Riding Horses with Eyes Up and Ahead

Q: In judging English or Western equitation, on a circle or curve, where does the judge want to see the rider looking? My rulebook says only that eyes should be “up.”

A  You’re right, most rulebooks will simply state that the rider’s eyes must be up. The majority of judges would tell you they prefer to see a rider looking where she is going in a businesslike, unpretentious manner. Anything excessive is likely to be penalized. A rider can communicate confidence with her eyes and, of course, can pilot her horse much more effectively when she uses her eyes correctly. The eyes plan the destination and often the next stride of the horse.

As a young rider, I was always told to look ahead, but was never quite sure where “ahead” was. I tell my students that their eyes should shift between three different pictures as they ride.

1) See the big picture: Using her peripheral vision, a rider can take in a lot of the activity around her. Where is the next marker after this circle so that I can exit my circle on a straight line? Where are the judges sitting so I don’t run them over? Yikes! The horse around the corner of the ring is having a blow up - how can I avoid that? Using “big eyes” to take in the