Playing Tips with Rege Ludwig

Playing tips with Rege Ludwig Decelerating/Stopping the Polo Horse

Re-think your stopping style

Renowned polo coach, Rege Ludwig gives his expert advice on how to get more out of your game

Sit in the saddle, feet forward, pull on the reins, WRONG.

If I am to play to the best of my ability, I think of my horse as being a polo playing partner. As such, it is my responsibility to figure out how to help that partner play most effectively with me and for me. One of the more critical aspects of accomplishing that is for me to be aware of what the horse is going through as it is playing with me and for me.

SIT: When sitting in the saddle, a majority of my weight is on the weakest part of the horse’s back. At the same time, I have moved the balance of my body back further than the horse can comfortably shift its point of balance back for the purpose of decelerating. Both situations increase the difficulty for the horse relative to decelerating with maximum effectiveness.

One of the more critical aspects of the decelerating process to appreciate is, the polo horse must compress its body equal to the degree of intensity with which it is being asked to decelerate. When compressing its body, the horse’s hind legs move forward and under its body to support itself. The reality of the situation is, sitting on the weakest part of the horse’s back makes moving the hind legs forward a difficult task for the horse to accomplish.

FEET FORWARD: I ask you to consider the opposite maneuver of decelerate, i. e. accelerate. I want you to appreciate that you typically move your lower legs back and up along the horse’s sides to energize the hind quarters to drive the hind legs forward from which the horse propels itself forward to accelerate.

For the horse to move its hind legs forward for the purpose of accelerating, your lower legs must be back and up along its sides to energize the hind quarters to drive the hind legs forward and under its body to propel forward off of. Under those situations, your lower legs should be back and up to where they are back and up toward the horse’s hip bones where it is more sensitive, and will respond with greater energy from which to accelerate.

Now consider decelerating: your horse’s hind legs must also be forward and under its body to support itself when decelerating. Common sense strongly suggests to me that if your lower legs are forward, they will have a difficult time energizing the horse’s hindquarters for the purpose of driving the hind legs forward and under its body for support. To energize your horse’s hindquarters for the purpose of decelerating, your lower legs should be back to where they are at least to the back edge of the girth. At that point, your lower legs are beginning to contact the horse’s sides with a sufficient degree of gripping effort to energize the hind quarters to drive the hind legs forward and under its body for support.

Lower leg position for decelerating

PULL ON REINS: Relative to controlling the horse’s front end, a supportive pressure must be applied to the horse’s mouth that is consistent with the desired rate of deceleration, no greater than, no lesser than, (equal to); and, that pressure must be maintained consistent with the desired rate of deceleration.

Contrary to popular belief, there should not be a pull/release method of applying a supportive pressure to your horse’s mouth. That is true because the pull pressure is asking the horse to decelerate, while the release is telling the horse to no longer decelerate at the pull rate. In fact, your horse could interpret the release as a signal to accelerate. Common sense strongly suggests to me that it does not make sense to release pressure on the horse’s mouth in the middle of a decelerating maneuver.

The process of applying a supportive pressure to your horse’s mouth should not take place with you sitting on the weakest part of the horse’s back, with your feet forward energizing its shoulders, while your hands are trying to pull its front end back. That supportive pressure should come from your being in a more centrally balanced forward half seat position with your crotch positioned over the rise of the pommel of the saddle. With your seat forward to that degree, your upper body will tend to be vertical. From that vertical position, begin leaning your upper body back, without sitting. As your upper body is leaning back, your rein hand should follow. It is that leaning back of your upper body, with you rein hand following proportionately that should be applying supportive pressure to your horse’s mouth. You are essentially leaning onto your horse’s mouth, rather than pulling on it. That leaning supportive pressure should remain consistent with the desired rate of deceleration at every stage of the decelerating process. Under those conditions, your horse can more clearly understand the degree of intensity with which to decelerate for you throughout the decelerating process.

Helping your polo horse decelerate effectively cannot happen with you sitting on the weakest part of its back, with your feet forward at its shoulders, while you are pulling on its sensitive mouth. The reality of the situation is, Pulling on the reins is more of a punishment to your horse’s mouth than a supportive pressure to help it compress its body for the purpose of driving its hind legs forward to support itself throughout the decelerating process.

I am far from suggesting that decelerating the polo horse in a way that helps it decelerate most effectively for you is easy. However, I am unequivocally stating that; decelerating the polo horse using correctly applied body mechanics helps the polo horse decelerate much more efficiently and effectively for you than does sitting on the weakest part of its back, with your feet energizing its shoulders, while your hands are trying to pull its front end back.

I feel safe in promising, “You can more easily push your horse’s hind legs forward with your lower legs than pull its front end back with the reins in hand.