In a perfect world the horse is connected to us through the reins, meaning that the contact we’ve established on the reins serves as the ultimate communication tool. There is no tension, simply touch and with it the power to execute energy through the horse at a moments notice.

What this means for us as riders is that the legs become quiet and are used primarily as a balance point, but please don’t misunderstand and think I mean balance through squeezing or holding on with the legs. There is a large issue of overusing the legs as it compromises your balance, creates tension upwards into your seat, can radiate into your hands and promote pulling on the reins not to mention add confusion and complication to your communication with the horse. The less that we have to use in order to let the horse know what we want, the better.

Contact on the reins can only be appropriate if the horse is pushing/propelling himself forward from the hind legs calmly, while also maintaining the proper bend. Without these our ability to communicate through the reins is compromised at best, though often worse – disconnected.

The magic happens quite brilliantly however when these elements are all in concert with one another, as you can orchestrate collection in the horse, gait transitions and spectacular lateral work that is forward, light and graceful primarily through the reins. The legs working secondary to the hand in providing support. On the other hand, to rely upon the legs primarily the hands are left to working in excess to either contain the anxious energy created by the overuse of the legs and force position to create second rate lateral work and dull transitions.

When we think of training a horse, it may or may not be apparent that without relaxation everything else is a compromise. The horse can never fully give himself to your requests if he is tense or nervous. And, interestingly enough, tension is often what many methods of horsemanship are built upon. Perhaps that is why so many of them work with only so many horses and riders, or with a limited amount of success in the right hands.

Relaxation is not a trait that you can train into the horse either, it is not a conditioned response. Relaxation is an attribute that accompanies trust, another trait that cannot be forced but instead earned.

I am going through this very process with one of my own horses at the moment. He is trained to a certain degree but everything is a compromise because relaxation is a question, not a given. I am fortune to be able to work with a wonderful ground person (who also happens to be the Equestrian Life Coach for Awareness In Riding…) on a regular basis and I cannot stress how valuable a tool this can be for every rider. It also helps to open dialogue and make the ride more of a journey and discovery, rather than the same old habits and rituals. Having a ground person helps you get out of your head and begin to speak the thoughts that are coming up so they can be formed into logic.

Together we’ve been working under saddle with this particular horse, and I noticed a significant difference following just the first ride. The walk is a give-away gait, meaning that it will give away the holes in the horse’s training. For this particular horse it gives away tension – marked by a lack of tracking up. Under saddle this feels (and from ground observation is confirmed to be something you can see as well) as if he is pounding the ground a bit with his hind feet, like they are short striding and hitting upon a restriction when they stride forward. What they do to my seat is interesting as well, making me feel like we are moving laterally in the hips – side to side, rather than a smooth roll like you would feel in your hips when walking on your own.

So for three rides in a row we worked purely on moving forward calmly and reestablishing the bend in order to connect on the reins. Picking up the reins is often a trigger as well for tension in this horse, where he will start chomping at the bit, oversalivating and moving between hanging on the bit and coming behind it. He is also tricky in that he can position his head and neck to make you believe that he is not only on the bit but also has the correct bend, and is light in the bridle, but the tell of incorrectness is that his indirect rein causes him to slow down or even stop without the addition of a half halt. His direct rein is also missing continuity and would require the use of the outside rein – signs that he is simply holding a false frame of tension.

So the game was to allow him slack reins to the buckle on the rail to establish a steady walk rhythm without interference with the reins. Following that I picked up the reins, working off the inside rein and allowing looping slack in the outside rein, I waited for him to follow the rein – to move straight. In order for him to move straight he has to be calm and forward. Before picking up the reins we established calm and forward by allowing him to step into a walk that was correctly tracking up and had a 1-2-3-4 rhythm (vs 1-2–3-4 or 1–2-3–4). Immediately he was attempting to change the bend, to which I simply kept the inside rein steady, or at some moments would shorten it slightly when he allowed slack in order to help guide him to the bend.

What is the bend? The bend is from the horse’s tail to his poll, it is not superficially shown in the neck. I can get neck flexion and have a horse who does not bend, is not supple.

In this horse he would offer simple neck flexion, and keep the rest of his body stiff as a board, so while maintaining the rein steady I made sure all of my body supported what I was looking for in his. It is really easy as riders to get so intuned to what we want from the horse that we then forget ourselves completely. I focused most of my energy on keeping my eyes up and forward, breathing deeply and calmly, keeping my toes pointed upwards (helps relieve other areas of tension that can be held in the legs and settles your seat for better balance), and my hands correct with thumbs pointing up (tension can also show up in the hands if you tend to curl at the wrists or turn the fingers down).

We circled about the arena just focusing on these small features, when I felt for a moment that he may be maintaining the proper bend for a few strides I would test it simply by applying a small indirect rein to see if he would transition smoothly from a direct to indirect rein (moving towards the rein then moving away from the rein into a demi-leg yield). Sometimes he would, other times he wouldn’t. When he transitioned smoothly and proved the correct bend I would give him the reins and allow a lap or two of free walk. This gave us the opportunity to practice moving from slack reins to holding them, an action that proved or disproved remaining tension in this horse.

What happened is interesting, because in just the first ride his mouth quieted. He went from knawing at the bit to a completely quiet yet soft mouth. There was moisture on his lips but no foam, no oversalivation. His gait was calm and forward when we ended, and he was moving through his bend in both directions.

Straightness? No, but straightness comes only after you have developed the horse’s suppleness to each bend, so we are on the road to success!

The next ride was the same and the one afterwards. There were differences in both sides as far as what he would attempt to offer as incorrect bend or how he would try to straighten the bend. To the right he simply tried to straighten the bend or move against the rein, often poking his nose up and outwards in an attempt to evade that way. To the left, however, he would fall into the inside rein with his shoulder, come behind the bit, give a false head set, do a lot of head tilting, etc.

Yesterday’s ride I introduced some trot work applying this same principle. He came to the work undersaddle brilliantly in the walk right away, very forward, calm and relaxed. He was immediately responsive to both direct and indirect rein aids as well as half halt. He was ‘on point’ so to speak. At the trot he was tense immediately. What I did here was instead of setting forward on a slack line as I had done at the walk previously, was to begin bringing him to the bend right away. His tension was so great and only built on a slack line while he trotted around bent in the opposite direction of travel, strung out and hollow backed. We worked a few times on both sides coming to the bend, to which it didn’t take him very long. His right side took more time than the left this time. After he would come to the bend on each side I brought him back to walk, reestablished calm and forward at the walk before asking for the trot work again.

Why put so much effort into something so small? The brilliance of this is that once the horse is calm and forward, on the correct bend, and the rider has achieved an educated seat that allows their aids to be acted upon independently, the horse simply does the action requested, it becomes a real dance without force. Lightness isn’t something that is achieved, it simply exists when all of these things are present and the horse works without tension. It is when there is tension in the horse that we have to rely upon force and heavy aids to inspire them.

What can be said about one of the most prized elements of a well trained horse, that of a well-executed, light, balanced and beautifully collected piaffe? The stepping stone from basic gaits to airs above the ground, and while it is so sought after it also continues to be one movement that is considered difficult to train or ride well, and for many people simply a complete befuddlement over where to start.

Breaking It Down

What exactly is the piaffe? It has often been mistaken for or compared to the horse trotting in place. While this can give the lay-person a good visual, to those seeking to ride or train the piaffe it leaves much to be desired. The piaffe combines two elements – forward and half halt, in order to create a new movement borne out of the two. The forward gives the horse the trot steps in just the right dose, which is to be regular and even in timing, and without disruption in the diagonal steps (i.e. two beat changing to a four beat trot). The half halt provides the collection and lack of forward acceleration in the piaffe.

Both forward, and the half halt, are widely misunderstood and this in and of itself sets the stage for a degradation in the quality and ability to ride and train piaffe. Forward does not refer to the speed with which the horse is moving its legs or at which it covers ground. Forward can be used in reference to the horse’s tracking, but more specifically it is applied to the amount of energy that is being channeled into movement by the horse. A horse that is well forward, is not necessarily moving fast, and a fast horse is not necessarily moving forward correctly.

On the flip side of the coin is the half halt. Often given a measure of mysticism in the employ, and exact outcome of this all-important aid, the half halt sets the stage for channeling the energy given by the horse when he is moving forward correctly. The half halt, in summation, tells the horse to change his posture in such a way to give more weight-bearing on the haunches, elevate the base of the neck, bring the base of support (i.e. the legs) closer together, while increasing the height of the legs during motion. The half halt is not done as a means of blocking the energy of the hind legs and trapping it to increase the elevation of the horse, but rather in a motion so as to recycle the energy coming forwards, upwards and to the haunches.

Forced vs Relaxed

We can work and work and work for the piaffe, and get the horse to make movements that resemble the piaffe from the outside. This is often what is done and promoted, not because it is the best, but because it is quick and seen as an efficient method of training the piaffe. It depends upon your goals and motivations. If you have placed a time limit on teaching the horse the piaffe, then this model might work best for you. If on the other hand you are striving for a correctly balanced, even, light and relaxed piaffe, you will want to let go of time constraints.

The piaffe does not take long to train, in fact it can take no time at all. Why I say this, is because the piaffe is a natural progression in the horse’s training. As he is developed physically, emotionally and mentally in a conscious manner that uses correct balancing of half halt and forward, the piaffe will come along on its own course without ‘special’ training sessions. The piaffe requires the use of muscles that take a greater time to develop, such as the loin. It also requires suppleness in the hindquarters to enable the horse to flex the hind legs, reduce the area of support by the legs (bringing them closer together), and carrying a larger weight on the hind legs.

Finding Balance

The half halt does nothing without forward energy. Forward energy can be culminated into nothing but just that without the help of the half halt. One without the other is simply that element on its own. The piaffe is not directly in the center of these two elements however. What lies between them is halt, a beautifully collected and balanced halt. When you have two equally opposing forces against one another they both cancel themselves out and create zero. That is the balance point. Because half halt can create the reinback, it is the opposing ‘force’ in comparison with forward energy.

The piaffe therefore has a greater amount of forward energy in the equation than half halt. We want the horse to move forwards in his progression, while emphasizing the upwards rather than straight ahead.

A Starting Point

In the basic schooling of the horse, we begin with teaching forward which can be done with focus on the correct tracking on the lunge, as well as the horse moving energetically forward under saddle. The half halt is used to re-balance the horse momentarily – which will frequently inspire the loss of forward, so we ask for half halt and then reignite the forward energy. This can be done as needed, when the horse falls out of balance, and it can also be graduated to a set pattern. For example, half halts on the short side of the arena or for so many strides to encourage a shortening of the stride and lifting at the base of the neck while maintaining the same rhythm of the gait; followed by an increase in forward energy on the long side of the arena or for a certain number of strides. We want to skirt the extreme opposites of the gait – from the slowest we can get while maintaining rhythm and gait, to the fastest we can get while maintaining rhythm and gait. If the horse breaks gait we want to either add forward energy or use the half halt.

So we practice this at the walk, trot and canter. It builds a sliding scale between the two opposites of half halt and forward energy. Where we run into problems with the piaffe is when we lack a sliding scale, or a sufficient sliding scale. If we have too little room to play with forward or half halt we will likewise find it hard to refine the balance or energy of the horse in the piaffe.

Overview

Start your horse on the lunge with work to develop the half halt and forward. Monitor his tracking to observe whether he has balance both laterally and longitudinally. From there, begin playing with increasing and adjusting the forward energy through the half halt. Shortening the gait with the half halt while maintaining its integrity, then lengthening or increasing the forward energy. Use the walls of the arena or pen you are working in to help with either the half halt or when increasing the forward energy.

Next, under saddle, carry over the work you’ve done on the lunge line. Short wall is for shortening, long wall is for lengthening. Remember that shortening does not mean that the horse’s steps are slower, just shorter. They should maintain the same rhythm as the lengthened gait, and of the working or ‘medium’ gait.

As the horse builds strength, balance, coordination, and work with lateral movements are developed, the piaffe will begin to make itself into a reality. The shortening will become more heightened with less forward advancement. The lengthening will have more power behind it and begin to develop into the medium and extended gaits. And, between the piaffe and the lengthened trot you will find the passage. Voila!

While at the Midwest Horse Fair this weekend in Madison, Wisconsin, I was asked about correcting a gaited horse who would no longer gait. My first horse was a Paso Fino, and over the years I’ve played with a variety of gaited horses. To me, they are intriguing and fun, playful and energetic, and at the same token widely misunderstood in developing the gait. I was happy to offer to play with the mare, rarely wanting to pass up the opportunity to learn something from the horse itself.

I want to reflect that, it wasn’t the gait which was at fault. The mare was perfectly capable of gaiting, given the right conditions. This is normally the case, and it is then left up to us as the rider to know how to enable the right conditions for that gait to not only occur but to flourish.

This particular mare, from the get go, lacked any understanding of proper bend, or a sense of any elevation at the base of the neck from the inquiry of the reins. I messed with her in her stall for a short time before heading out to the arena. In the arena I worked her in hand for some time, setting up the foundation for elevation at the base of the neck, and establishing a sense of bend. She lacked forward quite severely, and with every change in her mental attention followed a slowing or stopping of her feet. Bend cannot follow in a horse whose energy is not correctly forward. Why I refer to it as energy rather than feet moving forward, because a horse whose energy is aligned with forward can maintain the proper bend while at the halt or backing, whereas a horse whose energy is not aligned with forward will not maintain the proper bend while moving briskly at any gait.

Touch is an intimate thing, and somewhere in the course of this mare’s training, she had learned to accept touch like an annoying friend – enjoyed only when her ‘sweet spots’ were being scratched, and otherwise ignored unless aggravated enough to push the friend away. Establishing touch with a horse like this is a process not won immediately, it takes time, but more importantly it takes focus on your own actions, energy and mental focus. It is easy to get distracted with the inconsistent movements of the head, but if the mind can be focused on something consistent, your actions will follow and so will the horse.

I worked with the mare on basic bending, elevation, half halt. Worked on developing a pattern of rhythm, like dancing, like dancing with someone who has two left feet and is slightly inebriated… haha. On her back, I began by explaining to my human companions what I like to do at the beginning of every ride, before I ever ask for a single step forward from the horse. I establish the half halt and the bend, which can result in a step or two backwards, naturally occurring from a correct half halt. From there, I have set the foundation for engagement in the first steps of walk under saddle.

It can be easy to get the horse to lift their head, to make the ‘appearance’ of the first step of half halt, but it isn’t so much the elevation of the head, as the elevation of the base of the neck. That proves the connection of the whole body. How this happens is that the lifting of the base of the neck will inspire flexion of the cervical vertebrae, directly translating to the thoracic, and creating space for the flexion of the horse’s pelvis – leading to a narrowing of the base of support by bring the hind legs closer to the front – collection.

First steps of walk with this mare were slow, needing much more forward. So we worked on forward, establishing and maintaining the bend, and half halting where necessary. She began to carry herself more freely, her gait relaxed and her stride lengthened. She also calmed considerably from the first minutes in the arena which were met with her nervousness and distraction at all the surroundings.

Overall, her gait was not an issue, but rather the necessary communication needed to ask for that gait. And in summarizing, forward, bend, half halt, forward, bend, half halt. Three necessary ingredients..

I’ve rekindled my need for physical activity. Still cold, still snowy after a new accumulation of 19+ inches just this week alone. I’ve got a bit of cabin fever, combined with watching videos of my old teacher talking about seat training… pushes me out the door. Scout, my love, was quite anxious to be brought into the barn today, perhaps because he enjoyed our last ride all that much, or maybe it is the vitamins he gets after workouts. Either way I am happy to oblige him as he waits at the gate eagerly.

I wanted mostly a light workout for Scout today, considering the predicted drop in temps for the evening combined with a strong wind chill factor, I wanted to avoid any sweating if possible. Keeping this in mind, I had no problem devoting much of the energy to my own development. A light warm-up with walking laps around the arena in hand. Forward, forward, forward.

Once in the saddle we proceeded to resume the laps about the arena, encouraging forward. Combing the reins to encourage him to stretch down into them, take some contact. I played around with the various seat exercises, pretending in my mind that someone else was calling them out in quick succession, trying to separate my mind from the actions. Take the thinking out of it and let it become a simple reaction.

We played at the walk and trot with the seat exercises, then moved back to the walk with more combing the reins. I then moved back and forth between elevating his posture with light half halts and stretching his posture down and forwards with combing the reins. Following that we did circles about the arena of varying sizes, forward, forward, forward, letting the quality of the circle be the tell-tale of the correctness of his tracking.

A very enjoyable ride, very cold by the end, but so rewarding. I will be certainly happy when the spring breaks through and I can justify spending 9+ hours in the barn alone.

So much focus is put towards the horse’s head set, having a light mouth, being collected and balanced. So much focus on our goals, with little insight into how we get there. Do we ride the same train from one terminal to the next hoping somehow to get to our destination despite riding the wrong line?

The essential ingredient in a horse who develops into a well balanced, collected, light horse with a beautiful and correct head position.. is forward. We all hear it told from instructors and riders alike, “MORE FORWARD!” What does that mean? What is forward? Is it like love, much desired and talked about, but lacking tangibility, lacking that solid object sort of certainty in identification? No, forward is something tangible, it can be seen, felt, heard. When it is lacking we lose our boat to float the river to our destination of a balanced, collected, light horse.

Forward is the catalyst to all of our further ventures. It fuels the muscular and postural development of the horse, building strength and suppleness. It is what straightens the natural crookedness of the horse, and aligns his lateral balance. Without it, the presence of a half halt is compromised at best, non-existent at worst. It provides the lubrication for the lovely lines present in a correct bend from poll to tail, enables the horse to lift from the base of his neck and transfer his weight to the haunches. It is where correct lightness comes from, of which the difference is noticed only when you know what correct feels like.

Forward could be considered the father of equitation-al endeavors. Like a horse without hooves, a rider without a horse moving forwards has no leg to stand on. His foundation is not developed, and all further supplies he pours atop that ground will be less stable and show a greater risk of failure or injury.

Forward is the development of tracking. Tracking involves tempo and rhythm. Tracking strengthens weak muscles and those without stability. Tracking supples taught and inflexible muscles. Tracking centers the horse’s energy into one purpose, bringing his focus to a calming point – shutting out distractions, increasing consistency and predictability. Tracking gives connection and meaning to the half halt. Tracking straightens the horse.

When we ride, it is easy to get caught in with focusing on that which is in front of us – the head and neck. The horse’s mouth, his lightness or lack thereof. The excesses and the diminished supply. The short and the long, tall and small. Truly when they say that our focus must be on the hind legs and they will train the horse’s head and neck, it is true. Correct tracking, or forward, trains the horse without interference on our part. All we need do is watch it go to work and reap the benefits. But be careful, because it is a lifelong endeavor of promoting forward. Like brushing our teeth every morning, riding our horses forward is a daily task if we want health and beauty…