 trunk stability is so important when we canter and the reason for that is is It allows our hip to function like it's supposed to This is a super super simple exercise that is going to help you create the stability in your trunk What this exercise is is taking your hand and Pretending like you're at school and you really want to be called on alright So I'm like call on me, but what I'm doing is I'm really lengthening and stretching through the entire side of my body When when we do this sort of thing it can also cause us to be more aware of our focus And that's another piece of the puzzle that is so important in trunk stability If our focus is down we tend to collapse we collapse our rib cage on the front side of our body So we want the front side of our body to match the back side of our body So we're going to practice raising our hand above our head Creating that trunk stability and then getting our focus to come up when our focus is up We it can be aware of our surroundings our horses are very aware of their surroundings They're always looking around if you look I'm riding on a long rain He's looking over there and then as I come through here He's gonna look off in the distance here and then as I make my turn. He's going to look over in here So he's always looking around and if I am focusing just on his head I cannot be aware of what he's aware of that's going to get me in trouble because I might be not seeing the dog That's about to come running out of the trees and that dog might spook my horse or on the trail I might not see the turkeys up ahead that my horse has noticed because I'm looking down at them So by by getting our focus up and looking around and being aware We enter into the horses world a little bit more we can anticipate what's about to happen And it has the added benefit of helping us find that Front side that equals our back side. So creating that rectangular torso where we are Nice and even and solid through our middle. I Want you to watch my hip now too because I talked about that in the beginning But I want you to see it and and be aware of how this all goes together because our whole body is connected So if I'm looking at my horse's ears and if I'm slouchy in my body Can you notice how my hip doesn't function nearly as well now if I look up and I'm looking where my horse is going Can you see how my hip starts to open and close and follow my horse's movement at the canter? Our hip is a hinge and it needs to act like a hinge If we restrict the movement in the hip We're going to feel a lot of bouncing through the rest of our body Our stable solid torso is a really big piece in that puzzle our Outward focus our nice tall head Is a really big piece of that puzzle when you can get your torso to be nice and stable You free up the hip you allow yourself to look around be present with your horse and aware of your surroundings Just like your horse is and you start to be able to be more balanced and ride the canter with ease So play around with this exercise at the walk the trot in the canter and you're going to find it's going to make a big difference in your ride