I’ve been reading a little lately about relaxation and softness of mind and body, and put a few words down to remind myself periodically of what I’m working to achieve in my horsemanship.
I read recently where someone questioned the difference between softness and lightness, or soft/light, and what it means in horsemanship. It made me think through how these terms are used so often, and often aren’t explained. Whilst many good horsemen/horsewomen will often interchange these terms so that they are in essence speaking of the same thing, what it should translate to is feel and a horse’s willingness to be directed or guided without physical or mental conflict, brace or resistance, regardless of the environment, energy or pace of the task at hand.
My definition (this is not a scientific theory but my own take on the subject and we are talking about very subjective terms and many will argue semantics based on their own definition) is as follows.
When we talk about softness, it’s the physical and mental willingness of your horse to accept direction in a relaxed yet responsive way, relying on the energy of the rider to increase the intensity or the speed at which a manoeuvre is achieved. Softness is the feel you get when you change your balance or seat, lift a rein, in essence give a subtle aid (you can have softness and contact at the same time), or change your focus or energy levels and your horse responds in a confident, supple and relaxed fashion with energy, balance and impulsion. With softness you can achieve relaxation without your horse resisting or bracing as you work through your training. Once you’ve both mastered softness, you don’t ask harder or firmer for more – you just raise your energy levels as you progress to more advanced training.
It takes commitment, consistency and patience to assist a horse to be soft, and commitment, consistency and patience to keep it there. It’s not just a physical element of the training, it is also a mental approach for both horse and rider. It is a way of riding that both you and your horse need to be on the same page with. If your horse gives willingly, you accept gratefully, if you give willingly, he will respond with confidence. Softness is not about avoiding contact, it is knowing how to feel contact and use it with empathy consistently, remembering if your horse gives without resistance, accept gratefully and reward with relaxation in your mind and body.
Achieving and maintaining this softness allows you to work together and build on intensity and purpose without brace or resistance.
If you use the word lightness yet are speaking of the same as above, interchanging these terms has the same meaning. However, often describing lightness or a horse being light, can mean that the rider is giving an unclear aid through a lack of direction or poor feel, or asking or applying an aid abruptly or too firmly, creating an abrupt reaction. More often a horse being described as light may be a horse reacting to a rider’s aids, evading or anticipating the direction or pace, and although moving quickly does so with a brace in the body, feet and mind and a degree of resistance and often imbalance in the movement. A horse that rushes through manoeuvres is not soft, although it may be described as light, as it seeks to evade contact or anticipates the consequence of failing to abide by a given aid quickly. This evasion over time may look impressive, but it is not the horse giving willingly or confidently, or working with energy in a relaxed manner.
Ineffective feel, that is a rider not recognising the difference between their horse softly responding and lightly reacting, can be confusing and for some it takes time to learn, and once felt you will understand and appreciate the difference.
So when you work on developing softness, take the time to feel it yourself – see how much can you relax and still direct your horse while it relaxes, how much energy does it take from you to have your horse respond through its paces or manoeuvres, and how your breathing, balance and relaxation can help your horse remain soft and supple through its mind and body. It is possible to have your horse working with energy and pace, and remain soft and willing, regardless of your discipline. It just takes commitment, consistency and patience.
When we translate this to having soft hands as a rider, we don’t mean letting the reins go, letting the horse pull through or lean on the rein, or being ineffective or worse inconsistent with maintaining contact (by this I mean riding with an unsteady hand or in an unbalanced fashion or drifting between contact and no contact with no purpose or meaning), we should give willingly through the hand when the horse is soft, and not evade or anticipate through tension in our hands, body, leg or seat. We should use aids (including our mind and body) to direct, support and guide the mind and body of the horse, not to restrict, brace against or control.
It can be a mental challenge to trust and ride in a soft manner if you are a rider who is bracing against a possible reaction – or unable to let go of your own tension.
We need to do as much and no more than needed to direct our horse willingly and with a relaxed mind and body. Knowing how much is where some may need guidance, working on how to incrementally increase your energy or different techniques to encourage softness is something you may need to learn. Learn and practice how to create energy through thought or action without creating tension or frustration in your mind and body. Go for a walk (or run if you like), move with intent at a maintained pace looking forward. Focus on maintaining regular good breathing and relaxation while you move, take a good length of stride, relax your body and arms, and find a good walking or running rhythm – see how your body responds and how you can move with energy whilst maintaining a relaxed mind and body. See how moving without brace or resistance enables you to find confidence and comfort. This is what softness can give to your horse when you work together.
Training horses and improving as a rider is an incremental process. This takes time and then a little more time, and is something if you are a committed rider you will work on each and every time you sit on a horse for the remainder of your riding life. I’ll keep doing this as I continue my journey, riding one step at a time.
Liz Leighton © December 2018
Well thought out Liz, love it. Great differentiation between soft and light.