What Does Contact And Feel Mean In The World Of Horses

You have probably heard lots of talk about ?feel? in the world of horses. It is a word that is bandied about by the know alls, the know a bits and the know nothings, all of who can be equally deadly. Very few folk actually grasp all of the subtleties conveyed by the word ?feel? do you?

I am getting the distinct feeling even instructors and trainers who use the word in every other sentence do not truly understand the word. It has become a form of fashionable language; to mention it once each 5 or ten words is to display your expertise. In its extraordinarily simplest form, ?feel? is achieved when you and your pony have become perfect at contact-based communication, and it is possible to get your horse to do what you want with cues so refined they will not be spotted by any person watching. Spectators will be well placed to see your pony do something, but they will struggle to detecting you telling your pony to do it. To all intents and purposes, the pony has acted of his own accord. That kind of coordination is total horsemanship.

Contact is the undetectable live channels of communication to your horse that you are keeping open through the reins or halter or hackamore you are holding plus your seat and legs. Feel is when you send a telegraph thru those channels with the tiniest motion, the most delicate shifts of weight, that causes a flood of something similar to electricity that conveys your command to the horse.

Allow me to explain that a little bit. Try and grasp the idea that the device you are using, like the bit, is pretty much a live part of your hands.

This device is controlled by your hands, often through the reins. As your cues are conveyed to your pony, they gain in strength. Try a small experiment. Take your device your ?Hackamore or bit or whatever it could be? and hang it on top of a pole or a door handle. As it hangs loose, take a look at it to discover those areas that are weightier than others. Attempt to visualize that spread of smaller and more weights as it leads to your horse?s nose or mouth. Attempt to evaluate if any piece of the gear is likely to cause discomfort or agony to your horse. Take the reins in your hands and work on removing the slack till such time as there is some very slight, almost invisible movement in the bit or bosal. If done properly the movement should be pretty near unnoticeable. You are attempting to establish contact with the bit or bosal through the reins, using feel. You should keep practicing till there isn?t any discernable movement in the bosal or bit at all, yet you know that you have established contact.

The point at which you know but are unable to see contact is where you have established feel. This is what you?ve got to perfect while you are on your horse. Good contact and feel cannot be achieved unless your balance is perfect. Balance is achieved in the saddle, with your seat. Perfect balance enables you to send superbly invisible cues and get perfect responses from your pony.

Persist at perfecting contact and feel. It may take you some time to fully grasp and master it all, but master it you can.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers visit http://horsehorses.net/

Source: http://siscer.net/articles/pets/what-does-contact-and-feel-mean-in-the-world-of-horses/

florida state meghan mccain wilson chandler bristol motor speedway puerto rico prometheus grand canyon skywalk