Equitation works!

I have a whole post planned on equitation and I don't have time to write that now, but I have to share this photo. I just took three students to a hunter show, two of whom had never shown before. I didn't have a chance to get any photos because I was busy coaching so I emailed one of the moms to see if she had happened to snap any photos. She said she didn't get many, and the ones she got were dark. Here is the only riding photo she sent me so it's not as though I pawed through a whole slew of photos and pulled this one out.

This is one of the girls who had never shown before. She is nine years old. The pony she was riding was a little nervous and forward and she handled it excellently. The photo is dark and blurry, but to the best of my ability I put dots at her shoulder and heel and at her elbow and the bit and drew lines between them. You will see that a straight line from her shoulder to her heel goes right through her hip, and a straight line from her elbow to the bit goes right through her hand. Although the pony was going faster than she was accustomed to, my rider kept her foot underneath her, her leg is wrapped around the pony, and her heel is down. This allowed her to maintain her base of support and not lose her balance. And although the pony's head is high, my rider kept a straight line from her elbow to the bit to keep a supple, effective communication with the pony. She may not have known why she was doing these things, but she remembered how to ride, even under pressure, and I'm so proud!