I’ve always found that one of the best ways I learn is to teach. Not that I’m teaching something I don’t know, but I’m solidifying what I do know and thinking through all of the nuances and details as I articulate it for someone else.

Thus, since I started blogging over a year and a half ago, I think I’ve learned more about riding, horsemanship, and horse care than I have in the entire last decade. I’ve read magazines, read blogs, watched videos, and done lots of research to bring helpful material to my readers. And in the process, I’ve learned a ton.

I’m continually amazed at the tons of great information being provided online in a multitude of channels. As always, information on the web must be taken with a grain of salt because anybody can post anything – and not all of it is quality. So  it usually takes some sorting to find the best resources.

I am continually coming across new blog posts, websites, videos and more with great riding and training tips and ideas. So, my plan is to instititute a “Best of the web” training tips column, where every week or so I’ll share some of the great resources I’ve found that have helped me with my horsemanship and might just interest you too.

But first, I have two homework assignments for you (not really homework, it’s just that you’re smarter than me and I need your input):

1. name this column. 2-3 words to make it easily recognizable, descriptive but catchy
2. share your favorite online resources. Drop me an email with links to your favorite sites, blog posts, websites, videos, etc. They can even be your own!

I’ll get started with two of the great riding lessons I’ve learned this week.

Centered Riding and the Psoas Muscles

A big thanks goes out to Wiola of Riding Instructors Diary for this great post on The Psoas Muscle – the key to good position and deep seat. This was news to me, and something I’ll be paying attention to from  now on.

The psoas muscle is an interior muscle that attaches at the front of your lower lumbar spine and to the lesser trochanter at the top of your femur. They are the only muscles that attach your spine to your legs, and are what allow you to lift your leg.

The psoas and iliopsoas hold the torso vertical and engage to stop you from falling backwards behind the line of gravity which passes behind the hip joints. The psoas, engaged with the rectus abdominis hold you into the centre of the saddle so that your two seat bones are connected to the horse’s back muscles on either side of his spine. This is a vital piece of information, for sliding off one side or the other (usually to the outside through corners) is a major cause of horses falling out through their shoulder or haunches or bulging.

So, the psoas muscles are what we should be using to stabilize our upper bodies and for achieving a deep, connected seat. Read Wiola’s full post on the psoas muscles for more details  on how these muscles help your riding as well as how to exercise and stretch them.

Julie Goodnight Teaches the Emergency Stopping or Pulley Rein

In this video, Julie Goodnight teaches a rider how to use a type of emergency stop with her 17.1 thoroughbred who is all go and no whoa. This is the emergency stopping rein, or pulley rein. Here’s how it works:

Shorten one rein and anchor your hand against your horse’s neck in the dip just in front of his withers. It should be short enough that your horse flexes his head slightly to that side.

Then, be sure to sit up and back,slide your hand down the opposite rein and pull up and back with the opposite rein using your upper body as leverage. The key is to anchor one hand while  pulling up at a slight angle as if you were shooting a bow and arrow into the ground with the other. Julie says it will stop any horse on a dime, as it apparently does with the freighter in this video.

I’ve learned the one-rein stop, but I think I like this one better. It doesn’t  involve turning, which could cause a bolting horse to overbalance and fall.

Watch Julie Goodnight demonstrate and teach the emergency stopping rein.

Now, do your homework in the comments section. (Note: this assignment is not graded.)