# @clairecumbee on Instagram - **Type:** Image - **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DbfIfuhDrHW - **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/73485405-clairecumbee-instagram - **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7550abda6b.jpg - **Posted:** 2026-08-01T05:53:02.000+00:00 - **Account Owner:** Claire Cumbee (@clairecumbee) — https://gondola.cc/clairecumbee ## Caption While riding my OTTB today, I realized I’ve been chasing roundness, disguising it as “connection” before creating the suppleness that allows that to happen. In my own Claire Terms I need “neck and back use” so I repeated “access to topline”like a mantra. For my purpose, Kerm with his short back & spider legs, raises his head, which braces the underside of his neck, tightens the back. While I can lift my hand to meet the mouth, if I squeeze my leg when he’s in this shape, it’s igniting a firework. I can’t ride into the contact when the neck is restricted, jammed. . But when I grease those buttons that tell him to take the neck forward, unwind like an accordion, I can use my leg in all the ways it’s meant, ride him forward… . This sometimes looks like a hint of left or right bend, without asking for more poll flexion. It’s using my circles and corners to move him around my inside leg. I exhale to soften tension in my shoulder, elbow, and hand. He learns that quiet bend is an invitation to stretch. It’s difficult on the quicker horse. It’s tempting to keep tabs on the mouth to make him wait, or to realize you’ve started balancing yourself with the reins when his frame comes up. Sometimes it feels like the neck is reaching until you look at the photo afterward and realize it went 2”….. . . . #eventing #ottbtraining #horseriding #training #effectiveriding ## Stats - **Views:** 0 - **Likes:** 276 - **Shares:** 0 - **Comments:** 0 ## Credits No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post. ## Tags effectiveriding, training, horseriding, eventing, ottbtraining --- Copyright (c) Gondola