Pressure:

noun.

1. The amount of force applied over a given area divided by the size of this area. (physics)
2. Mental strain caused by one’s own or others’ expectations on one’s own performance.

verb.

1. To encourage or exert force or influence.

Coupled with pressure, and vital to understanding its use and effects, is resistance. Resistance is the element of horse riding that is difficult to find in absence. Present in competition, backyard riding, trail riding, even the pursuit of riding as an art form, resistance is an element that some may consider a necessary evil. So prevalent is it, that trainers of all disciplines alike utilize some form of eliminating, or breaking the horse’s resistance, in search of their submission.

Resist:

1. verb.

1. To attempt to counter the actions or effects of someone or something.
2. To withstand such actions.
3. To oppose.

2. noun.

1. A protective covering.

Resistance:

1. The act of resisting, or the capacity to resist.
2. A force that tends to oppose motion.

Without pressure, the horse would have nothing to resist against. In reverse as well, can pressure exist as pressure – that is force, influence or encouragement – without some form of resistance? Pressure would simply become action, movement.

When we implement pressure, often we go beyond the resistance, into what is referred to as ‘denting’. When we dent the horse, we cause change in its shape, form, movement, energy, essence using pressure. This may not seem so terrible from the outside looking in, but if we look closer at the images so prevalent in current times of horses with tight nosebands, heads pulled in and held behind the vertical, straps for tying heads up or down, twitches, hobbles for training purposes, the list goes on and on, it becomes more apparent just how pressure and denting are being overused and misunderstood.

Horses are dented every day, and that is evidenced by the consistent presence of resistance, misunderstanding, fear, lack of trust, and evasions that riders and trainers experience with horses. Horse books and videos are full of problem solving techniques, each one custom built for the specific problem. There are numerous, freshly trademarked training methods and techniques each year that claim to do just what the previous methods before have failed to do, complete with new gadgets to influence more force with less effort.

These are all band-aids, to hide the fact that too much pressure was used in the first place, causing a cut that now ‘needs’ a band-aid. We forget to investigate the cause and get caught up in quick fix solutions for the symptoms. When the pot boils over you don’t put a cover on it, you turn the heat off and take it off the stove.

Pressure is a large component in most training methods, what they revolve around. The theory is that if enough pressure is applied in the correct area, it will motivate the horse to perform the requested action. This can cause very mechanical thinking in the horse, because he is not trained to be an intelligent contributor to the relationship, rather an instinctual creature. The majority of riding and training methods work off the idea that only with the use of pressure is an action obtained from the horse. Pulling on the reins to stop or squeezing the legs to go being prime examples; action equals reaction.

While using pressure as the key training tool works with some horses, there are many who fall in the cracks, leaving owners, riders and trainers frustrated, angry, fearful, sad, injured or killed. Pressure training with stallions turns into dangerous business, creates ‘hormonal’ and ‘opinionated’ mares, and geldings that fall into all sorts of impressions. Some horses may develop a seemingly lazy or “I don’t care” attitude, and others become hyper-sensitive, spooking, frightened and overly dramatic. Even those who go through the motions will likely show their resistance in the quality of the relationship.

Pressure as a training tool is not limited by disciplinary lines, sport, breed or gender. It is the key element in round-penning techniques, lunging, leading and riding. We unknowingly employ pressure because we are never taught what pressure is, how it influences the horse, and how to use it responsibly. Those who are termed ‘naturally gifted’ riders, often have an unconscious understanding of pressure, while the rest of us wander through the dark not realizing that we are in fact the pressure that has recently caused our horse to explode last week.

When the horse resists our initial pressure, we dent him even further by increasing the pressure – force or influence – possibly even causing physical pain. We do not stop and observe we are denting the horse to which he is resisting, instead we behave as though the horse is resisting therefore we must dent him to prevent further resistance.

Pressure in itself is not evil, it is used as a motivator, to encourage the horse to change himself and perform as we would like. When pressure crosses the line from motivator to force is what denting refers to. To balance the thin line between too little pressure and too much is the art involved in motivating the horse without denting or being completely action-less. For most of us, to know where the middle line is, we must explore both extremes of pressure – too much and too little – before we can recognize the balance, the motivation without force.

Pressure is not linear; it cannot be measured in a scientific manner when it comes to its influence on the horse and human relationship. How the horse interprets our pressure is based on many factors, and likewise our interpretation of pressure we apply. These include their individual character, previous relationships with humans and the current one they have with you or I. This interpretation is in constant flux, because other smaller factors bear heavily on the horse’s perception.

Being a prey animal, the horse is more or less tolerant of pressure based on the weather, season, herd status, physical condition, health, terrain, etc. There are few horse owners who haven’t become acutely aware that their horse is on eagle watch during a cold windy day, than when the temperature is mild and wind calm. This is why measuring an amount of pressure to work on every horse at every moment for a predictable result cannot be successful.

Pressure is not always physical, that is, involving touch. Most pressure begins well before any contact takes place, however most of it goes unrecognized. If you’ve ever noticed how some people make horses leery well before they are within touching distance, and others couldn’t make a horse walk away if they had an air horn, you’ve witnessed the non-physical affect of too much or too little pressure. We all give off a level of energy that directly relates to pressure from the horses perspective.

The way we stand, look, move and otherwise interact are all being read by the horse. He is fully aware of your every move, are you? The ultimate observer, even the horse you may think has checked out or dozed off, has their attention on you. It is their nature to observe, in the wild their very life depends on it.

Much of the observational skills we had as children have been trained out of us, coupled with our childhood curiosity. Being aware of the pressure we are applying to the horse involves the use of both observation and curiosity. We must be able to observe the horse’s responses to accurately judge our pressure, and have the curiosity to pursue the effort involved.

Summary – When we fail to dent the horse with pressure, the results are quite exciting. We develop a horse which trusts us not only because we are consistent, but because we also have respect for them physically, emotionally and intellectually. The horse has a level of confidence in trying to do what it is we ask, they are not afraid of the consequences of being wrong because being wrong doesn’t give reason to be dented. In short, we find a horse which is engaged, intelligent, and committed to a relationship with humans.

In other words, the real issue is with the rider, not the horse or the equipment. There will be a few, select, instances where the horse is genuinely in discomfort due to the bit or their teeth but it is the minority, not the majority as most people peg it.

The average rider uses an exorbitantly gross amount of pressure on the reins. On the edges of that average you find riders who use a moderate amount of too much pressure, and those who use too little pressure on the reins. The same goes for any of the aids including the seat and legs, as well as any training devices such as whips, spurs, etc.

Many of the images below are cases in which great detail was gone into over the fit of the bit. Look at the tautness of the reins, for some the fear in the horse’s eyes… The horse cannot fight against the bit unless the rider fights with him, the horse has no need to open his mouth as an escape if the rider does not pull back on them.

Also : be sure to check out the “Magical” noseband which not only prevents the horse from opening his mouth, but when he resists the rider’s overuse of the reins to such an extent it will force his head to comply as it applies pressure to the nose. Ingenious? Personally I find that it is more attractive and effective to ride better.

Riding Better

So, how is this achieved? How does a rider cure bad hands? It all has to start with the seat – inevitably a rider with bad hands or who rides a horse whose mouth is open in resistance will have a bad seat. You cannot have good hands and a bad seat or a good seat with bad hands. They are inextricably connected to one another, all the same that a rider cannot have independent aids (hands without legs, legs without hands) with a bad seat.

The seat must be developed and from there the hands begin to follow. I also believe that there must be a motivation for the rider that does not involve winning in competitions – where so much pressure is put on results and little on the actual correctness of training.

I haven’t thought about the Parelli’s for some time now, and it was only after being sent this video that my mind began perusing through those old feelings and came up with a solid explanation of my observations. In the following video you can see Linda ‘demonstrating’ how to correct a supposedly out of control horse, who is blind in one eye, after her owner/handler has failed.

Watch The Video at Ebaum’s

I suppose everyone who watches the video will come away with a slightly different feeling, here are my thoughts on the video and my previous impression of Parelli Natural Horsemanship.

In my mind, a method can only go so far. To apply the same practice to every horse in every situation is like saying that all people will be happy in a traditional heterosexual marriage that produces two children – one boy and one girl – with the wife staying at home and the husband providing. This model has proven to create mass unhappiness and we can see that by the sheer number of people moving away from it and finding happiness in other ways and order of their lives. Naturally, I am skeptical in a method that has one set way of working. The Parellis have put forth a system that takes equestrians from one step to another in a very specific and methodical way, leaving no room for wavering. This can lay the foundation for a great deal of dilemma.

Which leads me to my second observation… of all the natural horsemanship clinicians, and perhaps connected with just how prevalent and wide-spread Parelli’s popularity is, I have never observed a method producing so many dysfunctional horses. Through the years I have been conditioned to naturally shudder when I hear that a horse has been trained using Parelli methods, and now the owner is beyond recourse and needs help because the horse is dangerous. The other scenario is the horse is primarily a pasture potato, the owner has done the 7-games with him, and thinks the horse will make a great riding horse… only to visit the horse and find an animal which has learned how to use his size and strength against people, has no consideration or respect for you, and has zero inclination towards doing work of any kind.

I would be happy to stop there or even fall shorter if I had not seen so many cases just like this, but unfortunately that is not my reality. I will say there are happy exceptions. There are close friends of mine who use Parelli techniques and due only to their exquisite timing and understanding of the horse do they find a great deal of success with it. And there are many others I watch and cannot help but run the thought through my mind that, “they are going to get killed doing this, or inspire someone else to try this and themselves get killed!”

But why? The Parellis market themselves to equestrians who are afraid of their horses, are having a great deal of problems with their horses, etc. Perhaps in part to this they also end up with a great deal of failures in the sidelines. If someone wished to learn marketing tactics the Parellis would be an ideal model.

When I watch the video of Linda working with this half-blind horse, the main points that stick in my head are two-fold. One, is that she is terrified of this horse and trying so hard to get it to obey using the single method she knows. Second is that the horse has no idea what Linda wants and is completely confused. Another side-thought is that horses move into pressure, particularly when they don’t understand to do otherwise. Linda is applying pressure, the horse doesn’t understand, so in an attempt to stop the pressure the horse is moving into it. Yet, Linda is expecting a different result. Eventually she begins to get semi-correct responses, but only through the use of what I consider to be excessive pressure and force.

Then I ask myself, could Linda have accomplished her goal better by starting closer to the horse – perhaps a hand on the halter and direct pressure to start the idea that “this is what we are working on today,” and slowly moving away and changing the cue from nose pressure to the line shake? Making certain the horse understands at every stage before moving further away? I find it is extraordinarily easy for us to focus so hard on a single task and the end goal, that we miss piecing it together with small steps. That could even be the most difficult part of horsemanship I surmise.

Still, that is the fodder for my dislike and distrust of Parelli Natural Horsemanship Methods. Being so rigid in your method that you put horse and rider at risk is utterly negligible.

After a recent Craniosacral session, and the conversation surrounding that of 5 grams, it has been ever present on my mind. I cannot say with certainty that I have ridden with only 5 grams of pressure, but I know that I have aspired unconsciously towards it, reaching within sights. But perhaps like the scale test, found myself unable to regulate the consistency, my body jumping to heights of too much or too little with speed and inaccuracy, taking turns with the effect of weight too much or too little consistent.

Anyone want to take a challenge with me? To ride with only 5 grams? Bring yourself to feel pressure, and move away slowly, release that pressure, focusing on the beat of the heart or the lungs, or the dura. Focus until you feel it, until you’ve been able to release enough that the flow fills that vacuum. Let’s challenge one another. :)

Horses who buck while being lunged. There are several different reasons, which I’m sure many other trainers and horse advisers have mentioned – physical pain, playfulness or rowdy-ness, ill fitting tack, etc. One thing which I see is not often addressed, is the communication portion of interacting with the horse on the lunge.

Before I go down that lonely road, I want to first bring up the concept of a horse bucking. When we watch rodeos, we see horses do amazing maneuvers as they leap into the air – caused by a bucking strap. If your saddle is not equiped with one and you haven’t fashioned one by hand… then that is likely not the cause of your horse’s bucking – no matter how much it might resemble those famed rodeo horses! Bucking is not a maneuver of forward motion. It is a movement of upwards motion. It is just like rearing, with a little oomph, or a lot depending on your horse’s dedication. It engages more of the horse’s abdominal strength than rearing does.. but aside from the physical prowess your horse is showing, they are in essence the same ‘thing.’ (bear with me..)

Barring any physical issues or ill-fitting tack, that leaves playfulness and mis-communication as the key targets for why your horse is bouncing around on the end of that lunge line. Given that most of us learn how to lunge by doing rather than solid education taught by a professional (and not just your average riding instructor), it is not really that surprising that communication is still on the list of offenders. It is not a given when interacting with horses, least of all with 30 feet of line between you and a whip trailing at his feet… :)

Now, trying to link the two together – that bucking is an upward motion rather than a forward motion, and that most often mis-communication is a culprit… I’m going to give you the wham bam boogie! Not really, but…

The most common cause of a horse bucking on the lunge is that he doesn’t fully understand your desire that he moves forward, or is being blocked in some way shape or form (by you, his surroundings, or something imagined, you can decide on a case by case basis), while receiving increasing amounts of pressure from you (the ‘lunger’) until the pressure from behind is equal to the pressure in front, resulting in an upward explosion.

So… a simple solution? Clarify yourself by changing tactics. If your horse isn’t responding calmly and immediately from your request to move forward (or move *more* forward), perhaps go back to step one and teach him that you want him to move forward from the cue of the whip. Combine that with a double check that your position during lunging isn’t cutting him off (you should be behind the withers slightly if there was a straight line from the horse’s body to the center of the lunge circle), there is nothing blocking his way or path, or if needed do some confidence building to get rid of those scary ghosts (and I’m not talking about the confidence building that involves chasing him down with a blue plastic tarp… ;)).

Much has been written on the subject of hyperflexion of late. It seems that since the initial public outcry for it’s abusive effects, a multitude of evidence has since been designed to prove just that in every media – web, print, video and audio. There are seminars, there are lectures, books and so on. They are based on several strong points, including for example:

1. Physical Ramifications – proving the structural and muscular damage that occurs from the use of hyperflexion in training and riding the horse, from temporary to permanent, though the emphasis is on permanence.
2. Psychological Effects – the comparison has been made, that the use of hyperflexion (extreme) develops two types of horses, those that becomes mentally unstable and perhaps will not stand up to this kind of training for one reason or several, and those that have popularized the term “learned helplessness” in the horse world.
3. The use of hyperflexion by Classical masters, wholly those unpopular by riders adhering to the Gueriniere model of dressage. In particular Baucher and the Duke of Newcastle.

It often seems to require that such an extreme form of any of our riding habits come to light before we recognize in any way that we too have been participating in the same methods we now despise, but it has not yet become popular to despise all forms of hyperflexion aside from those which are extreme…

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Hyperflexion has found it’s way into almost every barn and stable, through the simple lack of awareness to it’s presence. From english to western, and even the ‘classicists’ of dressage. It is a loss of the horse’s posture. Why is that? Because correct posture is what dictates our ability of balance, strength, coordination and health. When we lose our posture, we lose one or many of those elements. The same goes for the horse. His loss of posture may show up as him being on the forehand, or being less coordinated in his movement. High level dressage horses are commonly seen losing their coordination in the basic gaits – broken trot diagonals, four beat canters, lateralized walks. When they move up to perform the collected movements it is often seen them almost falling over their own feet. Of course the splendor of tense energy often blinds us to these components, instead we see the legs lifted almost to the ceiling and the stark comparison of slow (almost dead energy) piaffes transitioning into explosive ‘extended trot’.

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We fail to understand even what our own posture looks like when it is correct or incorrect most of the time, unless we’ve been specifically educated in that area. What is viewed as correct has fallen to what is most appealing to our eyes and pleasing to our senses, rather than what functions most efficiently to keep us healthy and capable.

As riders, our posture in the saddle frequently mimics that which we have disposed our horses to taking. We lean, we hunch, we have no balance, no center. We have no strength, though that is the very means we rely upon to direct the horse, and we have little coordination of our limbs without dependence upon the others. We have created in our horses the things we struggle with ourselves.

The use of the horse’s neck as a means of leverage and control has been a long standing tradition in the world of equestrians. When we fail to understand the depths of communication, we then resort to physical means of accomplishing our goal. We can be strong, or we can be precise. We cannot be precise without strength, and we cannot be strong without precision. When we rely on strength solely, we lose our precision, our ability to sense pressure becomes dulled. It is through the release of pressure and the relinquishing of our strength that we once again find precision. They both support each other, and they both deter the other – to find the balance is to perfect them both.

International Rider, Coby Van Baalen’s Power & Paint

The issue of hyperflexion continues to arise and stir the emotions of equestrians, and still it has been allowed. It has been given support to be utilized by ‘professionals’. A privilege also given to the users of draw reins and other gadgets, which have long been purported to only be effectively used by the highly skilled, and by the same token unnecessary tools to the highly skilled. A double edged sword. Some rules, often not followed in competition only serve to support the breaking of more rules and subsequently the misunderstanding and abuse of the horse. For example:

“The head should remain in a steady position, as a rule slightly in front of the vertical, with a supple poll as the highest point of the neck, and no resistance should be offered to the rider.” FEI

“The neck should be raised, the poll high and the head slightly in front of the vertical.” FEI (on the Halt)

“The walk is a marching pace in a regular four time beat.” and “When the fore leg and the hind leg on the same side move almost on the same beat, the walk tends to become an almost lateral movement. This irregularity, which might become an ambling movement, is a serious deterioration of the pace.” FEI (on the Walk)

“Irregular steps with the hind or front legs, swinging the forehand or the hindquarters from one side to the other, as well as jerky movements of the forelegs or the hind legs, dragging the hind legs in the moment of suspension or double beat are serious faults.” FEI (on the Passage)

“The hindquarters are lowered; the haunches with active hocks are well engaged, giving great freedom, lightness and mobility to the shoulders and forehand. Each diagonal pair of legs is raised and returned to the ground alternately, with spring and an even cadence.” and “The neck should be raised and gracefully arched, with the poll as the
highest point.” and, especially… “Moving even slightly backwards, irregular or jerky steps with the hind or front legs, no clear diagonal steps, crossing either the fore or hind legs, or swinging either the forehand or the hindquarters from one side to the other, getting wide behind or in front, moving too much forward or double beat rhythm are serious faults.
A movement with hurried, unlevel or irregular steps, without cadence or spring cannot be called a true piaffe.” FEI (on the Piaffe)

More from the FEI… “Submission (original bold) does not mean subordination, but an obedience revealing its
presence by a constant attention, willingness and confidence in the whole behaviour of the horse as well as by the harmony, lightness and ease it is displaying in the execution of the different movements. The degree of submission is also manifested by the way the horse accepts the bridle, with a light and soft contact and a supple poll, or with resistance to or evasion of the rider’s hand, being either “above the bit” or “behind the bit” respectively.
“Putting out the tongue, keeping it above the bit or drawing it up altogether, as well as grinding the teeth and swishing the tail are mostly signs of nervousness, tension or resistance on the part of the horse and must be taken into account by the judges in their marks for the movement concerned as well as in the collective mark for “submission”.”

“The heels should be the lowest point.” (on the Rider)

“Article 419 OBJECT OF INTERNATIONAL DRESSAGE EVENTS
The FEI instituted an International Dressage Event in 1929 in order to preserve the Equestrian Art from the abuses to which it can be exposed and to preserve it in the purity of its principles, so that it could be handed on intact to
generations of riders to come.”

Complete FEI Rules

How have we traveled so far from these ideals? That the very simply stated rules of the FEI have been pushed to the side, and those being rewarded are guilty of breaking nearly every one of these rules. Poll high, head in front of the vertical, is sacrificed for false submission and the use of force.

One of the most popular of recent rides, that of Andreas Helgestrand with his very young, 9 year old mare, shows many of these broken rules. Though not including rollkur/hyperflexion, it is still a prime example of how the slow breakdown of rules leads to the fast breakdown to abuse. Easily caught on tape, but glaringly present in photos…

Note the raised heel of the rider. The horse’s face is behind the vertical, swishing tail, mis-shapened lip and excessive foaming of the mouth. The horse is far from collection with hind legs trailing behind her. This is the horse who won the competition…

If we have allowed the laxity of even the basic elements involved in Dressage, it becomes no wonder that we would then turn a cheek to the presence and growing popularity of hyperflexion. Any means possible to win, to become a star, to create the movements that require an artist’s touch to perfect. Get involved, speak out, make this unpopular. Why are we afraid to protect our horse from abusive training methods, to save face from those who are popular at the moment. Have we never left high-school and the cliques and peer pressure? The horse must come first!

Links of Interest :

USDF Statement of Animal Welfare

Rollkur Comments from USDF Region 4 News

Sustainable Dressage’s Explanation of Rollkur

News Release – Power & Paint

Sjef Janssen – His Method

Horses For Life – A Rollkur Pictogram

Walter Zettl on Rollkur

“Learned Helplessness” with Ulrike Thiel

**English Translation of “Dressur Pervers”**

Those aren’t the stunts I’m referring to…

What does concern me enough to actually mention it, are professional trainers and clinicians who use methods which are more like stunts (I will elaborate on this more in a moment), and are teaching them to beginners and riders who do not have the skills for such tricks to be successfully put into action without putting themselves and/or the horse at serious risk. I see it time and again, and saw another video of it today that came posted in my inbox.

What do I mean by stunts? Well, things like using so much pressure on the horse that he will eventually blow up, but as a professional having enough tact and skill to manage the blow up and keep it from being something dangerous. That is a great stunt that is really common, but when put in the hands of those without the tactful skills it turns into a mess. Another one is ‘desensitizing’ by tying items to the horse and hoping he doesn’t run through a wall or over the top of you. A professional will know when to dodge, duck, dive or dip, but the average horseperson may not and this could mean the difference between whether you’ll be needing a different kind of duck or not.

Then there is the line of thought that every beginner horse person who equips themselves with a round pen is now ready to start their horse under saddle in one or two days. I think what we tend to forget with all of this is that training is not a means to an end. Generally when a professional is out there giving a demo, not only are you getting a shortened version of what real training is, but you are also being fed a line of great sales-talk to bring you in for more lessons, training, to sell you merchandise and so on. Next, the average clinician can’t depend on an audience coming back for two, three, four weeks straight to watch a horse get started under saddle, so instead they shorten it down into a snap version that people assume is what real training passes as.

Let’s try to remember what training’s real purpose with the horse is…

1. A means of developing communication between two species not naturally in partnership with one another.
2. To expand that communication to specifically achieve certain set goals, whether shared or separate.
3. Overall to develop a relationship with the horse that goes beyond the natural instincts inspired by a predator/prey interaction.

What is the biggest thing that is the hardest to overcome in a relationship? The time it takes to develop. We can hope that we find a best friend that we can lean on for a lifetime in two weeks, but we all know deep down that to really trust and depend on that person it takes a long time to build the relationship to that extent. The same goes with the horse. It takes a long time before we build enough trust with him that he no longer is frightened or resists our attempts to sit on his back and direct his actions. It takes more than 2 days. We can certainly apply enough pressure that he stops fighting physically and seems to shut down into a sort of calm ‘follow the leader’ type attitude, but that doesn’t mean there is any trust between him and the person in the round pen.

I was talking with my hay guy the other day, who I absolutely love to pieces, and while he sells the horse hay he will tell you himself he is not a horse person – just makes the hay. We had a great conversation as he was bringing me some hay to try, and it came up about the horse/human relationship dynamic, and some things we discussed were why hadn’t all the fight or flight tendencies been bred out of the horse by now over time with domestication, and why the horse can and can’t be trained 100% to respond the same to every person.

What so much comes down to is relationship and the biggest difference between horses and humans, is the fact that we are predatory creatures and by nature we would/could hunt the horse and eat him. Would the horse ever hunt and eat us? No. Plain and simple. The horse can be antagonized/pressured enough into attacking humans if he feels unsafe or if he perceives it to be a sort of game/play-fighting.

Our relationship takes time and the understanding that the horse views us as a potentially life threatening encounter. So, I hope that the next time you watch a professional or clinician it is with open eyes that the information crammed into a short session and the actions made can prove dangerous in the wrong hands… even professionals have died from the hooves of their horses.

This is a real shame because the manner in which we choose to lead the horse and to the extent it is incorporated in the training process can not only increase the quality of the horse’s training, but also help to speed it along in certain aspects. Today I get to bring you a video update of me working with Aligarh, my project horse demonstrating just a few short moments of the work we did. I highly favor these short sessions (in all we worked 15-20 minutes today excluding grooming) as I find the horse begins to look forward to working more quickly and also stays very mentally involved.

Both videos demonstrate the same work, just on different sides. Aligarh is extraordinarily herd-bound and I was hoping to capture some of the tension he presents when being worked out of sight of his pasture mate. There is a lot of background information to give in regards to these videos, and also in the overall value of leading, so bear with me as I begin to hash them out in a (hopefully!) organized manner.

The clips are short, brief, to the point. I want to point your attention to Aligarh’s hooves and the movement of his hind limbs, his hindquarters, the top of his hips. The purpose of what we are doing in the video is to develop forward, tracking of the hooves, and eventually calm.

Right now his forward is merely quickness, his tracking is short and uneven, and calm is something that cannot even be spotted in the distance yet. All of these things are necessary however in order to bring him to straightness, balance and eventually collection.

I am leading Aligarh, in a longe caveson with a lead rope attached, asking him to move as forward as possible at the walk and to lower his head at the same time.

1. Lowering the Head : He will only hold onto tension for a longer period of time if I ask for forwards with his head held up in the air paying attention to the fact that he cannot see his pasture-mate. If he were less tense working out of sight of other horses or in general this would not be such an issue and I would likely work him at more of a distance using an actual longe rope and not focusing on him lowering his head at the moment.
2. Forward : As he moves it looks as though he is speeding around more than he ought to – and that is correct. However, until he develops stretch in his muscles and the strength to propel himself forwards efficiently he will move in the manner shown in the video. Forwards does not mean fast, but in the beginning this is a common sight. It is no different for any athlete – those out of shape/condition will look awkward while those who are at top condition will use their body more gracefully and their muscles will work less while producing more.
3. Tracking : As he continues to propel himself forwards and begins to develop stretch in the muscles his limbs will be able to travel further underneath his body and that is how the tracking begins to take form. His hind hooves at the walk should ideally land 6-8″ in front of the front hooves’ track on the same side.

Also take note of how his hindquarters move at different moments in the videos. Initially it is stilted, almost bouncing high in the air at the walk and looking very stiff. Then he begins to relax a bit and the hind legs can come under his body more, as a result his hindquarters move more flatly and gracefully.

During one of the clips you can catch him begin to lick and chew some. This is important because tension affects the mouth/jaw and if you pay attention the horse will show you his tension through the mouth/bridle/quality of contact.

So what is my point about the value of leading?

Leading the horse is more than just leading the horse. Sure, there are no big bangs (generally) and it is more boring than even the idea of in-hand work.. Still, there is a quality inherent to investing in the leading of the horse that cannot be replaced in the same capacity with other forms of work.

The horse begins his intro to handling, training, performing by being led. Leading is also the gateway to developing your relationship. Some lessons first tackled in the leading phase include :

• Forward – believe it or not, teaching your horse to move forwards does not begin on the longe or under saddle. It begins when you are leading him to and from the pasture! Many riders do not take advantage of this and instead lead their horse at a lackadaisical pace, later wondering why they are constantly having to prod the horse under saddle at every stride for “more forward!” If the horse is introduced and expected to move forward at this beginning stage of training and it is continued on the longe it will become a natural state of motion and under saddle work will become second nature.
• Half Halt – despite common myth, the half halt does not rely upon the rider’s seat and legs. It can be performed using the halter, the longe caveson and the bridle all from the ground well before it is asked for under saddle. Developing the half halt in this way makes starting the horse under saddle simpler and pre-installs a balanced halt before your butt ever reaches the saddle!
• Bend – when leading the safest position is next to the shoulder of the horse, followed by having the horse bent in your direction. This inhibits the horse from ever moving into your space if he should spook without first giving you notice by changing his bend. Now your horse is already practiced in bending to the direction of travel for when you begin riding.

Leading helps to develop training on the longe, streamlining the transition from leading to longing.

Longing is merely leading of the horse from a distance. That is the view I take of it, which allows me to train the horse in a manner that makes longing a natural progression from leading. The horse does not become confused because the transition is gradual and makes sense. All of the cues are the same with only a slight variation due to the new distance.

If you watch me longe a horse one note you may make is that I do not look at the horse straight on, or point my body towards the hindquarters. With a horse who is completely trained to longe this may change slightly, but particularly with the green horse my body points more at a 45 degree angle to their head. This is intentional and with purpose. When I lead the horse I do not look straight at his body, or at his hindquarters. I am making a transition from leading to longing, and in both I want him moving forwards just as I am moving forwards. I do not want to constantly look at his hindquarters either because then I am constantly putting pressure on that area with my attention – and thus desensitizing it when I actually want to emphasize my attention there, requiring me to use MORE pressure than necessary.

This is the same reason why I carry the longe whip down and behind me instead of in front of me or in the air. I do not want it “on” until I actually have something to say with it.

If longing is just another form of leading then it also makes sense to begin practicing all of the elements of longing when first leading the horse. I expect my horses to walk forward with full energy, to half halt in order to stop, and to bend in the direction of travel with me. Part of my commitment too is that I practice leading my horses on both sides, not just the left. Afterall, I longe them on both sides too.

“Horses As A Whole – Ramblings”

…The horse world is not the only field where we dissect and divide into specialties, sub-specialties and a myriad of categories. Our entire modern civilization functions in just the same way. We look at our bodies as being suitable for this separation – if our shoulder hurts we do not link a connection to our feet with the pain.

For this reason, I propose a whole horse approach. I can believe that when the horse is healthy on the whole, that there is no reason he would resist, be inattentive, lethargic, anxious, aggressive, fearful, etc. These are the symptoms of a larger picture, which is often ignored or misunderstood. Too many “impossibilities” are proposed when it comes to the horse as a whole. When the horse has low energy, he is labeled as being lazy, dull, or disinterested. The question then becomes, “why?” What is it that is causing the low energy state?

Can the horse have similar tail bone injury issues as humans? What about their hyoid[1|2] bone(they do not have one)? If the nervous system is upset, the whole of the horse would feel it. Where then will the compensations show? How their diet is involved, for an animal made to eat grasses, but is fed grains? Gluten intolerance? What about chemical additives in grains, and even hay or pasture?

The horse’s craniosacral [1] rhythm? Connection between fixed organs, their inability for free visceral[1] pulse, and certain types of colic? More people are becoming aware of liver and kidney overload with feed. Mesentary[1] work? Physical imbalances in the horse? Poor muscle tone, poor posture? The violent force of rectal palpation, and it’s connection with difficult breeding, births, or behavior changes in mares? Behavior changes in mare in connection with the birth process? Sacrum alignment? What about the bone plates of the horse’s skull, do they also have a Sphenoid bone[1]? Fox cerebri? Cranial alignment, postural assessment? Changes in hooves caused by postural imbalances or compensations?

What are the top no-no’s when it comes to working with horses?

• No pulling – on the reins, on the halter, etc… leading into…
• No denting. The horse must be respected, we cannot change them by taking or giving, only by influencing them by our presence and actions. Note.. I don’t say “interactions” – let’s stay on the outside.
• Stronger does not mean faster. Strong legs do not mean go, they mean stop. Strong aids do not inspire the horse to intelligent responses, only reactions.
• Better out than in (I like that), if the horse is to react to something, always encourage an external response. Internal ‘stuffing’ causes disease – mental, emotional, physical.
• Never contain, compression creates pressure, that can be released either slowly like a pressure cooker, or suddenly – explosive.
• Resistance is a warning sign – moving past resistance damages. This is on all levels, physically the body breaks, mentally the mind breaks, emotionally the heart breaks.

• Pulling – what does pulling inspire? Give what we get, if we pull we get pulling in response. If we give, we are given to in response.
• Denting – if we dent we damage. Do we want to ride and train damaged horses?
• Strength – as above, give lightness, get lightness. We can never be as strong as the horse, so why try?
• Externalizing/Internalizing – when energy is compressed, it becomes pressurized and either explodes outwards or damages the container holding it together. If the horse’s body is used to contain this energy, the energy will either carry the body in an explosive manner, or damage the external structures holding it together.
• Resistance – falls along with the category of Denting. Resistance warns us that we are on the edge of denting. When we don’t explore with intelligent touch, our nerves never have a chance to warn us that we have met resistance until we’ve already moved into or past it. Careful, light exploration sensitizes our nerves, building our ability to recognize when we’ve met resistance and back off before denting the horse.

General : Force –

Force, a relative term, is so overused in today’s training of the horse. They are pushed, pulled, whipped, cranked, yanked, yelled at, kicked and in general, overstimulated.

According to Ardnt’s Nueurological Law ( Rudolph Arndt, German Psychiatrist, 1835-1900), “Weak stimuli excites physiological activity, moderately strong ones favor it, strong ones retard it, and very strong ones arrest it.” So, from weak to very strong, as the stimulation is increased, the physiological response decreases with the intensity applied. This is why strong force causes a horse to shut down, rather than exciting them into intelligent actions.

In this day and age, it often seems that the “correct” use of the aids is with emphasis on the legs for most of the work, and little is left to the hands. Just how do the leg aids interact with the horse to communicate our wishes? In this article, you’ll learn how to simplify the use of the legs, when leg aids are appropriate and the difference between the two methods of leg aids.

Common Legs

Go into any barn during lessons and you’ll often hear some combination of a few choice phrases describing the use of the leg aids. In the simplicity of these descriptions however, it is easy to be left confused, frustrated or just ineffective. Inside leg, outside leg, more or less leg.. how much leg is appropriate? Leg positions also seem to hold a magical method to the success of the aids given, in front of the girth, on the girth or behind the girth. Then you take into consideration whether both legs are acting at the same time, and at the same position, or if not how are they positioned? If it’s left your head spinning, you aren’t alone.

The Factors

The leg aids aren’t naturally born into every horse’s natural instincts. Quite often the methods we use to direct our horses are in complete opposition to the horse’s natural reactions. For example, take a horse’s natural instinct to move into pressure, yet most young riders are taught to “pull to stop” on the reins. Pulling however, encourages the horse to move into the reins even more.

So, if we are opposing our horse’s natural reactions, rather than encouraging them, why is it that we are able to train our horses to perform the things they do? The majority of horses are extremely forgiving and have an interest in doing what we ask. There are a few out there however who refuse to give into this opposition, and become the “dangerous”, “difficult” or “stubborn” horses.

A horse’s natural reaction to being embraced by our legs around their barrel, is not to move forward. Their natural reaction is to compact their body, arch the back. Possibly become stiff legged, resist movement, stop. There are horses out there who will move forward from the legs automatically, often this is combined with some sort of arching of the back, even bucking.

It is through conditioning and desensitizing the horse to the presence and pressure of our legs that we begin to develop the leg aids. It is here that we begin to develop two distinct uses of the leg – positional or impulsive. How they are divided up is strictly by their purpose.

• Positional Leg Aid – the leg is placed in a specific position against the horse’s side and maintains consistent contact.
• Impulsive Leg Aid – the leg acts by coming to contact and losing contact, repeatedly.

The positional leg aid is vital in clarifying to the horse which lead to take in the canter. In striking off into canter on the right lead for example, the left leg would take up a positional role, placed slightly behind the girth.

The role of an impulsive leg aid is to help increase the energy the horse is moving with. For example, the impulsive leg would signal to the horse to increase his energy enough to strike off into canter, being the right leg for taking a right lead canter.

You can use two impulsive legs at the same time, or two positional, but be careful when doing this. Without a specific purpose and judicious tact, it is easy to contradict your own leg aids and give the horse no clear signal of what to do or where to go. Two positional legs used at the same time are essential in the ‘combined halt’, where the horse is asked to stop using both the half halt on the reins and two positional legs. When the two aids are balanced, the horse will stop, when one is stronger than the other the horse will respond to the stronger aid. More about the ‘combined halt’ can be found in my article on The Simplicity of the Aids.

Strength is an Interpretation

If you’ve ever found yourself using your legs much like a fly swatter in an attempt to kill the fly, that is hard, fast and frequent, you are doing too much. I imagine you feel the same way, as those legs tire and the repetitions become more challenging to maintain. When we use our legs in such a hard, forceful manner, not only do we lose physical strength, we also lose respect from our horse. Keep in mind that every time we attempt to use ego force, that is physical force, the horse learns just how strong or weak we really are. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my horses thinking they are stronger than I am, and I’m not going to be able to prove I am physically stronger by strong-arming them in the training process.

There is another way that we can prove our strength, and it is not based on physical prowess. Rather, when we are strong in our mind, that is the way we work with the horse in a respectful, considerate and careful way, they learn to respect us in a more profound way. The same goes when we use our legs. If we consider that we want to respect the horse’s sides with our legs, then we will avoid banging our legs against them. If we are considerate, we will think about whether the horse understands what it is we want, and work to ensure that he understands us clearly. And likewise, when we are careful, we use our legs tactfully and purposefully. These are all the things we need to have success in developing a light relationship between our legs and the sides of the horse. It is not just the reins that we want to practice ‘lightness’ with.

The Secret Formula

So how do we go about developing a light relationship between our legs and the sides of the horse? One in which we merely have to shift our leg and the horse understands we want a canter depart from the halt, or a pirouette, or we want him to walk from a gallop? Let’s consider the horse from this perspective – If he knows what it is we want, he will do it, no questions. That is simple enough, so when the horse does not respond to our leg aid right away, it means he does not know what it is we want.

As we ask, we continue with the aid as we want him to respond to it. If you want your horse to pirouette when use a specific positional leg, then you do not move the leg to where he will respond right away. You keep it where you want it and ask as you want him to respond. That means the leg aid stays respectful, considerate and careful. When we approach the horse’s training in this way, it leaves him room for error and trial, but it also leaves him room to be comfortable making attempts to do what you want. If the horse is concerned about you increasing the ego force, or frustrated because the force is increasing steadily, he will be less likely to make a responsible response to your request. Start light, end light, and the horse will become light.