Dressage Solutions: Help Your Horse Become Lighter In Front

Try this tip from Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel.

To help your horse become lighter in front …

Imagine your horse’s haunches and forehand as sprocket wheels inside a machine. Your leg and seat control the back sprocket wheel, which turns and brings the hind end under. Your hand controls the front one, which keeps the front end aligned with the hind end, creating energy into the bridle. The horse lifts his front end by shifting weight rearward through his whole body; that’s what makes him lighten in front. —Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel

(Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz)

Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel is a German native who earned her Reitlehrer certification in Germany and is now the head trainer at Gene Freeze’s First Choice Farm in Woodbine, Maryland. A former examiner for the U.S. Dressage Federation Instructor Certification Program, she has been the technical consultant for Dressage Today. 

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