Centered Driving is an adaptation of the principles and techniques devised by Sally Swift in her best selling book and videos Centered Riding published in 1985. Centered
Riding is not a special style of riding (or driving) but rather a new way of utilizing and expressing classical principles of riding and working with horses. Centered Riding and Centered Driving not only address the
"whats" of horsemanship but also the "hows" and whys" of effective communication with the horse.
Centered Riding is founded on four components Sally terms the "Four Basics", which
include: Soft Eyes, Breathing, Centering, and Balance. In recent years Sally has added a "Fifth Basic" she terms "Grounding".Awareness of these five basics will have a profound effect on your ability
to communicate clearly and effectively with your horse in riding, driving, or work in hand. When you become more aware of your own body, inner balance, and clear control, your horse will respond with increased freedom,
forward motion and suppleness. A horse who is balanced and in clear communication with his handler moves with a unique freedom and joy that cannot be duplicated artificially.
Soft Eyes refers to awareness of what you
are doing with your eyes. How many times have you caught yourself staring at your horse's neck or ears as you drive? Worse yet is the Whip (to those new to driving the driver is traditionally termed the
"Whip") who leans sideways to keep an eye on his horse's leg action. "Hard eyes" that stare or over- focus unconsciously create tension and block feeling on the part of the driver. Soft eyes allow
you to have a much larger field of vision as you drive. This open vision allows you to be more clearly aware of your surroundings, of other vehicles in the ring, or your anticipated route in a dressage test or an
obstacle class. Even more significant is the increased sensitivity and awareness you experience in your hands and body as your eyes cease to be locked and become soft and opened.
Soft eyes are extremely important
while working with horses. Take a moment and squint or stare at an object or at a point in the distance. Stare at it really hard. How do you feel when you are staring? Do you feel tension in your face, chest, back, or
shoulders? How much do you really see when you are so intently focused and staring at an object? The horse, being the incredibly sensitive creature that he is, is well aware when his handler's eyes are "hard"
and staring. The tension travels like electricity right through the reins to the bit.
Now relax, take a couple deep abdominal breaths, and look at that same point or object again. This time, allow your eyes to look at
the object, but also take in everything else you can see around it: the sky or ceiling, the ground, objects on each side. Notice that your eyes can still be directed toward that object but your peripheral vision is much
wider, and you are seeing in a more open, relaxed way. Do you feel any different when you look out at the world with soft eyes? Do you think your horse will feel that difference too?
Breathing plays a significant role
in equine communication and behavior. In the wild, horses communicate frequently through their breathing, and breathing patterns. Aside from the obvious snorting and blowing, a horse that tenses up and holds its breath,
perhaps sensing danger, gives other herd members the instant message that something is wrong - get ready to run! How often, when you work with horses, do you unconsciously tighten up your breathing or hold your breath?
Watch yourself the next few days and you may find that you hold your breath while doing many simple things. Perhaps bending down to pick up a foot, leading a horse through a doorway, switching on a light, trying to stop
a spooky colt in the round pen. All day long you'll undoubtedly find many examples both in the bam and in everyday life. What message do you send your horse when his handler, his perceived herdmate, is holding his
breath? Proper breathing reduces tension in both the horse and handler. When tension is reduced the communication between horse and human becomes open and clear.
As humans we need to also consider how we breathe. As
we age we tend to take shallower breaths from high in our chests, which raises our center of gravity, affecting our balance by actually making us top heavy. We need to make a conscious effort to breathe from our
diaphragm, that great muscle that acts as a bellows at the bottom of the rib cage. Remember your fourth grade music teacher imploring you to sing and project your voice with your diaphragm? Consider this as you breathe.
Deep breaths that come from your whole body will lower your center of gravity, improving your balance and stability, again reducing tension and allowing clear communication with your horse. Effective breathing also
oxygenates your body, reduces fatigue and keeps you energized and clear-headed.
Balance awareness refers to our sense of balance and also our skeletal alignment. When we sit, stand, and move we often do not consider
how we are using our bodies, we just do it. Unfortunately, over the years we develop unconscious patterns or habits of movement that, while they may not be good for our bodies, feel right to us because we've done it
that way for so long. As we age we often develop stooped shoulders, or back pain. We may carry our head out of alignment with our body, or perhaps we carry one hip or shoulder higher than the other. Take time to watch
people both old and young and notice the posture patterns they fall into. Poor body alignment is not usually the result of weakness but rather of habits we have developed over the years that feel normal to us. it may
help to think of the sections of your body (head, shoulders, trunk, pelvis, legs, and feet) as a tower of blocks, like a child's set of building blocks. What happens of one or more of the blocks is not stacked in
alignment? They fall down, of course, or are in precarious balance. When we are not balanced we tend to use muscle tension to keep from tipping further out of balance. When we ride this lack of equal balance is very
difficult for the horse to carry. Just the human head (which weighs 12-14 lbs.) when held too far forward, back, or to the side, forces the horse to carry additional weight not balanced over his back. When a horse is
forced to carry an unbalanced load his own balance is compromised, as a result stiffness and tension take over: The horse's freedom of movement and the ultimate brilliance of the performance is reduced. When driving,
your stability in the vehicle, not to mention your appearance, is affected by the balance, alignment and use of your body far more than you may realize.
Centering refers to an awareness of the point of the body
called the center, which lies in the lower abdomen below and behind the navel. You can locate your center by placing one hand on your lower abdomen with your thumb on your navel and the other hand directly behind on
your lower back. With your hands in place consider a point halfway between your hands. Breathe deeply all the way down into this center of your body. In finding the center, you have located your center of gravity as
well as an area that will allow optimum balance, body awareness, and quiet concentration. Once you have found your center you will find that forces like a pulling horse, loss of balance, or even the tensions of the day,
will often raise your center back up into your chest or shoulders. At times like these you need to be able to consciously bring your center back down into the abdomen and allow it to float peacefully there. Learning to
"center yourself" can often be one of the most difficult "basics" to comprehend and master, but in the end will allow you the balance and quiet concentration that is paramount to your work and
communication with horses.
Grounding is our sense of connection to the ground. Grounding ties very closely in with the other basics in lowering our center of gravity for increased balance and stability. Through
grounding we are able to establish a firm foundation from which to balance and work with our horse. In driving, grounding helps us to be independently and securely balanced in the vehicle freeing us to communicate
clearly and effectively with our horse. It is particularly important in timed events in helping the Whip maintain balance independent of the horse.
Centered Driving, as opposed to riding, presents some interesting
applications of the "five basics" as your weight is not on or affecting the balance and direction of the horse in the same way as in riding. When driving, you must communicate with your horse form a distance
using the traditional aids of hands, voice, and whip. Centered Driving uses the traditional aids while incorporating the use of breathing, soft eyes, balance, centering, and grounding, as well as the clear use of the
mind while working with the horse. Using these basics can change your touch on the reins, as well as what you project down the reins to your horse, even at a distance. This also applies to work on long lines, on the
lunge, in hand, liberty work, or round-pen training.
