The Difficulty of Being A Researcher's Favorite Horse

I think he was surprised. And I forgot that the season only started. That he is not fully muscled up yet. And besides, working alone in the yard, when his friends are out in the pasture, playing... But I had to checked on the result of my new exercise on his posture. To do so I looked at him after the fact, from the ground. And indeed, he did copy me, all the while getting a bit excited, and not pushing forward sufficuently.

To recapitulate: Lifting the head upward and backward from C2 has an impact on the sacrum. It brings the rider's sacrum under the vertebra, thus providing a level base for the vertebrae above. This motion also raises the sternum and frees the shoulders. I do not know if it is only me, nor if any rider is able to gain these result in the same way i do. However, Fabian today copied my posture with precision. His backbone being in horizontal position, and the equine sacral joint being quite different from the human's, the closing in of my sacrum lowers his. The raising of my sternum raises his forehand, the raising of my head liberates his front legs.

In the mornings I work on illustrations for 'The Elements of Equitation (2005)', which will illuminate these physiological facts as well as many others pertaining to riding.