This article first appeared in a previous issue of Equestrian Life. To see what's in the current issue click here.

Here I am demonstrating how much fun skiing can be when you are in balance. My balance allows me to control rotary, edging and pressure as I ski.

© Cody Haskell

Riding and skiing have more in common than you might think. When an Aussie rider hit the snow in the US, it was a real American Cowboy who brought out his riding instincts to cross over from the saddle to the skis.

BY CHRIS JAFAY

AS A SKI instructor at Sun Valley,  Idaho, I have spent the past 15 winters teaching people to ski. In the last 22 years I have also spent countless hours in the saddle. I would not consider myself a world-class horseman, but a cowboy I am, so much so that that’s my nickname – Cowboy! I can rope and ride and know my way around cows and horses.  What does this have to do with the equestrian world? More than you would ever imagine, as borne out by my encounter with a horseman from Australia.

In 15 years as a ski instructor, I have worked with many people from a variety of backgrounds. That’s one of the joys of the job and it is always interesting and rewarding to work with those who come from the equestrian world. Why? To answer that I must take you back to a very special day this last season where I had the opportunity to work with a member of the Equestrian Life team.

I was called by a fellow instructor who was skiing with the EQ Life family while they were on holiday here in Sun Valley. My colleague wanted me to ski with Ronnie so that he could take the rest of the family into more difficult terrain and ski at higher speeds. At this point, let me make something perfectly clear:  Ronnie is a very accomplished skier. The other instructor thought it would be a perfect match seeing as Ronnie was a horseman and I am a cowboy. My colleague could not have been more right, Ronnie and I hit it off from the get-go ... much to the dismay of his family.  You see, Ronnie has an enthusiasm for horses and skiing that cannot be matched and his family was going to hear about our adventure for many days to come. You too are invited to hear about our day and how Ronnie crossed over his love of horses with his love of skiing.

Our day began at 8:30am with six to eight inches (15-20cm) of fresh snow powder! Ronnie was a little apprehensive about the new snow but I assured him he would be fine. I told him to think about riding his horse through a large field of tall grass, and we were off.  I watched as he struggled through the new snow. I was impressed with his efforts and quickly realised that he had a good ski foundation; in other words, he is a good skier. We stopped and we talked about why he was having a difficult time in the new snow. He asked me why it was so hard to manoeuvre and stay in control in this much snow. I explained that when people first start skiing powder, they do everything they should not do and they work way too hard. My tip for Ronnie was: ask your horse and then leave your horse alone. The tip worked! Ronnie understood because of his background with horses. In powder, you start your skis in the direction you want them to go and then you let them go. The skis and the mountain do the work for you. Ronnie could not believe how much easier it was. He skied the rest of the run effortlessly, making beautiful turns all the way down to the lift with a huge smile on his face!

On our way up the lift, Ronnie was all ears. He wanted to hear all I had to say about how skiing and horseback riding cross over. The similarities are endless and we could talk about them forever, so I had to narrow it down for Ronnie. I told him that in skiing we have a skills concept that we use to help us become better skiers and better teachers. The skills concept is based on four different skills: balance, rotary, edging, and pressure. Then I added that to become good skiers we must be comfortable and proficient at sliding/gliding, side-slipping, skidding and carving our skis. I then challenged Ronnie to think about how these simple concepts cross over to horseback riding. Now it was time to stop skiing our skis and start riding our skis instead.

Having fun riding a young horse (Smart Etta Lena). When riding young horses we have to be very aware of balance controlling rotary, edging, and pressure.

© Stephanie Jafay

Our second run was really fun because we were able to start thinking about and riding our skis as if they were a horse. We rode our skis straight down the hill (for a short time): sliding/gliding. We rode our skis sideways down the hill with our ski tips facing the right and then with our ski tips facing left: side-slipping. We rode our skis at a diagonal down and across the hill with our ski tips facing the right and then our ski tips facing the left (forwards and backwards): skidding. We rode our skis making C-shaped turns down the hill: carving. Ronnie found it quite difficult, but he was game to try, seeing that it all crossed over to riding a horse. We stopped and talked again about the similarities. I made it quite clear that if we are going to be accomplished skiers or horsemen, we must be very comfortable communicating and executing these manoeuvres on our skis and on our horses.

Why do people have such a hard time with these manoeuvres on their skis and their horses? It goes back to the skills concept (balance, rotary, edging and pressure). Ronnie and I started getting deep into the lesson at this point. The first thing we had to work on was his stance (balance).  I reasoned with him that if you do not sit on your horse correctly (your seat), you are out of balance. Taking your horse out of balance make it very hard to execute manoeuvres. The same is true in skiing! We then went on to initiation (rotary). Ronnie and I talked about changing direction, transition and changing leads. The key here is realising that “a flat ski will always go downhill”! The flat ski allows us to turn our legs and feet, transitioning us into our next turn. With this in mind I had Ronnie think about how this crosses over to his horse. The horse must travel through a flat plain when changing direction, transitioning and or changing leads, why? The horse must be able to turn its legs and feet into the new direction of travel and can only do so as it travels through a flat plain. Edging was our next subject. I had Ronnie reflect on his body position as he canters his horse in a right lead and then a left lead. I wanted him to think about the position of his feet, knees, hips, shoulders, head and hands as he moved into, through and out of the middle (apex) of the turn. If you were to compare a barrel racer (American rodeo) to a downhill ski racer, you would see the dynamic cross over, the position of body parts are almost identical. The last subject to be addressed was pressure. Pressure, or pressure control, is always a tricky subject when it comes to skiing because it has multiple applications. Much the same can be said for horseback riding. I wanted Ronnie to think about managing pressure to the ski to slow it down and stop. The thought process and application is very similar to asking a horse to slow down and stop. Ronnie realised by the end of the lesson that everything is based on balance (stance, seat), and that without it rotary control, edging control and pressure control are very difficult, if not impossible.

As I said earlier in this article, the similarities of horseback riding to skiing are endless. Ronnie and I had so much fun that very special day in Sun Valley talking about and experimenting with the crossover. In the end though, you cannot establish a relationship with your skis. But, if you think about and apply some of the things I have discussed here, you can strengthen the bond and the working relationship you have with your horse. Balanced horses are happy horses!

This photo is a demonstration of me and my mare (Smart Etta Lena) in good balance. Notice how relaxed the mare is.

© Stephanie Jafay

Happy trails, Cowboy.

Postscript  from Ronnie: Cowboy finished our lesson by asking me to apply these skills concepts when I next rode my horse. One week later I did and I enjoyed one of the rides of my lifetime! I am itching learn more from this multi-talented instructor!

 This article first appeared in a previous issue of Equestrian Life. To see what's in the current issue click here

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