What
do you see when you are riding your horse? If you are like
many riders, you may not remember anything beyond your horse’s
ears. One common mistakes novice riders make is focusing
down on the horse, instead of looking up, at where they
are going – or trying to go.
In
stressful situations such as showing or schooling, it’s
important to remember to keep your eyes up and focused ahead
of where you are in the arena. Looking up improves the rider’s
balance and helps give clear signals to the horse about
where you want to go. Most of the time a horse will go where
the rider is looking, so if the rider is staring down at
his horse’s ears or shoulders, the horse will wander.
This is especially important if you are practicing making
round circles or straight lines, such as for reining or
horsemanship patterns. Turning your heads is part of the
subtle shift in balance that helps communicate to your horse
that you want him to turn, and will also help the horse
balance into his turns properly.
Practice
picking a point ahead and riding to that point. Remember
to keep picking a new point as you move around the arena.
If approaching an obstacle such as a pole on the ground
or a jump, look beyond it to help give your horse a clear
signal that you want to go over the obstacle. Horses will
often balk or spook from something that the rider is looking
down at … this also helps when passing scary places
out on the trail. Look past the scary spot and ride toward
that. 
Riders
who are accustomed to looking ahead of themselves also have
fewer problems with traffic in group classes. They can see
problems ahead and adjust for them before they are in the
middle of them. And, a rider with her eyes focused clearly
ahead “on the prize” shows confidence –
something that everyone enjoys seeing!
