August 2019

Does Your Horse see Goblins and Munchkins?

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It is worth the effort to take the time to take a real look at your horse from the ground up, no saddle, no bridle, completely “gadget-free”
Observe how the horse moves-  neck, front legs, back legs, spine, core and rotations.
( You should always know your horse’s “normal” look and feel – and pay attention when something seems different)

Some horses are amazing, because they can just naturally flow and go from gait to gait and do all sorts of acrobatics and are completely in control of their body. Poetry in motion.

Well, others not so much, there is the giraffe look-a-like, sometimes a bit of a camel comes along to many lumps and bumps.
Or the clown show or crash test dummy.
We hold our breath as they look like they are going to hurt themselves or take out the gate while they misjudged the distance, or slip over-  not always because of bad footing.

monsters drawn on rocks
horses see objects differently to us rocks are often highly suspicious, as they look like crouching predators / monsters

And what about the horse that sees monsters and goblins and gremlins in every corner, who shies at everything and nothing?!
If you pay close attention you actually notice one side is always worse than the other.

In most of these instances, there are some alignment and balance issues.
With good training, with good groundwork, lunging and riding, this can help them re– align their body, assist with placing their feet where they need them – and this will improve their appearance and manners.

Eventually, those (imagined) “goblins and munchkins” move to another area, as your horse grows in confidence and trusts you as a leader and partner. 😉

We need to teach the horse where its four legs are –  and in time with feeling.
The awareness of each leg will become better and the muscles and ligaments start to strengthen.
With this, the insecurity will fade.
We need to remove the habits of resistance and bracing.
Use exercises to develop body awareness, balance, coordination and connection to each leg, while working on weight-bearing and releases.

Teaching a horse to find his own balance is not about forcing them into a position.
This is why I like a cavesson; it is light, yet easy to control and it will help the horse to find his balance in the schooling of groundwork or lunging.

It’s about guiding the horse to find the solutions in its own body.
The horse will learn to find its own balance, as he feels more in harmony with his own body, the horse will start to seek a healthier frame. A little bit like magic!
Your reward will be a happy and healthy horse.

Please always remember; each horse works in its own time and frame:

  • It depends on each case,  yes it can sometimes (often!) really take some time.
  • For me, the first clear change is the horse’s willingness to be content and work with you.
  • This often depends on the restrictions the horse has experienced previously.
  • You sometimes find that they give you a distinct snarl or even a nip.
  • Tread easy one step at the time.
  • And let them ‘flop’ into  a break here and there – relax, be playful– it helps you and the horse!

Also, be curious and  ask questions.
If you stop asking questions of your horse,you stop searching for answers.
When you stop asking questions and searching for answers, you stop learning which will not improve the welfare of you …OR your horse.

Get a good Team assembled to help support you!
Use great equine body workers, an excellent farrier, saddle fitter, as well as a great coach.
These are professionals and on your horse’s side, with more knowledge than you may have.
Having these extra ‘resources’ to call on really improves your horse’s health and soundness for a long time to come.

It often amazes me when riders get on and ride their horses, but yet they are so disconnected from their horses it is not a partnership.
It seems to then be a continuous search for answers ( in perhaps the wrong places!)
ie It’s the bit, the saddle, the shoeing, body worker, the vet… everything else, but so often the rider takes themselves out of the equation.

Remember everything you do.. or do NOT do, impacts your horse.

 

balance in the movement every rotation and shift of weight has an effect on the horse

The horse riders upper and lower body parts coordination

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The horse riders upper and lower body parts, working in coordination are so important!

I often get asked “which leg and which hand to push or release” and “which rein aid should I use?”

It’s a tough question, when the answer is always everything at the right moment, at the right time and with feeling.

  • So imagine yourself walking in a small circle, carrying a tray of drinks, the smaller the circle the more you have to turn your torso.
  • Focus on opening the hips and softening the joints, while rolling your feet and landing softly.
  • Place your feet, and yes, you will need both legs to push, release and do it again, one a bit more for standing and one more for suspension.

Balance is key with coordination,  now at a faster pace … just kidding … but, then again not really, as in the end that is exactly what you ask of your horse, with you on top, in balance and in motion!

Now imagine every time you take a step to the inside, the tray you are carrying is topped up or re-balanced … this would throw you off balance, make you a bit nervous and your confidence and trust in the person that loads the tray is getting less.

This relates to riding because it is a partnership and trust is key.

It always amazes me, when I ask the riders to use one hand softer, or remember to lift the hand, how the hand almost automatically disappears towards the hip.
I guess this has something to do with strength, as when we lock our hand into our hip, we can hold on a bit tighter, while we balance our seat and leg on the other side of the horse.

IF we lift our inside hand a little bit, we can lighten the load on the inside stirrup and thigh, with an open hip rotating the upper body upwards.
We have to let go of our control and go with the flow.
This is easier said than done, as we always use our hands to fix most things in life, so when we feel the balance underneath us shift, we naturally try to stabilise the horse (as well as ourselves!) with our hands.

Notice that it is the same as for us – when we walk the small circle, we have to make room in the turn and make way for our inside leg. This leg gets placed inwards and out of the way with a lift in the withers and a rotation of our torso in the movement.

  • Hips, shoulder, legs, hands -all get a bit of a lift, while the outside of the horse extends.
  • We balance ourselves on the outside thigh against the horse and with a long inside leg.
  • Our stabilisers on the horse are OUR legs and torso, connected in the middle through the pelvis and hips, so we constantly work on being flexible and adjustable in this region.
    Supple joints!
  • Not so much the hands, they are soft and allowing and are there just to refine the movement, for the last little bit of a polishing effect.
  • Sometimes just to remind the horse to stay focused ….

Unfortunately, every movement creates a ripple effect.
So once we take the horse’s head out of alignment with our stabilising action of the hand movement, the horse will use a shoulder/ front leg to stabilise itself. This creates stiffness and tension. And as we feel the balance shift and the horse overloading a shoulder, we lose control over their hind legs and also, often the ability to take the half halt through and place the horse on the haunches and back into balance.

So the roller coaster ride continues and so does the ripple effect.
Often by one big adjustment, followed by another counter reaction,  until both horse and rider are out of sync.
Stop, retreat, regroup and …start again.
Breathe.

wooden puppet with individual limbs
Just like a wooden puppet with individual limbs, as a rider you need to learn to manage every one of them and in co – ordinated combination

We need to go back to the root cause of the problem and find ourselves centred in the middle of the horse and work on spinal alignment in the horse and rider.
The best way to do this is slow down, take a moment, take force and gravity out of the equation, give yourself time to feel and observe all the little nuances.

For both horse and rider we need to eradicate the shifts, the leans, the braces, one-by-one.
Use your observations skills, time and patient practice
Awareness of the movement pattern and reaction, we might think we are centred and that your hands/ elbows/ shoulders are relaxed, but can we really freely move them up down, left right?

The same with our torso, can we really go with the flow and sit centred so we can adjust forward, back, right, left, and swivel and rotate?
Go with the rise and the flow, stay light and centred.

Time your breathing with the intention of what you want to achieve, rhythm, engagement, slowing down, relax, breath in and out in harmony with the movement.
Looking at our legs, we can open our hip joint, use a calf or thigh muscle to balance or engage?

Same with our body, we have to make ‘friends’ with our habits, good and bad, so that we can adjust them one by one.
It is always a challenge to train both sides of our body to be equally soft pliable and reactive.

For me, it always helps to walk it through in my mind and then transfer it to my horse’s movement, expecting her to come along in an inviting leading manner, not through stiffness and tension. Occasionally I insist ….which is a bit more than an invitation!

balance in the movement every rotation and shift of weight has an effect on the horse
For the rider in motion, every rotation and movement has an effect on the horse. The more aware you are of the details, the more you are able to fine tune the movement to the horses movements. avoiding over correcting the loss of balance
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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If you want to know more about how I can help you, send me a PM or call me on 0408 882 730, and let’s find out what you’re goals are!

Balanced Seat within the Movement

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Balance (and therefore body awareness) is the key to training and without balance, the horse can’t perform.

So that all your ingredients (refer to my other posts on this work –  ‘Hitting the Jackpot’ and ‘Upper Lower Body Part Coordination’) come together into the final result, you need to invest time and patience to develop an integrated seat, from co-ordination of the upper and lower body, combined with soft hands.

As well as working on your equine partner to achieve the same sort of results, better balance also leads the horse to being able to perform specific fundamental exercises.

  • Horse and human both have to sometimes make up for their ‘imperfections’ and work on their coordination, strength, timing and core stability.
  • Staying grounded in a relaxed confident manner-  physically and mentally.
  • Get minimum effort and maximum results by being aware of your body, slow down, feel, regroup and adjust.
  • It is an ongoing process and it doesn’t matter how long you ride, you constantly work on it …and there are literally hundreds of light bulb moments.

We’ve all experienced that Aha moment when you think, ooohhh this is what they talk about….or now I understand the difference, all of a sudden it becomes effortless and fun.

In the integrated seat, motion comes into play.
You want to be looking for balance, core strength, stability, being centred and supple, all at the same time, while you also adjust tempo and regularity in the gait, left to right balance- as well as back to front….while removing blockages – easy right?!

balanced rider in movement
a balanced rider with a light seat can help the horse to travel even on a curved line. From front to back and right to left, constant work in progress.

 

My Tips:
Work as evenly as possible.
Try not to overload one side, placing strain on the other side.
You are constantly aligning yourself on your horse while maintaining an even flow of movement.
With supple hips and pelvis, all your body parts should work independently and yet as one in harmony, complementing each other. This is the goal!
Seek coordination and timing.

Here all your slow, steady work starts to flow into each other and all the movement patterns start to work as a unit. This is your ‘payoff’.
A little lift of your hips, a rotation in your upper body, while stepping in one stirrup keeping your horse upright, while balancing the thigh and giving it direction.
All this without interfering and staying ahead of the horse’s hips.

You feel the horse breath and soften underneath you in a flowing movement.

The more the movement expands in extension, the more supple the rider has to become, while maintaining their poise.
Similarly, the more the horse starts to lift and collect, the more the rider has to adjust, lighten and release in time.
The less you see, the more effortless it looks- the more the pair work in real harmony.

The amazing benefit when you start to ride in a more relaxed soft manner, is your horse starts to shine and it develops a rounder outline and it’s posture also starts to change.

balanced rider in movement
A good seat can shape your horse and help
the horse to stay balanced, centred and light.

You will then see the locked up poll and swollen glands in the gullet go down, the ridged lines in the muscles start to disappear, the gait looks smoother with less tension, fewer stumbles, trips, and hiccups.
Then the back unlocks and the horse starts to swing.
You have fewer injuries and less wear and tear on your horse and yourself.
If you ride a rigid and stiff horse, you would have to continuously push it along, so horse and rider would be exhausted at the end of the session.
But when you take your time and slowly loosen up your horse and work on your horse’s alignment, the horse will respond becoming soft and pliable.
The whole quality of movement improves and the ride finishes on a softer note for you both.

Still, most riders and horses have a better side.
It is amazing how often your horse just ‘casually suggests’ you just might want to move in this direction … nevertheless, persevere! The results are the horse becomes happier and more playful.

One of the nicest things a student can say is “My horse is happy to go in the arena and has content look on its face” … that’s priceless and worth ALL the effort!