From Dancing To Riding
For those of you who don't know me, I used to dance.
When I took up horseback riding lessons, I wanted to learn something new and try out a different hobby in adulthood.
But as I've been riding more, it's been interesting to compare how similar and how different dance is to horseback riding.
Check-In
Work has been very tiring but very rewarding.
We saved a dog's life, and that was the highlight of my job so far. It's those moments that make me happy and I've figured out that it's my why. It's why I love to do what I do, and helps me solidify my goal of becoming a vet.
My riding lesson on Thursday was... interesting.
I was put on a horse that I haven't been a fan of in the past, but I assumed I'd have a better ride this time around, knowing it could've been my mood or even the horse's mood that made it a bad ride previously.
When I mounted the horse and started walking, she felt pretty lethargic in her walk. She was slow and it almost felt gaited, even though she's not a gaited horse.
When I asked her nicely to walk faster and pick up the trot, she got irritated and bucked. She went to the middle of the arena, and when I was told to get her walking on the wall, she turned around and bucked at my trainer.
That was when my trainer went and got a different horse for me to ride.
The horse I was riding was in pain, so it had nothing to do with my riding. Not being a fan of her was one thing, but her trying to buck me off when I wasn't doing anything to make her buck was another thing.
Although it was scary, I am glad I experienced this. Now I feel more comfortable if there's another bucking situation.
I'm hoping next week will be a better ride.
How Dance Has Helped Or Hindered My Horseback Riding Journey
Coming from the dance world, the riding world isn't all that different.
Sure, there's clear differences between dancing and horseback riding, but there's also a lot of similarities.
For one, both dancers and riders will make their craft look easy.
The goal for both of these disciplines is to have someone from the outside world say "that's easy". Then they try it out and they're surprised at how difficult it is.
I've had a lot of experience with this. Dancing while in middle school and junior high got a lot of attempted imitations from classmates.
While some people might think this was a form of bullying (and in some ways it was), I always found it amusing because I'd flex my dance skills right back at them and they'd pipe down. I'm pretty sure I intimidated the popular kids at my school because they knew I was cooler than them and could flex that I was in professional shows.
For horseback riding, a lot of people think it's easy because they think you're sitting on the horse and the horse is doing all the work.
But that's not the case. In order for your horse to work, you need to command them to work. And on top of that, you need to make sure your body movement is helping them move along.
Another similarity is the use of balance and core strength.
In dance, we use a lot of upper-body strength to make things look effortless from the hips up while all the work happens in the legs.
In dance, we also have to use our core and lift ourselves up when we're dancing with a partner.
Horseback riding requires a lot of core strength not only to stay in the saddle, but also to be able to look graceful from the waist up.
We're also moving in tandem with our horse, so when I was learning how to canter, my already-developed core strength helped me alleviate pain from my butt and my horse's back, even if I was bouncy in the beginning.
Similarly, another skill I have developed from dance is rhythm.
Being able to have experience in keeping rhythm has helped me tremendously in picking up the correct posting diagonal at the trot.
While most beginners might have to look down at the horse's shoulders in order to pick up the correct posting diagonal, I have been able to pick up the correct posting diagonal through feeling.
Other skills dance has transferred well over to riding is learning styles, critiques and responsibility.
I have learned that I'm a visual learner because of dance, which has helped things click for me regarding my riding form. I have learned how to accept critiques and corrections, as well as apply those corrections. I have learned how to be responsible and reliable to earn my barn's trust in taking care of their school horses.
As far as differences go, a lot of the differences have to do with specific techniques.
For example, needing to keep my heels down in the stirrups has been the correction I get most often from my trainers. But in dance, I had to point my toes, and because of this, my foot doesn't dorsiflex (flex in the ankle) very well.
Another technique I've had to adjust for horseback riding is turning my feet and legs in, or parallel to the horse's body. This helps with keeping the legs stable, especially in the canter. In dance, I was taught to turn out from the hips, and once again, my hips and legs don't have the flexibility yet to be parallel and feel 100% comfortable.
Having to depend on another animal is also a difference, in the sense that the animal needs commanding rather than them knowing what to do ahead of time.
Although partnering in dance and horseback riding have their similarities, a main difference is that you're partnering with a human in dance and you're with a non-speaking animal when you're riding.
A dance partner knows his or her steps, and they are able to adjust properly in order to make errors look as graceful as possible. Horses have a mind of their own and need commanding in order to work in tandem with their riders.
The final difference is height and opportunities.
When I was partnering in dance, it was often difficult to find the right partner who was a comfortable match for me. Oftentimes, because I'm so small, my partner would have to make adjustments to be able to keep me balanced. I remember one of my very tall dance partners was on his knees to keep me secure in a step.
In horseback riding, I actually have more opportunities because of my short height.
I'm able to ride more horses in the barn, including the smaller ponies, because I can fit into their saddles. Some of my taller friends struggle with riding the smaller ponies because they don't fit right in the saddle, and it's uncomfortable for them.
Going from dance to horseback riding has been quite the adventure. I've loved being able to notice what has helped me from dance and what techniques I'm essentially unlearning from dance so I can better my riding technique.
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