In teaching the flying lead change, therefore, the place to start is the rider's balance. Balance in the simple lead departure. Balance in coming down to a trot for the simple change of lead and taking off again in the new one. The rider should be able to ride a straight line before attempting a flying lead change.

By nature the body is constantly seeking to work with balance to minimize unnecessary movements and conserve energy. It becomes only a matter, then, of recognizing where we fight gravity and then to focus on how we may re-harmonize our posture with it. 

Here are a few definitions to define balance.

Balance works with the forces of gravity to help the body conserve its energy, minimize stress to its components, and maximize a unified flow of movement. The complete laws of physics go beyond the scope of this article; however, I hope this introduction to balance will help you get started toward balance and the conservation of energy.