Correct Leaning

Today I would like to talk about sitting on the horse as we ride, as an addition to the post I wrote called The Seat some while back.  Today we are going to discuss which direction you should lean as you ride across uneven  ground.

How many of you were taught to lean back as you go down a steep hill, and forward as you go up hill?  Years back, when I first started giving riding lessons that was what I thought.  The reason?  It made it more comfortable for the rider.

I was wrong, not in that it makes it more comfortable for the rider, but in that it was the correct thing to do.  What you should be thinking of is your horse's balance, or collection if you will, which is no more that a fancy word for balance.  A free running horse is always collected, but when we add our weigh to his back he has to find a new center of balance.  Pretend that you are carrying a kid piggyback as you go down a steep hill would you want his leaning backwards or forwards?  And the same question if you are going up hill?  I am sure that you can see that having the kid lean in the correct direction will help you keep your balance.

The above is a picture I copied from Mount & Man by Lieut. Col McTaggart, D.S.O. published in May of 1925.  You will note that the rider's body is perpendicular to the ground, and strait up from the horse's back and not leaning backwards onto the horse's back.  

The reason is for the horse's collection not the rider's comfort.  Regardless of if you are going up or down hill the rider should keep his body perpendicular to his horse's back.  The one exception to this is that the faster you are riding the more forward you should lean, and when you jump you should be leaning up near the horse's neck.