03/05/2025
The biomechanics of Unity. We call the shared center of balance and movement between horse and rider Unity. This is when the horse and rider move as one being. It is one of those principles of horsemanship that is easier to describe than to accomplish.
The images show the location of a typical human's and a typical horse's center of balance with red dots. The bottom image shows how the two centers, human and horse, merge into a shared center of balance with the red circle around the white dot.
Simply stated, the rider must lower their center of balance while the horse raises theirs. This is the "easier said than done" part.
This shared balance requires that the horse be moving, and the rider deepens their seat such that their center of balance moves downward to meet the horse's center of balance. Henry Wynmalen tells us how to accomplish this with his brilliant comment, "Let the horse move you."
Likewise, the horse must raise its center of balance to meet and merge with the rider's, which is another "easier said than done". The best way to coax a horse into raising their center of balance is with collection. The rider must encourage their horse to collect by means of engaging the hind. This cannot be forced, although today many riders believe force will work but it does not.
The engaged hind of a horse reaches more powerfully under itself, thus shortening the distance between the hind and fore legs. That shortened distance causes the horse's back to rise in order to deal with the shortened distance of the legs. The horse's body mass must go somewhere because it cannot be compressed, so it rises into a bit of an arc, thus raising the horse's center of balance.
When the horse's center of balance rises through collection and at the same time the rider lowers their center of balance by deepening their seat, Unity is achieved. It is that simple, however developing the rider's body awareness and feel for the horse's center of balance during movement does not happen overnight. This is the work of horsemanship.
Unifying the horse's and rider's centers of balance, means establishing and maintaining it in both the longitudinal (hind to poll) and lateral (left to right) planes. This is why we don't lean in on the turns or lean back in the saddle more than 5 degrees or close our shoulders and lean too far forward.
In my opinion modern Dressage has hijacked the principle of Unity in horsemanship and perverted it. Today we see dressage riders forcing a horse into a frame of false collection, leaning back in the saddle using their body weight against their horse. We see rider's thighs jammed against huge knee rolls or thigh blocks to force the shortening of the distance between their horse's hind and fore legs in a facsimile of collection that is only a compressed neck. What gives away the falsehood of their misconception is in the horse's back. If the back is hollow or dished downward, it is wrong. If the back rises upward into an arc, it is correct and beautiful.
Many riders who have not been trained to achieve Unity have experienced it in moments. It's that exhilarating feeling of being one with your horse. These moments of Unity tend to be accidental, leaving the rider wanting more. Riders who work at this can have Unity whenever they want. It's addictive.
This post is for Bella.
