Raw Energy from your Shock Absorbers

Richard Shrake’s Resistance Free Teaching Picture

Raw Energy from your Shock Absorbers

Many of my students have a difficult time connecting to their horse’s energy flow. Without this energy, the rider becomes a simple passenger and not a Resistance Free rider giving their horse the needed leadership.

The teaching picture I use is to have the student imagine the joints in their body are shock absorbers, taking in and letting go the energy in a rhythmic way with their horse’s beat until it becomes a muscle memory. Without the shock absorbers the student’s body becomes stiff and rigid, stopping all softness and feel.

This illustration is to show how the rider's joints (ankly, knee, and hip) act as a shock aborbers.

Richard Shrake is an internationally known horseman from Sun River, Oregon. He holds Resistance Free riding seminars on an international level. For a schedule of seminars see his website at http://www.richardshrake.com/

Illustrations by Suzanne Gysin, a Swiss born illustrator with a strong background in eventing and dressage. You can contact her at: http://suzannegysin.blogspot.com/