Everything I write in my posts are for your consideration.  They are ideas or explanations I throw out to my students.  I want you to toss them over in your mind, see if they make sense to you, and perhaps they are something you would like to think about or try yourself.

Always be thinking, and always be safe.  Know your horse and your surroundings.  If you do decide to trying some of this, have a helper, you will feel calmer, not tense up and send a nervous message to your horse.

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So many expressions refer to the eyes.  The eyes are a window to the soul.  Her smile never reached her eyes.  When Irish eyes are smiling.  Love light shining in your eyes.  The Eyes of Texas are upon you.  My mother always told me she could see exactly how I was feeling by my eyes.

So let’s look at the eyes with relationship to our riding.  I always tell my students that where their eyes are looking is where they’re body will be going.  If they are watching the ground I ask them if they are looking for a good place to land, because there’s a good chance they will hit the ground if that’s where they are looking.

When we are riding around a  turn, our eyes should be looking to where we are intending to go.  If we are jumping, our eyes will be searching for our next jump, or If we are barrel racing, we will be looking for our next barrel.

So let’s just think about how our eyes affect our body and shifting weight.  Sitting in the chair you are in, sit up straight and just look all the way around to the left.  Now notice how when you turn your head it turns your shoulders, you twist at your waist and your right hip comes and it puts more pressure to your left seat bone.  Your horse will feel this and move to stay under your weight.  This is a very simple way to let your horse in on the idea that you are going to go in that direction.

When you look down at the ground, since the horse’s neck is in the way, we usually look to the left or the right of his neck, what happens to your body this time?  Your head comes down, your shoulders twist to the side you are looking, and so does you waist.  Your whole weight has shifted to one side and down.  If your horse trips or stops dead, you’re going down.

Now look straight as if you were looking between your horses ears.  Your head is up, and your body is in a straight line over your center of balance.  With this your horse is directly underneath you, and you are over your horses center of balance.

When you are going over a jump, look for your next jump and your horse should land on his correct lead.  If you are looking down, you will be putting too much weight on the horses front end and you stand a chance of throwing your horse off-balance.

When I teach the beginner children I always tell them to look between the horses ears.  While it’s helping to keep them balanced on their horse I also tell them that they can read what their horses are thinking.  As their ears are moving around I explain what the horse is listening to at that particular moment.  Either they are listening to their rider, me or sounds around us.  I tell them to be aware of when the ears are pinned back, because then they are angry at a horse coming up on them and they may want to kick.  But if they are pinned forward they may be hearing or seeing something in the distance that may frighten them, and this gives us a warning.  The rider can also see exactly what’s in front of them and where they are going.  Yes it gets them to be a thinking, alert, aware rider, but more than that it keeps them balanced.

Our eyes take in so much that sometimes we lose sight of what the horse is doing with its body.  In a very controlled situation, such as in the round pen with me walking along side holding the rein, or on a longe line I will tell them to close their eyes and feel the horse moving underneath them.  Then I will ask them to tell me what leg is in motion in the front and then the back.  At first they are afraid to close their eyes, but after a very short time they love doing this.  I usually end up having to yell at them to keep their eyes open.  They become aware of the subtle changes in the horses speed, balance or movement.   I actually got this concept from teaching blind children to ride.  They were so much more aware of the horse than the sighted children.  Losing the sense of sight makes all their other senses more heightened.  It puts them in tune to the horses body and inner spirit.

So all this to say – the “Eyes” really do have it.