More experienced riders tended to hold their view on a specific point more frequently than less experienced riders, who shifted their vision frequently to look at more things. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Being one with your horse. It can be just as difficult to achieve as it is to describe to a non-equestrian. But science has stepped in to spoil the magic: A new series of studies has recently unveiled at least part of what happens when riders connect with their horses in movement. And primarily, researchers say, it has to do with rider gaze and posture.

“There’s better coupling between the horse and the expert rider because the rider better anticipates the horse’s movement,” said Agnès Olivier, PhD, researcher at Groupe Voltaire Saddlery, in Biarritz, France, and at the University of South Paris Saclay’s CIAMS Laboratory, in Orsay, France.

“Our research gives insight into previously unrecognized elements relating to the expertise of the rider,” she said during her presentation at the 2017 French Equine Research Day, in Paris