Most people have heard of “horse whisperers”. But I want to tell you about the horse whispering. Yes, horses whisper to us!
Belinda Trussell, my coach and trainer, told me that when she gets on and rides her students’ horses the horses whisper things to her. She told me they tell her everything about how they have been ridden. Everything!
When I returned from holiday last week Belinda told me what my horse, Biasini, had “whispered” to her. Not a whole list of things. Just one very important thing. When going to the right and being asked to turn to the right to go across the diagonal, I allow him to fall in. What does that mean …fall in?
For those of you who are not dressage riders let me explain further. Here is a diagram of the dressage arena.
So let’s say that I am going to the right and I go past A and then, at the letter K, I turn right to go across the diagonal to the letter M. When I turn on to that diagonal line I may do an extended trot across to M, or I may do a series of flying changes of canter lead, or I may do a half pass to the centerline. If I don’t get Biasini set up properly in the corner and in the turn, then the rest of the movement, whatever it is, will be all about trying to correct what happened to our balance in that bad turn.
Here is a photo of Belinda Trussell, on her horse Tattoo, riding in a competition in Wellington Florida. She is turning right and she is NOT leaning or falling in. She is upright and balanced and has her horse ready for the move across the diagonal ( you can see she is looking where she is going. ) She is riding her horse with both legs and both hands equally balanced. Tattoo is bending nicely around her inside ( right ) leg. This is how it should be done.
When I ride the corner and turn onto the diagonal on the right it looks like this.
Ok ,that’s an exaggeration.That would be an extreme falling in! Here is a more realistic photo comparison.
You see how the dirt bike rider has his right leg down ready in case he needs to use it to stop himself falling? Well , when I am riding Biasini I can’t put my leg down to stop us from falling over. But I can use my right leg against his side to remind him to stay upright and not “fall in”. If I allow him to fall in he is the one who puts his feet out to balance. He steps too far to the right and then we are not straight on our diagonal line and we are not set up well for whatever we are going to do on that line.
So when Belinda rode Biasini he whispered to her that on the right (going left we are ok) I am not using my inside ( right ) leg to balance him. And that, Dear Readers, is what I am working to correct. New muscle memory will have to be learned and practiced!
HorseAddict 
I loved this post, especially your sense of humor!! 😀
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Glad you enjoyed it! Nice to hear from you again.
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You wrote it so well, Anne. And the comparison made me feel as imagine myself riding the horse myself. I love it…
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Thank you! I”m. Glad it made sense to you.
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You’re truly a pro when it comes to horse, Anne. 😅😊
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Thank you!
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I totally believe that horses “Whisper” to us in their own “language”. Even though I am still in the beginner stages of my riding journey, I will remember this post of yours when I ride next time, as I have trouble with leaning to the side, causing my lesson horse to “fall in”. This is really helpful to me, not only to listen to the horse whispering to me, but to also listen to my body and what it tells me to do as well! 😀
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I’m glad you found the post interesting. Thanks for your comment and all the best for you on your riding journey.
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Wonderful to hear that horses whisper to humans. I know that dogs tell their own secrets to their loved ones.
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Yes dogs also tell us things. Thanks for stopping by.
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Anne you made me laugh. I love that you compare yourself and Biasini to the racing bike.
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Good! I hope readers would see the humor in that.
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I LOVE the comparison that you used! Awesome!
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Thanks! I thought the biker on the yellow racer was pretty amusing for a comparison. Glad you enjoyed!
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😁👍🏻
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❤ whispers! They do!!! Happy muscle memory work! As mental as physical
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Thanks for your comment Avery! I think you hear the ‘whispered’ too!
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I like to think so when I am open to it.
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Liked the way you described this.
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Thank you!
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It is amazing to know horses whisper, I have seen and know humans whisper into horse’s ears but the other way round is nice to know.
Great! Anne!!!
Shiva
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The trick is to know how to hear them! Thanks for your comment Shiva.
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