Isn’t it always the abuser who claims “see what you made me do to you,” to the abused? Why should they take responsibility for their actions? We see political leaders make the same claims – it is always some other factor which dictates why their decision was forced rather than their own inclination. Horse culture has inherited this long-standing tradition, afterall we are only human; and it is not new. It still trickles down that we are a “dominant” species over the horse – therefore we are all wise and knowing and the horse should respond to our directions as a result of his lesser intelligence. Sound familiar? The same was claimed towards African-American slaves, natives, even peasants were viewed this way by the minority of ‘educated’, wealthy, political and religious leaders of their time.

This thread of thinking is a majority, but not universal; and consciousness is beginning to change in all ways of life. People are waking up to be more curious and questioning of health, education, politics, human welfare, etc. Included in this is the horse. 

Kudos to so many programs that make sound use of communicating with the horse in a fair and conscientious manner to teach lay-people about relationships, leadership, communication, etc. Approaches such as clicker training, bridleless or bitless riding, “Natural Dressage”, Associations and Groups promoting ‘lightness’ in riding, endotapping, etc address training the horse using alternative approaches and ideas – which are extremely valuable in pushing horsemanship as a whole to base itself off of education vs. tradition.

Do you see change happening in the approach of riders and riding methods to promote less force and more communication / relationship building? And where are popular trainers/clinicians talking this language while still employing methods of force and intimidation?

One bug I’ve always had in regards to the posting trot, however, are the flailing lower legs that seem to accompany it. You know what I’m talking about, the lower leg that bounces on and off the horse’s sides with every rise and fall as the rider unintentionally kicks out the lower leg in order to get that bounce out of the saddle and just as surely rakes it back to the horse’s side when their seat finds the saddle’s.

Not only is it unsightly it also creates instability and insecurity for the rider, excessive and annoying signals to the horse, a lack of balance, and extra work for the rider.

So… how does one go about changing those lack-luster legs and correcting the flaws that accompany them? It won’t be easy necessarily but, like anything worth doing, with the right amount of practice it can be achieved!

When riders learn to post it is usually by way of figuring out a way to thrust themselves up and out of the saddle with the appropriate timing to follow the horse’s gait, and aside from changing posting diagonals that is the peak of their posting trot practice. Some go on to learn that posting on a particular diagonal can help strengthen the horse depending on which direction they are traveling, or other tips and tricks in regard to the posting trot. But without the stability in those lower legs whatever help provided cannot be redeemed behind the confusion that those bouncing, failing, lower legs create.

Posting is often created out of a pivot point in the knee, weight is pushed downward into the stirrup and the knee becomes the most stable contact point with the horse’s side. This allows the lower leg to bounce around at will and makes it impossible to keep consistent contact between the calf and the horse’s side. To change this, we need to shift the idea of a pivot point, we want the lower leg to be the consistent place of contact, the knee to be free and open, and the weight in the stirrups to be non-existent.

To achieve this, picture yourself kneeling, your foot is going to press backwards as though against the foot pegs of a motorcycle. To kneel there is no need to pinch your knees, they are free to move inwards or outwards – to be open and soft. The calves need to only find the pressure needed to create enough friction to maintain their position, rather than squeezing they simply embrace. They don’t work so hard that they completely fall away from the horse’s sides afterwards in order to recover their strength for the next squeeze, they can be consistently quiet and effective without disturbing the horse with their erradic signals. This also helps the horse remain more responsive to a lighter leg aid.

The posting should be quiet and short lived, meaning that you shouldn’t be hovering in the air for periods of time, but simply graze close to the pommel of the saddle without an excess of distance  from the saddle, just long enough for the horse’s stride. Rider’s often push themselves so hard out of the saddle that once again their leg muscles simply collapse in order to gain strength for the next post that they then fall back into the saddle, losing control and balance. Allow the horse, instead, to push you out of the saddle – you only need a little push – and then control your sitting by pulling yourself back into the saddle with your hamstrings – the muscles on the back of your thighs. You no longer fall, and the rise is only enough to clear the horse’s stride rather than overposting and falling back into the saddle. Your leg muscles do not tire as quickly, your hamstrings get an effective workout so you also tone your legs, and best of all you have stability and security in your rising trot.

Think of your hips leading the way, this avoids an overbending in the hips and a leaning with the shoulders. The shoulders should not lean past your knees, but also avoid straightening so much at the hips that your shoulders throw off your balance and you cannot help but fall backwards into the saddle and overusing the quadriceps (muscles on the front of your thighs) to lift yourself out of the saddle.

Probably the biggest issue is, once again, the pinching at the thighs and pushing downwards into the stirrups. If you are accustomed to using the stirrups for balance you will find this a difficult habit to just throw away in a day. It can help to be conscious of how you are using your stirrups in the walk and sitting trot and work up to finding that awareness benefiting your posting trot.

This leads me to think of an action talked about recently about stopping the horse in a way not necessarily understood as to it’s working but that it does in fact work. To raise one rein upwards and taking the other directly back. It has been rolling through my thoughts unable to pin down exactly what I know it’s usefulness derived from, until yesterday. I was working with my lovely gelding, Tanjobi, when I thought I would experiment with it some. Not using it in quite the same way, while the direction of the reins was the same, the pressure was that of experimental value (read – very light). The action opens the horse’s mouth. It breaks the clenching resistance that comes when a horse attempts to run away with the rider. When the horse locks the mouth, grabs the bit, and runs. It also combines the elevation element inherent to the half halt.

So, Baucher then. Françoise Baucher prescribed a series of suppling exercises for the horse’s mouth while standing still, but primarily what they involve is the softening of the jaw. They emphasize opening of the mouth by the bits position.

I continued to run it through my mind then, the combination of the open mouth with a form of suppling, its connection with the use of a tightened noseband/flash/etc, and also how it can be witnessed that the horse can still run away with the rider and an open mouth.

Dressage horses, for as often as they are emphasized to be light and soft in the mouth, I have found often to be quite heavy. They take a very firm contact on the reins, which supports the use of physical force to then influence them. Could the noseband have an effect on this? Is it that traditionally taught Dressage looks for a horse to take that heavy/firm contact and it is best obtained with a tight noseband, which also hides the open/chewing mouth?

It isn’t uncommon for riders to see-saw the reins, that is pull left to right in an effort to soften the horse’s response to their aids, bring about a more ‘appealing’ head set, and gain some measure of control. This action ‘opens’ the horse’s mouth, whether it can be seen physically or not.

And then the horse who can still bolt and run with a wide open mouth… but is the difference really at the base of the neck? So a horse with an open mouth who has not elevated the base of the neck, is still enabled to run wildly on the forehand and thus subject to the forces of momentum? And a horse with an open mouth and elevation at the base of the neck will find themselves more at liberty to respond at the whim of the rider as their weight becomes more balanced? Very good questions that are still floating in mind.

Why bend is so important is because it is the basis of posture, and posture is how you direct the horse’s movements. Posture is also how you affect the horse’s speed and balance. So you can see they all go hand in hand. Bend comes before posture, because if you lose the bend or are obtaining it through force (and with force comes resistance on the part of the horse) and then attempt to create the posture to then direct the horse, it will not work as efficiently or may not work at all.

There are particular instances when straightening, and thus losing the bend, is appropriate. In between lead changes for example. If the horse has changed the bend away from you, he places you at a distinct disadvantage and in danger if you are on the ground. From the saddle you lose your ability to influence him with the reins in a predictable manner. It becomes more clear why the bend is so important as we look at the dangers.

Bend controls the direction the horse travels in, affects your ability to posture the horse which controls the speed that the horse moves forward, sideways or backwards, and the horse’s balance.

Bend cannot be forced or coerced from the horse, but rather finessed. It takes tact, patience, timing and rhythm to develop and maintain the bend. It is the basic of rein aids and can be trained before the horse is ever ridden.