I had a lovely, satisfying session coaching an adult novice rider on her big plank of a Quarter Horse. He was ever so obliging and lolloped around in walk, trot and canter, doing what he was told but always with his lower neck muscles (brachio- and sternocephalicus) slightly engaged and his nose slightly poked. This had the effect of hollowing his whole way of going, making it impossible for his slightly out-of-balance rider to sit effectively on his bounding paces and making both of them uncomfortable, particularly in canter. He usually tipped her back into trot about half a circle later, causing an out of balance rush.
The fix was just so simple, but so incredibly effective, that I really wished I'd taken some before and after footage! Before, particularly in canter, the horse was on the forehand, flat, unbalanced, rushing and motor-biking through turns. After... well!
First I taught the rider how to steer! She had a really ingrained habit of steering the horse like a bicycle, dropping the outside rein and overusing the inside hand, pulling it back towards her body. By teaching her to keep an even pressure on both reins, looking with her eyes and her chest in the direction she wanted to go, opening the inside rein and keeping the horse's neck straight (and at 90 degrees to the shoulders), the balance through turns improved already. It also left her contact steady to start to implement flexion.
The next step was teaching both horse and rider how to isolate the bending of the neck just into the poll, turning into what we usually term 'flexion'. There's seven vertebrae between the poll and the withers and the joints between them are all more flexible than the poll - it takes time and repetition to show the horse we want him to just ease his head left or right (until the rider can see, variously, the eye, the cheek piece of the bridle or the nostril... each horse will be different!) but while maintaining a straight neck from poll to withers. It's also important to watch for twisting so if the horse's ears aren't level with each other, you can lift up the hand on the side of the lower ear to even things up.
Soon, this dear old gelding was smoothly flexing left and right in the halt, with his crest muscle flipping back and forth over the nuchal ligament. He seemed to quite like this and gave several big sighs and yawns! Horse yoga! It's a fun way to tell if the poll is truly flexing. Sometimes if horses are a bit musclebound or tight in the neck it can take a while but this guy was pretty quick.
Into the walk and then trot, and JUST by keeping his neck straight and implementing inside flexion on a 20m circle, his whole way of going changed. Suddenly that propped, nose-poking posture was gone. His lower neck muscles were beautifully soft and wobbling, showing complete disengagement, and crest rose up in front of his withers. His abdominal muscle suddenly activated, showing as a marked muscle line, like you can see in very fit racehorses and eventers. It was great! But it was when we stepped into canter that it became MAGIC!
I had also coached this rider about how to lift instead of push with her seat at a canter and by employing a different seat action, maintaining inside flexion and a straight neck, the funny old horse was TRANSFORMED! His stride was suddenly like a little rubber ball, bouncing along! The rider could sit tight in the saddle extremely easily and he now looked like he was travelling uphill, not dragging himself along by the forelegs. SO SATISFYING! So simple! But not easy.
This rider was an absolute pleasure to teach, thoughtful, trusting, willing to listen and willing to give things a try. And the horse was a total gem, he really seemed to appreciate learning (or maybe relearning?) a different way to use his body.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Improving halt transitions - the Three, Two, One Exercise
This exercise teaches the horse
that you are going to give him consistent preparation each time you ask for
halt, and a clear reward – the release of rein pressure – when he does halt.
Being consistent with the preparation teaches the horse to give a consistent
response. Being clear with the release
of pressure teaches the horse to give quicker, lighter responses and you will
soon find that you are getting better, quicker, lighter responses from smaller aids.
Step one. Have someone stand
in front of your horse and try to pull you out of the saddle by the reins. You will instinctively engage your core
muscles, deepen your seat and lock your shoulders and elbows. Then, lean back a tiny bit, enough to bring
your nose back behind the line of your belly button. I call this “sit strong”
and it will become your preparatory aid for halts and downwards
transitions. The horse should never
learn that they can move (pull) the rider and this is an especially bad habit
for children’s ponies to learn!
It takes three steps of any pace
for a horse to make a balanced transition to halt. Think of a horse in a paddock cantering to
the gate at dinner time and halting smoothly, they can all do it!
Step two: Tune in to the steps of the forelegs at walk and count
backwards from three, halting on one. So,
sit strong, then count: Three, Two, One - on One, the horse must be
stopped. You will have to use your judgement
as to how much pressure it takes but be prepared to pull quite hard, at first
if you need to. I pretend I’m riding up
to the edge of a cliff, to give myself a sense of urgency! If the horse has learned to lean or pull against
the bridle, this might feel counter-intuitive, to pull harder to get lighter, but
ultimately we need to retrain the basic response, that two reins means stop. I
also count out loud and insist my students do so. Saying it out loud makes you commit to the
timing and makes it harder to cheat!
The important part of the
exercise is that the MOMENT the front legs stop, you release the pressure. Push your hands forward up the neck and then
rub the withers and make a fuss of the horse.
Positive reinforcement will help him learn even faster. It’s helpful to gauge the degree of pressure
it took to achieve the transition at this point. I use a 0-10 scale, with 10 equalling “pulling
as hard as you can” and 0 equalling a loop in the rein. Most horses need a fairly strong pressure
initially, up to an 8 or a 9 in some cases.
The timing is the important part.
Step three: Walk on again and repeat the exercise: sit strong,
Three, Two, One-release, with the release coming as close as possible to the
horse stopping his forelegs. After a few
repetitions you will probably notice a few things happening. If your horse has some incorrect rein
associations, i.e., has learned to pull against the rider or balance himself on
the hand, he might start to throw his head around and get upset that you are ‘changing
the rules’. Keep going! These horses, often ex-racehorses or horses
that have had training aids used on them, sometimes have many years of conflict
and confusion to unlearn before relearning this new, correct response. The other thing you might feel happening is a
dropping of the horse’s hindquarters as you prepare or begin to apply the aid.
This is great progress! The horse is
beginning to shift his weight back quickly in order to make the transition in
three steps. Watching from the ground,
we often see an exaggerated drop or ‘fold’ of the hind legs as the horse learns
that he’d better get his hocks under him because you are insisting on his
meeting your timing for the transition. This
is the development of a really important building-block for further training,
connecting the hind legs with the mouth.
We want the horse to lower his hindquarters when we touch his mouth and
3-2-1 develops into a highly effective half-halt. But that’s for later. For now, only do full transitions and keep
those releases clear and quick.
Be careful that you are not
grinding your seat down into the saddle through the exercise. Tuning in to the walk steps sometimes invites
a sort of swaying action of the hips in time with the three, two, one
count. Sitting strong means sitting
still - too much activity in the saddle will make it hard for the horse to lift
and engage his back under you.
Keep throwing the reins away and
giving big, exaggerated releases for each correct response. Be really insistent that the horse stops on
One, trust the exercise! The responses will
get quicker and lighter and then you will be able to use lighter aids but be
prepared to insist – don’t be squeamish about using strong pressure if you need
to.
Keep monitoring how much pressure
the response is taking to achieve, using the 0-10 scale. Once the transitions
are consistently meeting your timing and you are getting quick responses from
lighter signals (1 or 2 out of 10), you can begin practicing the exercise out
of trot. Correctly executed trot-halt
transitions are incredibly beneficial to the horse’s training and
strength. When starting to ride the
exercise in trot, it will feel very quick, almost radical! But trust the exercise and be consistent.
Step four: From a slow trot, tune in to the rhythm of the forelegs
(you might need to look at the horse’s shoulders) then sit strong, Three, Two,
One-release, using as much pressure as you need to achieve a halt on One. DO
NOT RELEASE WHEN THE HORSE WALKS! You
are looking for a direct trot-halt transition so keep the pressure on. As the
front legs stop, throw your hands forward to let the horse know he’s made the right
decision. Even if the horse has been
giving light responses out of walk, be prepared to use stronger pressure in the
first few tries from the trot. It
requires lots more coordination and balance to achieve the trot-halt transition
but keep insisting the horse follows your timing; you don’t want to
accidentally train him to ‘dribble’ down into halt.
Step five: As the transitions get better, you can start to test and
further lighten the response to the rein by adding a backwards step after the
halt. Ride the exercise as normal: sit
strong, Three, Two, One-release, then immediately pick up the contact again and
use enough pressure to achieve a backwards step, then release. This is not quite the same as rein back;
there are no leg aids involved, we are just deepening the downwards transition
response and once a horse is already in halt, a downwards transition has to be
a backwards step. With clear releases,
this backwards step will also get quicker and lighter. Again, if horses have ‘baggage’ around poorly-understood
rein responses, you might get conflict behaviour here, head shaking, pulling, and
tilting the poll or tail swishing. Be
consistent and release the pressure the second the horse steps back, even the
tiniest bit.
Step six: practice! Some horses seem to learn this exercise really
quickly and show a really remarkable improvement in the first session. Others need longer to make the improvements
but almost all of them do, this exercise is really valuable for nearly every
horse! I have seen one or two who really
resist and need patience and persistence for the lesson to sink in, sometimes
this is because of a physical limitation.
Horses who are croup-high or built downhill will have to do a big
physical shift of weight to achieve the transition in three steps. One horse I
worked with started displaying conflict behaviours during the trot-halts and
was found to have arthritic changes in his hocks – the timing of the exercise imposes
engagement so he struggled when he had to ‘sit’ in the three steps. If we let him halt more progressively, he
could keep his hind legs straighter and avoid the pain in his hocks, so look
out for signs of discomfort and consult your vet if necessary.
With practice, you will soon see
improvement in the trot-halt transitions, and probably start to get improved
lowering of the hindquarters and folding of the hind legs. Over several days or weeks, a light, soft,
immediate, engaged trot-halt transition from a feather-light touch on the reins
is very achievable! Canter-halt is a
little harder to achieve because of the amount of activity and resulting
inertia during the downwards transition, but the same technique can be used for
these more challenging transitions over time.
Remember that it takes a fair amount of muscular strength to achieve and
be alert for signs of muscle soreness and don’t drill the exercise too
insistently on an unfit or weak horse.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Horse training = detective work
I taught a young girl on a very nice mare, newly purchased. I rode the horse several times over several lessons and found her a sensitive but very responsive and easy ride. The girl sat nicely but her experience was via a not-very-good riding school and she wasn't the most educated or thoughtful rider.
As the weeks went by, the combination got gradually worse. The horse started to show some strange and slightly worrying behaviours, such as becoming hard to catch, pinning her ears back during grooming and tacking up, and an erratic unwillingness to go forward under saddle. My immediate thought was that there was some physical cause for these behavioural changes - a sore back, perhaps. The saddle fitter, the masseur and finally the vet were called and the horse was given several weeks off. When she resumed work, she continued to exhibit some fairly angry behaviours and reactions. I and the mare's young owner, and her parents, were baffled. Low-level lameness was suspected but tests were coming back clear and the vet's advice was to work her harder and see if there was any change.
The answer came one day when I arrived for a lesson and the girl was already on and already struggling - the mare was napping to the gate, 'jacking up' and threatening to rear, whipping around unexpectedly and basically being really very difficult. I decided to lunge the horse to see if there was any lameness or irregularity in the gait evident. As soon as the rider dismounted, the horse relaxed. I lunged her in walk, trot and canter on both reins and she went perfectly. Foot-perfect, in fact. No tension, no nappiness, no cranky faces or unwillingness to go forward. Smooth, relaxed, supple.
Then I put the rider back on but continued to lunge the horse. As before, she went beautifully.
Finally, I took the lunge off and left the rider in charge... and that's when the lightbulb flashed. It was the rider. This perfectly decent young rider was doing *something* that the horse HATED. I think it was a slightly busy lower leg; I think the rider was trying to manoeuvre/position the relatively green horse with her legs before the horse had any idea of what a lateral leg aid was. So, from the perspective of the horse, there were lots of arbitrary individual leg aids going on, when all she'd ever been used to was single, soft leg aids that meant, go forward.
It was so interesting that this rider issue presented so much like an unsoundness issue. Not long after this the horse started unceremoniously dumping the rider and was sold. She has since been very successful with her new owner and the previous owner has found a new horse that she clicks very well with.
As the weeks went by, the combination got gradually worse. The horse started to show some strange and slightly worrying behaviours, such as becoming hard to catch, pinning her ears back during grooming and tacking up, and an erratic unwillingness to go forward under saddle. My immediate thought was that there was some physical cause for these behavioural changes - a sore back, perhaps. The saddle fitter, the masseur and finally the vet were called and the horse was given several weeks off. When she resumed work, she continued to exhibit some fairly angry behaviours and reactions. I and the mare's young owner, and her parents, were baffled. Low-level lameness was suspected but tests were coming back clear and the vet's advice was to work her harder and see if there was any change.
The answer came one day when I arrived for a lesson and the girl was already on and already struggling - the mare was napping to the gate, 'jacking up' and threatening to rear, whipping around unexpectedly and basically being really very difficult. I decided to lunge the horse to see if there was any lameness or irregularity in the gait evident. As soon as the rider dismounted, the horse relaxed. I lunged her in walk, trot and canter on both reins and she went perfectly. Foot-perfect, in fact. No tension, no nappiness, no cranky faces or unwillingness to go forward. Smooth, relaxed, supple.
Then I put the rider back on but continued to lunge the horse. As before, she went beautifully.
Finally, I took the lunge off and left the rider in charge... and that's when the lightbulb flashed. It was the rider. This perfectly decent young rider was doing *something* that the horse HATED. I think it was a slightly busy lower leg; I think the rider was trying to manoeuvre/position the relatively green horse with her legs before the horse had any idea of what a lateral leg aid was. So, from the perspective of the horse, there were lots of arbitrary individual leg aids going on, when all she'd ever been used to was single, soft leg aids that meant, go forward.
It was so interesting that this rider issue presented so much like an unsoundness issue. Not long after this the horse started unceremoniously dumping the rider and was sold. She has since been very successful with her new owner and the previous owner has found a new horse that she clicks very well with.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Lazy Horse Rules
I'm following up my post on hot horses by writing one about their opposite number: the lazy ones! I've been schooling a few of these challenging steeds lately, and one of my regular adult students is adjusting to life with a lazy horse after retiring her whizzy one and is finding it a bit of a challenge. As with most horse training, the key to riding lazy horses effectively is to keep things super simple.
RULE NUMBER ONE: USE SOFT LEG AIDS
It may seem counter-intuitive but lazy horses need light, focussed aids with clear expectations. You need to let go of 'what usually happens' and ask yourself what you WANT to happen, my phrase is, use the aid you wish would work! So if it generally takes three or four hard nudges to move your lazy horse from a halt to an unwilling walk, you need to let go of that and use one light aid... then be prepared to back it up! It will depend on the horse how you go about the escalation of pressure. A lazy but sensitive soul might be terribly upset if you use a crop hard behind your leg, where a more phlegmatic specimen might need several wallops to get the message. You might need to give several hard 'pony club kicks' to get to the point that the horse is properly going forward. Whatever your escalation is, it has to be something the horse wants to avoid in the future, by that I mean, the horse has to be motivated by it. I often have a good response from simply swishing a whip loudly around the hind quarters, with the added bonus that a smack can be reserved for when you really need to get some forward.
I also like to use my numerical scoring system to quantify and monitor the strength of the aids. Using the 0-10 scale, with 0 being no pressure and 10 being 'the hardest kick you can do' it's a good tool to monitor what feels 'normal' to both horse and rider. Generally I like lazy horses to be sensitised to the point that a light touch of both legs (=2) gets an energetic upwards transition, every single time.
But how to make that happen?!
RULE NUMBER TWO: USE FEWER LEG AIDS
To begin with, I like to school lazy horses using 'whole transitions' - moving between the paces rather than within them. This adds a nice clarity to the aids - lazy horses are often so desensitised to their nagging rider that the aids' meanings need re-schooling. So, applying a leg aid with the value of two while the horse is walking will achieve a trot transition (or else the aid will be quickly and meaningfully escalated). A few steps of trot later, the rider brings the horse back to walk, not asking him to maintain or energise his trot at this point - this will blur the meaning of the leg aids. Once the horse is bouncing into trot on a light aid, it's time to build in the 'cruise control...'
RULE NUMBER THREE: MAINTAINING THE PACE IS THE HORSE'S JOB
It is such a dis-spiriting feeling, getting halfway around a circle or up the long side and the pace dwindling underneath you. Riders generally 'chase' the horse at this point, giving a few random leg aids and being satisfied if the horse doesn't drop down out of pace he's in. But over time, horses need more and more 'chasing' and all those leg aids confuse things. Is the rider, who is using their legs vigorously in the trot, wanting to maintain the trot, increase the trot, canter on? Remember Rule Number Two: fewer aids!
After a successful upwards transition, the rider's job is to monitor the pace. You can feel when the energy drops - when the steps become shorter or lower or slower. Precisely at that point, I like to give the horse a soft vocal reminder (a click or hiss) and if no forward is achieved by that, a sharp smack with a whip. Note that I DO NOT use the leg at this point, for reasons of clarity. The horse may be a bit upset about getting a smack but this will actually work to your advantage in the long run. Next time he hears your vocal reminder, he will remember what followed it. With consistency, the horse will learn that dropping his energy has consequences. Of course, the fitness level of the horse should be considered while training this.
RULE NUMBER FOUR: HAVE DIFFERENT AIDS FOR DIFFERENT RESPONSES
A different aid to "go forward within the pace" or "move up a pace" can make a massive difference in the responsiveness and rideability of lazy horses. Expecting a horse to interpret what its rider is asking for when two aids are identical and two responses are totally different is unfair, and the antithesis of good training. A definite nudge of the lower legs is good for a clear transition while a slower 'push' of the whole leg for 'more' is a good differentiation for most horses and riders but you can use any two differing leg aids you like.
RULE NUMBER FIVE: ONE LEG NEVER MEANS GO FASTER
Training lateral steps with lazy horses often has a remarkable effect on their forward-ness. It's like you can 'wake up' their sides by tuning the lateral response. Be careful, though. If the horse responds to a lateral aid by quickening or energising (even though that's what you might ultimately want) again, it blurs the true meaning of the aid. I'll do another post soon about starting and refining lateral leg aids.
RULE NUMBER SIX: DON'T FORGET YOUR SEAT
Sometimes if a lazy horse is tired, uncooperative or confused, it's very tempting to give them a chase up with the legs. Be warned though, and remember Rule Number Two. The more leg you use the more the horse is going to tune you out. There are a few occasions when using your seat to create or maintain energy can work really well, such as a horse who struggles to maintain the canter or who loses forward during lateral movements. We don't want the horse to rely on the rider to push him along but by giving a little 'buzz' with an energetic, animating seat, you can often get the horse to lift and swing his back more and maintain his own impulsion. So if your horse feels like he's about to drop out of canter, instead of using a leg aid, use an elevating, lifting action of your seat in rhythm with the pace to maintain the tempo. Even very green horses can be trained in this way as they seem to instinctively follow the rider's activating (or resisting/collecting) seat. More on this in a later post too!
RULE NUMBER SEVEN: SCHOOL THE DOWNWARDS TRANSITIONS TOO
Just because your horse is lazy and stops when you stop actively riding, doesn't mean it has a full understanding of what the rein means. And there may come a point that this training will be put to the test and the horse that is normally so willing to stop becomes a war horse charging into battle and ignoring his rider's aids altogether. The 3-2-1 exercise teaches the horse how to fold the hind legs and lower and engage the hindquarters in preparation for the downwards transition which occurs strictly in the rider's given timing. This creates a really effective half-halt which is very useful once the motivating aids have been properly established.
Good luck with your lazy horses!
RULE NUMBER ONE: USE SOFT LEG AIDS
It may seem counter-intuitive but lazy horses need light, focussed aids with clear expectations. You need to let go of 'what usually happens' and ask yourself what you WANT to happen, my phrase is, use the aid you wish would work! So if it generally takes three or four hard nudges to move your lazy horse from a halt to an unwilling walk, you need to let go of that and use one light aid... then be prepared to back it up! It will depend on the horse how you go about the escalation of pressure. A lazy but sensitive soul might be terribly upset if you use a crop hard behind your leg, where a more phlegmatic specimen might need several wallops to get the message. You might need to give several hard 'pony club kicks' to get to the point that the horse is properly going forward. Whatever your escalation is, it has to be something the horse wants to avoid in the future, by that I mean, the horse has to be motivated by it. I often have a good response from simply swishing a whip loudly around the hind quarters, with the added bonus that a smack can be reserved for when you really need to get some forward.
I also like to use my numerical scoring system to quantify and monitor the strength of the aids. Using the 0-10 scale, with 0 being no pressure and 10 being 'the hardest kick you can do' it's a good tool to monitor what feels 'normal' to both horse and rider. Generally I like lazy horses to be sensitised to the point that a light touch of both legs (=2) gets an energetic upwards transition, every single time.
But how to make that happen?!
RULE NUMBER TWO: USE FEWER LEG AIDS
To begin with, I like to school lazy horses using 'whole transitions' - moving between the paces rather than within them. This adds a nice clarity to the aids - lazy horses are often so desensitised to their nagging rider that the aids' meanings need re-schooling. So, applying a leg aid with the value of two while the horse is walking will achieve a trot transition (or else the aid will be quickly and meaningfully escalated). A few steps of trot later, the rider brings the horse back to walk, not asking him to maintain or energise his trot at this point - this will blur the meaning of the leg aids. Once the horse is bouncing into trot on a light aid, it's time to build in the 'cruise control...'
RULE NUMBER THREE: MAINTAINING THE PACE IS THE HORSE'S JOB
It is such a dis-spiriting feeling, getting halfway around a circle or up the long side and the pace dwindling underneath you. Riders generally 'chase' the horse at this point, giving a few random leg aids and being satisfied if the horse doesn't drop down out of pace he's in. But over time, horses need more and more 'chasing' and all those leg aids confuse things. Is the rider, who is using their legs vigorously in the trot, wanting to maintain the trot, increase the trot, canter on? Remember Rule Number Two: fewer aids!
After a successful upwards transition, the rider's job is to monitor the pace. You can feel when the energy drops - when the steps become shorter or lower or slower. Precisely at that point, I like to give the horse a soft vocal reminder (a click or hiss) and if no forward is achieved by that, a sharp smack with a whip. Note that I DO NOT use the leg at this point, for reasons of clarity. The horse may be a bit upset about getting a smack but this will actually work to your advantage in the long run. Next time he hears your vocal reminder, he will remember what followed it. With consistency, the horse will learn that dropping his energy has consequences. Of course, the fitness level of the horse should be considered while training this.
RULE NUMBER FOUR: HAVE DIFFERENT AIDS FOR DIFFERENT RESPONSES
A different aid to "go forward within the pace" or "move up a pace" can make a massive difference in the responsiveness and rideability of lazy horses. Expecting a horse to interpret what its rider is asking for when two aids are identical and two responses are totally different is unfair, and the antithesis of good training. A definite nudge of the lower legs is good for a clear transition while a slower 'push' of the whole leg for 'more' is a good differentiation for most horses and riders but you can use any two differing leg aids you like.
RULE NUMBER FIVE: ONE LEG NEVER MEANS GO FASTER
Training lateral steps with lazy horses often has a remarkable effect on their forward-ness. It's like you can 'wake up' their sides by tuning the lateral response. Be careful, though. If the horse responds to a lateral aid by quickening or energising (even though that's what you might ultimately want) again, it blurs the true meaning of the aid. I'll do another post soon about starting and refining lateral leg aids.
RULE NUMBER SIX: DON'T FORGET YOUR SEAT
Sometimes if a lazy horse is tired, uncooperative or confused, it's very tempting to give them a chase up with the legs. Be warned though, and remember Rule Number Two. The more leg you use the more the horse is going to tune you out. There are a few occasions when using your seat to create or maintain energy can work really well, such as a horse who struggles to maintain the canter or who loses forward during lateral movements. We don't want the horse to rely on the rider to push him along but by giving a little 'buzz' with an energetic, animating seat, you can often get the horse to lift and swing his back more and maintain his own impulsion. So if your horse feels like he's about to drop out of canter, instead of using a leg aid, use an elevating, lifting action of your seat in rhythm with the pace to maintain the tempo. Even very green horses can be trained in this way as they seem to instinctively follow the rider's activating (or resisting/collecting) seat. More on this in a later post too!
RULE NUMBER SEVEN: SCHOOL THE DOWNWARDS TRANSITIONS TOO
Just because your horse is lazy and stops when you stop actively riding, doesn't mean it has a full understanding of what the rein means. And there may come a point that this training will be put to the test and the horse that is normally so willing to stop becomes a war horse charging into battle and ignoring his rider's aids altogether. The 3-2-1 exercise teaches the horse how to fold the hind legs and lower and engage the hindquarters in preparation for the downwards transition which occurs strictly in the rider's given timing. This creates a really effective half-halt which is very useful once the motivating aids have been properly established.
Good luck with your lazy horses!
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The day I decided to stop steering with my legs
Slightly controversially, I believe all basic steering of the green horse should be done with the reins. I clearly remember the day I came to this conclusion.
I was working for a very famous event rider. Her horses were very large, very fit and very well schooled. I was not especially fit, having had some time away from horses, but was (and am) a pretty long-legged, muscular rider. But I was struggling.
The arena we rode in was un-fenced and dug out of the side of a hill. I was riding a truly enormous TBx who was 17.2hh at least and broad with it. He was working at Medium level, apparently, but the most basic of movements was eluding me for one reason. I just didn't have the leg strength to shove him around the arena!
I remember the horse falling out of a 15m trot circle and actually starting to go up the side of the 'cliff' as my outside leg (WITH SPUR!) pushed and pushed against his 700 or so kilograms. He went through the aid as though I wasn't there and I thought, "There has to be a better way!"
I think the better way is to make sure the horse knows about a blocking outside rein. Opening the reins to move the shoulders is EASY and it refines down to the point you can hardly see the movements. It is POWERFUL - a horse going through an outside blocking rein can be given a clear inside opening rein to direct the shoulders back to where they need to be. Moving the forelegs with the reins gives the rider precise control over the placement, which, as I've blogged about before, is a powerful leadership tool that riders can harness. It also tunes-in the horse to feel and follow the position of the rider's shoulders, which is very helpful at Elementary level when shoulder-in, travers and renvers are introduced.
Careful use of opening and blocking reins teach the horse that "his nose is not connected to his forefeet" which can be the case in some green horses who struggle to move in counter-flexion and who habitually need to be pulled back to the outside track with a backwards-acting outside rein; this is seen all too often with riding school and pony club ponies. Horses who are too green, too desensitised, too hot or too pushy to go sensibly off an inside leg cue can do a credible Preliminary test all by steering the shoulders with the reins. After all, 20m circles barely require any bend at all!
It's only after the precise control of the shoulders is well established by horse and rider that I start to introduce bend around the inside leg. And I never (or very rarely) talk about a "blocking" outside leg. How can the horse differentiate between a leg aid that means 'go laterally away from this pressure' and 'continue on the line you are on without moving your hindquarters'? Seems counter intuitive to me!
More on bend in later posts, I think!
Getting your ducks in a row
I have been musing on the importance of what I call 'alignment' while schooling horses. I'm talking about a straight neck between the reins including being straight in relation to the shoulders, that is, forming a 90° angle across the withers. Then, inside flexion of the poll brings the inside eye into the rider's view but a receiving outside hand gently prevents the neck from leaving it's straight position. Even on a 20m circle, the neck should be carried straight. (This is another controversial topic for some trainers.) The flexion of the poll flips the crest muscle to the inside of the circle, which helps release the lower neck muscles, in turn, these soft neck muscles allow the shoulder to swing in a loose arc with no tension. Changing the flexion flips the crest over the nuchal ligament and is a fun 'twang' to watch for!
Most of the green horses I ride need a fair bit of work to maintain these parameters. But when they do it, that's when they suddenly learn to use their bodies.
Similarly, flexing at the poll, truly giving the rider the authority to move their heads independent of their necks, is like physiotherapy for horses. I rode a thoroughbred the other day whose neck was almost a zig-zag it was so crooked. This also caused a lot of tension in the contact. I forgot about alignment and even placement (for a little while!) and JUST worked on getting him to flex laterally at the poll. It took ages of trotting about and changing the rein and holding the inside rein very short and gently and gradually rocking the neck back straight again with the outside rein. But when I got it, the horse unlocked! His trot stride length tripled! He sighed a big sigh and snorted and loosened and it was just magic.
Most of the green horses I ride need a fair bit of work to maintain these parameters. But when they do it, that's when they suddenly learn to use their bodies.
Similarly, flexing at the poll, truly giving the rider the authority to move their heads independent of their necks, is like physiotherapy for horses. I rode a thoroughbred the other day whose neck was almost a zig-zag it was so crooked. This also caused a lot of tension in the contact. I forgot about alignment and even placement (for a little while!) and JUST worked on getting him to flex laterally at the poll. It took ages of trotting about and changing the rein and holding the inside rein very short and gently and gradually rocking the neck back straight again with the outside rein. But when I got it, the horse unlocked! His trot stride length tripled! He sighed a big sigh and snorted and loosened and it was just magic.
Schooling through a dressage test
With lots of students preparing for competitions, some of them are identifying a new challenge in learning to ride a dressage test. But not just RIDING it, schooling it. It's hard enough remembering the movements, the order, the reference points for the circles, etc. It's even harder to remember that your task is to show the judge how well your horse can go. There's no point getting brilliant work at home when you can take six trot circles to prepare for every canter and there's no pressure and no atmosphere. The basic work has to be reproducible under tension-inducing conditions. And you, as a rider, need to plan for this in your schooling. Identify the exercises that create the softness and achieve and maintain attention and rideability that you need for riding a test.
Horses and riders who are only beginning to learn about contact need to look for opportunities to create submission and softness in the jaw. So, as you're riding up the centre line and straightening the horse using the reins, pay attention to how the horse's mouth feels as you make the correction and give a corresponding release for any tiny softening you feel. Find a hundred reasons to soften your hands - every correction or flexion aid is an opportunity to check the submission and encourage lightness in your horse. Before corners, through corners, after corners, before transitions, through transitions, after transitions, keep that jaw mobile, keep the neck straight and the poll flexing in, then reward with soft and still hands.
RIDING the test will give the horse the best opportunity to display the qualities of rhythm, suppleness, impulsion, straightness and collection - the training pyramid against which all of the dressage tests are written and judged.
Horses and riders who are only beginning to learn about contact need to look for opportunities to create submission and softness in the jaw. So, as you're riding up the centre line and straightening the horse using the reins, pay attention to how the horse's mouth feels as you make the correction and give a corresponding release for any tiny softening you feel. Find a hundred reasons to soften your hands - every correction or flexion aid is an opportunity to check the submission and encourage lightness in your horse. Before corners, through corners, after corners, before transitions, through transitions, after transitions, keep that jaw mobile, keep the neck straight and the poll flexing in, then reward with soft and still hands.
RIDING the test will give the horse the best opportunity to display the qualities of rhythm, suppleness, impulsion, straightness and collection - the training pyramid against which all of the dressage tests are written and judged.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Riding in Denial
I see many riders who don’t see, don’t acknowledge, don’t
realise or don’t believe that their schooling problems are their own
fault. From the nagger whose busy legs
desensitise and switch off their so-called “lazy” horse, to the grabby, nervous
show jumper whose horse rushes around the course from “keenness” (actually
fear) - I wonder how deluded these
riders really are? Is it easier to blame
their horse than to look inwards?
HOWEVER, we also need to be able to look the other way. I teach many adult riders, particularly if
they have come late to riding, who blame themselves entirely. Who are convinced (usually by their coaches!)
that if they sat ‘correctly’ and used their aids ‘correctly’ that their horse
would perform ‘correctly.’ I think this
is nearly as damaging and nearly as great a folly as the other extreme. Expecting perfection is unrealistic and
expecting our horses to respond to perfection when we have trained them to
ignore us is folly!
Last
week I was teaching a very nice woman who has finally,
at the age of 36, bought herself a schoolmaster. Her story is
surprisingly typical. She’s had greenies and breakers and OTTBs and
done reasonably well with them but in order to “learn more” she’s bought
a
horse with a good standard of education, working medium/advanced
dressage and
with good scores on the board at elementary. The problem?
After two weeks of trying, she could barely ride him. At the start of
the lesson on the green grass
of a local showground, he was excited to be in a new environment and she
couldn't
make him walk. His trot work was passable,
but once he started cantering she couldn't make him stop. Round and
round and round they went while I
pondered how to break it to her: applying correct aids to a
correctly-trained
horse doesn’t mean the horse will respond correctly every time. Put
simply, the horse was absolutely taking
the mickey.
Of course he – a beautifully trained dressage horse – “understood” her aid to perform the downwards transition from canter to trot. He just didn't feel like complying with it. And she’d spent two weeks teaching him that he could ignore her aids if he wanted to. Her own insecurity about how to ride a trained horse (trained by someone that wasn't her) had caused the whole relationship to start off on the wrong foot. Happily, after a stern talking-to (to the rider) and some short sharp downwards transitions (to the horse), they are back on track. But it is worth considering in your riding relationships: who is ignoring whom?
Why the horse you have is a great horse for you
In general, if your current horse is not actually unsound or
dangerous, improving that horse will teach you more about riding and
schooling than going down the slippery slope of trying to find another,
'more suitable' horse.
When I hear that coaches (particularly visiting coaches from interstate) have advised people to 'get rid' it sets off a couple of alarm bells. Firstly, I cynically wonder if the coach has a has a suitable horse for sale or on commission from another student. I also wonder if the coach is lacking in the skills and imagination (or powers of persuasion) to tell the student that they need to go back to basics and re-school the horse. It's not a popular piece of advice, usually, that the so-called 'Elementary' level horse needs to re-learn go and stop and that until the basics are correctly established, progress will be limited.
Correct basics are so often un-taught, badly taught or gradually forgotten that revisiting them can often bring about remarkable progress in students. I'm teaching a lady whose 11 year old mare has had several breaks in her training from injuries and to have a few foals. The rider is quite competitive and wants the horse in winning form as quickly as possible, but after a couple of lessons, it's obvious to me that there's a big gap in the horse's education.
Being a naturally lazy horse, her downwards transitions have always been easy to achieve. Stop riding, stop actively telling the horse to go, and it wants to stop. However, since the horse has not had the schooling a more forward-thinking horse would need to perform the same sort of transitions, she also hasn't learned to engage her hind legs and perform a balanced down transition. This mare's idea of a downwards transition is to flop onto the forehand, bore on the rider's hand, open her mouth, tilt her head and sprawl to a stop. True, she does do it quite quickly! But the quality of the transition is poor and usually ends with the rider shaking the horse off the contact before releasing the rein under the mistaken impression that this will, in time, teach the horse to be lighter in the transition. She has never learned to bring her hind legs under her in response to the rein pressure. The 3-2-1 exercise is having a remarkable effect!
Lazy horses need the same depth of training as fast ones, and improving the downwards transitions also paves the way to improving the upwards transitions.
A quick note on lazy horses: I very often see horses labelled as "lazy" when they simply have a naturally slow rhythm to their paces. In an effort to make them feel 'in front of the leg' they are hurried out of their tempo and subsequently out of balance. This, often coupled with downhill conformation, makes riders feel they need to chase the horse, leading to the horse switching off from the aids and becoming dull. Then the rider puts on some spurs... Educating the rider about the horse's natural tempo is easy (it can be effective to lunge the horse so the rider can see the balance at a slower pace) and often makes a radical difference to how the combination communicates.
Getting a lazy horse 'in front of the leg' is incredibly easy, and takes only one change from the rider. The rider has to commit to using less leg. Yes, LESS leg! The rider needs to give the horse the responsibility of maintaining the forward activity and be utterly consistent in their follow-through. Each time the leg goes on, lightly, the rider must have an expectation of what the response SHOULD be, and be prepared to increase the aid (either by using a stronger leg aid, ie, a hard kick) or a sharp tap with a whip until the horse gives the expected response. It can be helpful to use a 1-10 scale of pressure to help judge the 'right' level of leg pressure and the 'right' response from the horse. I'll talk more about this in another post in future!
When I hear that coaches (particularly visiting coaches from interstate) have advised people to 'get rid' it sets off a couple of alarm bells. Firstly, I cynically wonder if the coach has a has a suitable horse for sale or on commission from another student. I also wonder if the coach is lacking in the skills and imagination (or powers of persuasion) to tell the student that they need to go back to basics and re-school the horse. It's not a popular piece of advice, usually, that the so-called 'Elementary' level horse needs to re-learn go and stop and that until the basics are correctly established, progress will be limited.
Correct basics are so often un-taught, badly taught or gradually forgotten that revisiting them can often bring about remarkable progress in students. I'm teaching a lady whose 11 year old mare has had several breaks in her training from injuries and to have a few foals. The rider is quite competitive and wants the horse in winning form as quickly as possible, but after a couple of lessons, it's obvious to me that there's a big gap in the horse's education.
Being a naturally lazy horse, her downwards transitions have always been easy to achieve. Stop riding, stop actively telling the horse to go, and it wants to stop. However, since the horse has not had the schooling a more forward-thinking horse would need to perform the same sort of transitions, she also hasn't learned to engage her hind legs and perform a balanced down transition. This mare's idea of a downwards transition is to flop onto the forehand, bore on the rider's hand, open her mouth, tilt her head and sprawl to a stop. True, she does do it quite quickly! But the quality of the transition is poor and usually ends with the rider shaking the horse off the contact before releasing the rein under the mistaken impression that this will, in time, teach the horse to be lighter in the transition. She has never learned to bring her hind legs under her in response to the rein pressure. The 3-2-1 exercise is having a remarkable effect!
Lazy horses need the same depth of training as fast ones, and improving the downwards transitions also paves the way to improving the upwards transitions.
A quick note on lazy horses: I very often see horses labelled as "lazy" when they simply have a naturally slow rhythm to their paces. In an effort to make them feel 'in front of the leg' they are hurried out of their tempo and subsequently out of balance. This, often coupled with downhill conformation, makes riders feel they need to chase the horse, leading to the horse switching off from the aids and becoming dull. Then the rider puts on some spurs... Educating the rider about the horse's natural tempo is easy (it can be effective to lunge the horse so the rider can see the balance at a slower pace) and often makes a radical difference to how the combination communicates.
Getting a lazy horse 'in front of the leg' is incredibly easy, and takes only one change from the rider. The rider has to commit to using less leg. Yes, LESS leg! The rider needs to give the horse the responsibility of maintaining the forward activity and be utterly consistent in their follow-through. Each time the leg goes on, lightly, the rider must have an expectation of what the response SHOULD be, and be prepared to increase the aid (either by using a stronger leg aid, ie, a hard kick) or a sharp tap with a whip until the horse gives the expected response. It can be helpful to use a 1-10 scale of pressure to help judge the 'right' level of leg pressure and the 'right' response from the horse. I'll talk more about this in another post in future!
More Thoughts on Canter and a Remedial Canter Aid
A useful tip for improving horses that have poor strike-offs is to
separate the steps of the canter aid and work on them individually.
1) Increase the contact. Work on being able to shorten the reins and take a firm but gentle hold on the horse's mouth and for the horse accept the pressure and soften to the hand. If you are consistent with your release and soft feel, the horse will soon start to soften as soon as you take up the reins.
2) Be able to sit on the trot and practice doing it! Some (many?) riders only ever do sitting trot before they canter. Many horses anticipate the canter when the rider starts to sit, which creates tension which makes it harder for the rider to sit quietly and so the catch-22 situation grows! Sitting trot is incredibly useful of itself so it is definitely worth persevering with this one. Cross your stirrups, keep the tempo slow and bounce gently like you're on a trampoline. Experiment.
3) Put your outside leg back. Then do nothing. Many hot horses are triggered to do a big overreaction when the outside leg goes back in preparation for canter. Get the horse used to your outside leg sliding back (but not tightening) and staying there. Trot numerous circles with the outside leg back. Don't push or training travers might become harder later on.
4) Add a voice aid. Take a look back through my posts and learn to do click-click-wallop! A voice aid is so helpful in clarifying the moment you want the horse to switch from trot to canter.
5) Shape the strike off with your seat. You want the first step of the canter to be short, uphill and calm. If the horse is in the habit of flinging its head in the air and leaping or lurching or throwing its forehand down, you need to gently but firmly block this action with your 'sit strong' (locked elbows and strong abs, basically) and your self-correcting contact, where you hands lighten but your reins remain the same length.
6) Ride other horses. So many adult amateurs don't have access to schoolmasters but they can swap horses with their friends. Feeling the different canter strike offs of other horses can help you have a different ideal for what the canter strike off can or should feel like. A horse with a tidy pop into canter can be very encouraging to ride, and you can try to recreate the feel of that on your own horse.
7) Turn your shoulders inwards. So many riders turn their shoulders outwards when their outside leg goes back. Make an effort to turn them inwards - I always picture sitting on an office chair and swivelling from the waist. Don't lean or tilt. This simple correction can go a really long way to improving horses (and riders) that habitually take the wrong leads.
8) Finally, add the inside leg. The ideal canter strike off goes: feel the mouth (horse softens), sitting trot (horse maintains tempo), outside leg back (horse does not react), rider turns shoulders inwards and cues with the inside leg and a lifting but level seat (horse steps quietly into canter with a soft mouth and a relatively short stride.)
1) Increase the contact. Work on being able to shorten the reins and take a firm but gentle hold on the horse's mouth and for the horse accept the pressure and soften to the hand. If you are consistent with your release and soft feel, the horse will soon start to soften as soon as you take up the reins.
2) Be able to sit on the trot and practice doing it! Some (many?) riders only ever do sitting trot before they canter. Many horses anticipate the canter when the rider starts to sit, which creates tension which makes it harder for the rider to sit quietly and so the catch-22 situation grows! Sitting trot is incredibly useful of itself so it is definitely worth persevering with this one. Cross your stirrups, keep the tempo slow and bounce gently like you're on a trampoline. Experiment.
3) Put your outside leg back. Then do nothing. Many hot horses are triggered to do a big overreaction when the outside leg goes back in preparation for canter. Get the horse used to your outside leg sliding back (but not tightening) and staying there. Trot numerous circles with the outside leg back. Don't push or training travers might become harder later on.
4) Add a voice aid. Take a look back through my posts and learn to do click-click-wallop! A voice aid is so helpful in clarifying the moment you want the horse to switch from trot to canter.
5) Shape the strike off with your seat. You want the first step of the canter to be short, uphill and calm. If the horse is in the habit of flinging its head in the air and leaping or lurching or throwing its forehand down, you need to gently but firmly block this action with your 'sit strong' (locked elbows and strong abs, basically) and your self-correcting contact, where you hands lighten but your reins remain the same length.
6) Ride other horses. So many adult amateurs don't have access to schoolmasters but they can swap horses with their friends. Feeling the different canter strike offs of other horses can help you have a different ideal for what the canter strike off can or should feel like. A horse with a tidy pop into canter can be very encouraging to ride, and you can try to recreate the feel of that on your own horse.
7) Turn your shoulders inwards. So many riders turn their shoulders outwards when their outside leg goes back. Make an effort to turn them inwards - I always picture sitting on an office chair and swivelling from the waist. Don't lean or tilt. This simple correction can go a really long way to improving horses (and riders) that habitually take the wrong leads.
8) Finally, add the inside leg. The ideal canter strike off goes: feel the mouth (horse softens), sitting trot (horse maintains tempo), outside leg back (horse does not react), rider turns shoulders inwards and cues with the inside leg and a lifting but level seat (horse steps quietly into canter with a soft mouth and a relatively short stride.)
Habits of Highly-Effective Horse Trainers
Good trainers:
Insist the horse follows their line. "Placing" the horse, insisting they follow tiny directional cues, is a very, very powerful tool. If the rider corrects the horse when he's 10cm off your intended line, the horse never learns he can run away. It also places the rider in a powerful position of authority. Controlling where and how the horse goes is the strongest way a rider can demonstrate leadership to their horse. Maintaining an effective literal - and metaphorical - boundary with the outside rein can have a really startling effect on green or spoiled horses. Controlling the shoulders with opening reins requires no more schooling or education than following a lead rope so the greenest of greenies can be corrected in this way.
This kind of schooling requires the rider to be able to 'multi-task' - to keep the ongoing placement of the horse as an intrinsic and vital part of every other schooling exercise they are doing. It also requires planning and commitment. One student claims to 'see' the intended track of each movement as a shiny blue path which she insists the horse follows. Allowing the horse to 'decide' where he's going can open the door to him thinking he's allowed to make other decisions too!
Insist the horse maintains the pace. There's nothing more dis-spiriting that a 'kickalong' horse that shambles to a stop unless it's actively ridden every stride. It's a schooling problem that's ridiculously easy to fix, though, requiring only a commitment from the rider to not ride like that anymore, and fewer but more effective aids, backed up with a strong leg or a whip. The horse has to know there's a consequence for failing to maintain the pace.
Shapes the gaits. Trot and canter, and to a lesser extent, walk, can be influenced SO much by the way the rider sits on them. An animated seat can elevate the trot and canter, regulate the tempo, show the horse how to collect and engage the hindquarters and create terrifically-balanced transitions. Riding like a passenger and passively receiving what the horse offers, in terms of stride length, suspension and energy, is tiring and is such a limited way to ride once you know the difference.
Trains the downwards transition thoroughly. It takes three steps of any pace for the horse to perform a balanced halt transition. Promising the horse that you will ALWAYS
a) give him three steps to prepare, and
b) insist that he WILL stop in your timing, every time,
trains a very, very good downwards transition. This translates to a very good half halt, which is instrumental in improving how the horse goes. Lazy horses can especially benefit from this training, as their usually quick but unbalanced downwards transitions don't prepare them well for accepting the hand, engaging the quarters and all the other requirements for a good half halt and correct weight distribution for collection.
Maintains the horse's attention. Signs of inattention can include pricking both ears, turning the head and neck towards objects of interest, neighing or reacting to other horses nearby, napping, grazing, etc. Simply by recognising these signs of inattention and quickly correcting them by flexing the poll inwards, chirping, saying the horse's name, asking for a transition within the pace or a lateral step, the rider establishes that they are the most important thing for the horse to focus on. Many schooling problems disappear once the horse's focus is developed and maintained. A horse who is nosy and looking about himself is telling his rider that their leadership is weak.
Insist the horse follows their line. "Placing" the horse, insisting they follow tiny directional cues, is a very, very powerful tool. If the rider corrects the horse when he's 10cm off your intended line, the horse never learns he can run away. It also places the rider in a powerful position of authority. Controlling where and how the horse goes is the strongest way a rider can demonstrate leadership to their horse. Maintaining an effective literal - and metaphorical - boundary with the outside rein can have a really startling effect on green or spoiled horses. Controlling the shoulders with opening reins requires no more schooling or education than following a lead rope so the greenest of greenies can be corrected in this way.
This kind of schooling requires the rider to be able to 'multi-task' - to keep the ongoing placement of the horse as an intrinsic and vital part of every other schooling exercise they are doing. It also requires planning and commitment. One student claims to 'see' the intended track of each movement as a shiny blue path which she insists the horse follows. Allowing the horse to 'decide' where he's going can open the door to him thinking he's allowed to make other decisions too!
Insist the horse maintains the pace. There's nothing more dis-spiriting that a 'kickalong' horse that shambles to a stop unless it's actively ridden every stride. It's a schooling problem that's ridiculously easy to fix, though, requiring only a commitment from the rider to not ride like that anymore, and fewer but more effective aids, backed up with a strong leg or a whip. The horse has to know there's a consequence for failing to maintain the pace.
Shapes the gaits. Trot and canter, and to a lesser extent, walk, can be influenced SO much by the way the rider sits on them. An animated seat can elevate the trot and canter, regulate the tempo, show the horse how to collect and engage the hindquarters and create terrifically-balanced transitions. Riding like a passenger and passively receiving what the horse offers, in terms of stride length, suspension and energy, is tiring and is such a limited way to ride once you know the difference.
Trains the downwards transition thoroughly. It takes three steps of any pace for the horse to perform a balanced halt transition. Promising the horse that you will ALWAYS
a) give him three steps to prepare, and
b) insist that he WILL stop in your timing, every time,
trains a very, very good downwards transition. This translates to a very good half halt, which is instrumental in improving how the horse goes. Lazy horses can especially benefit from this training, as their usually quick but unbalanced downwards transitions don't prepare them well for accepting the hand, engaging the quarters and all the other requirements for a good half halt and correct weight distribution for collection.
Maintains the horse's attention. Signs of inattention can include pricking both ears, turning the head and neck towards objects of interest, neighing or reacting to other horses nearby, napping, grazing, etc. Simply by recognising these signs of inattention and quickly correcting them by flexing the poll inwards, chirping, saying the horse's name, asking for a transition within the pace or a lateral step, the rider establishes that they are the most important thing for the horse to focus on. Many schooling problems disappear once the horse's focus is developed and maintained. A horse who is nosy and looking about himself is telling his rider that their leadership is weak.
Hot Horse Rules
Riders/trainers of hot horses need to learn:
- To be very definite about how the horse is 'allowed' to use his energy. A horse who habitually runs away when he's excited learns so many bad habits - he learns the rider can be braced upon, that the length and speed of the steps is his decision, that falling onto the forehand and stiffening is permissible. All of these are very difficult habits to break. Instead, hot horses should be taught to go "up" instead of "out" - to make their steps higher and more energetic rather than running, rushing, lengthening or quickening.
- To be very proactive about the length and speed of the trot steps, and later the canter steps. Riding proactively is another phrase for 'shaping' the gaits. The rider's seat is a powerful tool for this, whether rising or sitting trot is used. Sitting trot can be very useful at early stages of the horse's education (often the rider does it better without stirrups, too) rather than exclusively using sitting trot on a trained horse, ie, for lateral work or the beginnings of collection.
- Often as riders we are taught to follow, follow, follow, accepting what the horse offers in terms of steps, cadence, impulsion, swing. All of these elements can be positively influenced by how the rider sits on the horse, which is why schoolmaster horses are so valuable. By showing riders how a truly engaged back feels, they can attempt to recreate the same feelings on their greener horses. Alas, not everyone has access to such a tool! Instead of following, a person training a hot horse needs to learn to lead. A great example of this is a horse being ridden under tempo and slowing the trot to the point it almost drops to walk. The rider can motivate the horse to keep trotting by activating their own seat - doing a trampoline bounce and creating the rhythmical momentum that the horse should (and instinctively does) match.
- Hot horses should be schooled at trot 'below tempo' that is, slower than the speed of his natural rhythm. After several weeks or even months of consistent work this tempo the horse learns to relax and then gradually to lengthen the steps without quickening, creating a good working trot. This can be performed in gradually more stimulating environments, teaching the horse to channel its natural impulsion in a positive way.
- Finding the natural tempo of the horse is very interesting. Often horses with a slow natural tempo, coupled with a forward-going nature, are very tense. Riding these horses at or below their natural tempo often has a dramatic relaxing effect. (A horse with a slow natural tempo and a LAZY mind is even more difficult! They need to be ridden in front of the leg but never chased out of balance. I think I will devote a whole post to this skill one day soon!)
- To only use two reins to make a downwards transition. My 3-2-1 Halt exercise, also known as "Off the Cliff" is a terrific start for a forward going horse, provided the rider is fully committed to it. Done correctly, the halt transitions create compliance, submission (the same thing?? ask the FEI!) engagement and a great connection between the rein aid and the hind leg. If the rider's attempt to shape the trot or canter is going pear-shaped they should make a full halt transition, give the rein completely and start again with a soft contact. Horse and rider can very quickly fall into the trap of holding too firmly on the rein and it takes two to pull!
- Hot horses have often been 'hung onto' to maintain the tempo and this can result in conflict rein behaviours such as reefing the reins out of the rider's hands or diving. These horses get very good at schooling their riders! Riders of hot horses need to ensure the horse never moves the rider. Ninja-like reflexes need to be used to block these attempts to snatch rein or pull the rider forward. Teaching the horse to confidently take the rein forward and down, on the rider's terms only, can be challenging but often really helps this kind of horse to have a 'safe place' to stretch to.
More to come on this topic...
Training Assumptions
Many (most?) instructors, (especially those who do not ride their students’
horses), start their coaching from a flawed basis based on a broad
assumption. They assume a (mature) horse fully
comprehends the basic aids. This begins a dangerous cycle- if something goes wrong in a ride, the
reason a horse hasn't responded to an aid correctly is that the aid
wasn't applied correctly, the rider wasn't positioned correctly and/or
was doing something to prevent a correct response, or that old favourite
of horse-blamers everywhere, that the horse was just being being stubborn!
A more useful point for coaching to begin is, “Does this horse know how to stop on a light pressure from the reins? Does it know how to go on a light leg pressure? Does it know how to turn on a light rein pressure?” Most horses, even highly trained ones, do not clearly understand or respond to those three light aids. They have had so much done to them, so many conflicting aids of varying strengths applied in different places, with or without release, that they do not know how to consistently stop on a light aid and go on a light aid. They are confused. And when they don't respond the way the rider expects, on that particular day, they are often given a "correction." This undermines their confidence and can lead to conflict behaviours like bucking.
By retraining the correct basic responses until the horse is consistently responding to light aids, the horse and rider can begin to form the harmony required for higher level work.
It's my opinion that adult amateur riders LOVE to blame themselves when things go wrong. On one hand, this is admirable and we should all be striving to be better riders. On the other hand, this can lead to riders denying and never addressing the gaps in their horse's training. It's very, very difficult to sit well and apply correct aids on a poorly-trained horse. Ideally, the horse and rider improve together and by addressing the training of the horse FIRST rather than fiddling around with position corrections, as the harmony improves and the horse GOES better, the rider will automatically SIT better.
A more useful point for coaching to begin is, “Does this horse know how to stop on a light pressure from the reins? Does it know how to go on a light leg pressure? Does it know how to turn on a light rein pressure?” Most horses, even highly trained ones, do not clearly understand or respond to those three light aids. They have had so much done to them, so many conflicting aids of varying strengths applied in different places, with or without release, that they do not know how to consistently stop on a light aid and go on a light aid. They are confused. And when they don't respond the way the rider expects, on that particular day, they are often given a "correction." This undermines their confidence and can lead to conflict behaviours like bucking.
By retraining the correct basic responses until the horse is consistently responding to light aids, the horse and rider can begin to form the harmony required for higher level work.
It's my opinion that adult amateur riders LOVE to blame themselves when things go wrong. On one hand, this is admirable and we should all be striving to be better riders. On the other hand, this can lead to riders denying and never addressing the gaps in their horse's training. It's very, very difficult to sit well and apply correct aids on a poorly-trained horse. Ideally, the horse and rider improve together and by addressing the training of the horse FIRST rather than fiddling around with position corrections, as the harmony improves and the horse GOES better, the rider will automatically SIT better.
Thoughts on the Canter
It seems that the early canter lessons that
beginners receive - "move with the horse, follow the horse, push with
your seat..." can be really damaging. These lessons, laid down as gospel, set a muscle memory of 'what canter feels like' which is very hard for riders to break away from. I recently
watched my toddler daughter on a rocking horse and wondered if that's
where it all starts?! I suppose the horses that beginners learn to ride
on are usually not so forward-thinking too, so you feel like by pumping
with your seat you are keeping them going (or they have inadvertently
been trained to need that kind of riding to maintain the pace.)
I remember learning, realising the feeling of being able to shorten and lengthen the canter on a little Thoroughbred I was lucky enough to own as a 13-year-old crap rider with plenty of aspirations and book learning but no natural talent or ability or even access to regular lessons. (Seriously, I look SO AWFUL in the old photos.) But even then, I remember playing with my horse's schooling. I remember experimenting, fiddling, riding friends' horses whenever I could and just trying stuff. Nobody taught me to collect the canter, to shape it, with my seat. I just figured it out. Which is one of the reasons I'm pretty surprised more people don't figure it out. Riders spend years, lifetimes!, getting it really wrong. And sitting too actively in the canter just makes the horse drop its back away, lengthen its stride, go on the forehand and eventually break to trot.
But the nice part of this is, it's an easy skill to teach because it's easy to feel, easy to explain, easy to do. Just resist the forward and upward forces from the horse's cantering hindquarter by pushing back and down against it. That's it. Most times the horse will think you are asking for trot but if you are quick with your voice and/or inside leg you can soon find a balance between go and woah. And then the canter stride is YOURS. Seriously, it makes such a difference being able to control the length of your horse's stride. Often, green or lazy horses get out of cantering by lengthening their stride to the point where they feel too fast, then when the rider tries to slow them down with the reins, falling out into a trot. (A truly horrible feeling, the flat canter lolloping downhill into a scrambling unbalanced trot...)
Having this 'collecting seat' tool in your toolbox makes the canter MUCH easier to ride, it makes corners easier to negotiate, it gives you a whole new set of gears and it works on even very green horses. They instinctively follow a pushing seat and lengthen stride so it makes sense that they will also follow a lifting seat and shorten up.
A note: DO teach your horse to maintain the canter himself until told to trot. This is also a surprisingly easy skill to train, you just sit still with totally passive legs until they drop out - or threaten to - and then you give them some welly and shout in their ear. After a couple of repetitions they work out to stay in canter until they're told otherwise! I wouldn't suggest a wallop with the stick, though, that's uncalled for and unnecessary and might result in a buck!
Riders tend to insist on this 'cruise control' very well at walk and trot but consistently fail to follow it through to the canter. After all, if your horse was trotting along and dropped to walk without being asked, you'd certainly do something about it, right!?
I wonder - and impatiently await - what other lightbulb moments horses have to teach me!
I remember learning, realising the feeling of being able to shorten and lengthen the canter on a little Thoroughbred I was lucky enough to own as a 13-year-old crap rider with plenty of aspirations and book learning but no natural talent or ability or even access to regular lessons. (Seriously, I look SO AWFUL in the old photos.) But even then, I remember playing with my horse's schooling. I remember experimenting, fiddling, riding friends' horses whenever I could and just trying stuff. Nobody taught me to collect the canter, to shape it, with my seat. I just figured it out. Which is one of the reasons I'm pretty surprised more people don't figure it out. Riders spend years, lifetimes!, getting it really wrong. And sitting too actively in the canter just makes the horse drop its back away, lengthen its stride, go on the forehand and eventually break to trot.
But the nice part of this is, it's an easy skill to teach because it's easy to feel, easy to explain, easy to do. Just resist the forward and upward forces from the horse's cantering hindquarter by pushing back and down against it. That's it. Most times the horse will think you are asking for trot but if you are quick with your voice and/or inside leg you can soon find a balance between go and woah. And then the canter stride is YOURS. Seriously, it makes such a difference being able to control the length of your horse's stride. Often, green or lazy horses get out of cantering by lengthening their stride to the point where they feel too fast, then when the rider tries to slow them down with the reins, falling out into a trot. (A truly horrible feeling, the flat canter lolloping downhill into a scrambling unbalanced trot...)
Having this 'collecting seat' tool in your toolbox makes the canter MUCH easier to ride, it makes corners easier to negotiate, it gives you a whole new set of gears and it works on even very green horses. They instinctively follow a pushing seat and lengthen stride so it makes sense that they will also follow a lifting seat and shorten up.
A note: DO teach your horse to maintain the canter himself until told to trot. This is also a surprisingly easy skill to train, you just sit still with totally passive legs until they drop out - or threaten to - and then you give them some welly and shout in their ear. After a couple of repetitions they work out to stay in canter until they're told otherwise! I wouldn't suggest a wallop with the stick, though, that's uncalled for and unnecessary and might result in a buck!
Riders tend to insist on this 'cruise control' very well at walk and trot but consistently fail to follow it through to the canter. After all, if your horse was trotting along and dropped to walk without being asked, you'd certainly do something about it, right!?
I wonder - and impatiently await - what other lightbulb moments horses have to teach me!
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