Horizontal & Vertical Centers of Balance
Reference material for this lesson is below the video replay.
Take a minute to fill out some thoughts about this lesson after watching/reading to remind yourself on how this can help
POSTURE – HEAD, NECK & BREASTBONE
Why we need to know where the Centers of Balance are:
Whether it is horse or human – everything leads back to the centers of balance – it is our core strength and motion should start from, it is where our “come back to center point is”.
Anything that walks on 2 legs (biped), the center of balance refers to one area because it is circular around the iliac crest and the pelvis
Anything that walks on 4 legs (quadruped) has an intersecting center of balance and they are based on different skeletal points
HUMANS:
The Iliac crest is the part of our pelvis we can feel at the front.
If you drew a circle around your body at this point – this is your center of balance.
Horizontal Center of Balance or HCOB
The Horizontal Center of Balance runs from the Upper Shoulder point through the Pelvis joint.
In order for your horse to take a full stride and balance their weight over their structure, the Horizontal Center of Balance must run parallel with the ground.
The Horizontal Center of Balance runs from the Upper Shoulder point through the Pelvis joint.
In order for your horse to take a full stride and balance their weight over their body, the Horizontal Center of Balance must run parallel with the ground.
This horse is quite level through the topline (green), but you can see his horizontal center of balance is downhill (yellow) He needs to raise his shoulder point until his HCOB is level with the ground to take a full stride (red)
Beware of crooked images. This is a “trick” used on photographers to make horses look more level
Longer strides & speed are what comes with horses that have a HCOB that is Downhill – it is NOT a conformation fault
We have to get that shoulder point up for them to take a full stride SOOOOOOO:
Horses that are built downhill through the skeleton need to raise their head and neck as high as needed to get the shoulder point up where needed.
DON’T confuse head position from judged events with timed events – you don’t see race horses coming across the line with their head down.
You cannot hold the shoulder up with your hands around a turn, So your horse needs to hold it up on their own
– Because you will have to drop it back down again
– Our horses need to learn independent posture
– They also may need a Tie Down or Bonnet to balance on
Vertical Center of Balance or VCOB
The Vertical Center of Balance is the halfway point between the stifle joint or knee cap and the front elbow
When your horse takes a full stride – their legs will land and leave at the VCOB
The Vertical Center of Balance is the Axis or Center of the Teeter Totter – if our weight is in front of this point, we force our horses shoulder point down and push them onto the forehand
But wait – There’s More
The VCOB is what we need to line up with the center of the barrel
DO NOT start your turn before this point.
When we line up our horses VCOB with the center of the barrel and the HCOB is level, Centrifugal and Centripetal forces will help carry us around the turn.
It is the fastest and easiest way for your horse to turn.
