Posture is an all-encompassing theme. It must be dealt with lightly. Fleeting, without clear contours or a defined body it eludes definitions. It acts in the shadows of movement. The mind can't penetrate it. And yet, without doubt, it is the upright human body's central theme. Health, flexibility and confidence rely on it. It makes for amity or enmity with a force, which far from being understood places and regulates life on planet earth. With gravity's support life is easy. Fighting gravity is burden-some.
In the human body a dependency of proper posture and balance is easily detected. Walking the weight is evenly distributed and meets the foot at center. Sitting it rests on the seat bones. The horse's posture holds none of these static or dynamic elements. Nor does it come anywhere near the privileges of human upright posture. Of all living beings man features the widest range of flexibility and owns the greatest potential for movement. A sense of balance at all times informs him of his position in the field of gravity. In locomotion a righting reflex automatically redirects him to the upright position.
The horse's weight, however, is distributed on the forehand. Two front legs support it while resting, grazing and walking. This distribution changes when the horse senses danger or sees some other reason to get on. The head rises and the weight shifts to the hindquarters. Congruously Beudant allocates the rider's hands to the forequarters, his legs to the hindquarters and suggests, "Because the horse is its own master, its under saddle positions must be those, which it might choose of its own will to execute the rider demand."
Posture and balance of the human upright and the horse's horizontal body do not compare; even when the horse rises on its hind legs. Uprightness in the human speaks of static and denotes moral elements. The horse and its multiform body, however, are of a dual nature. In the herd it speaks the language of the herd. Upon the touch of its skin it submits to human will. Surprisingly, in both - the human and the horse - proper posture fosters awareness and an improved sense of habitat. It denotes the readiness to perform.
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