Moving forward

I know many people who have 'lazy' horses and have asked what can I do to get them to move forward? Well first a few things must be addressed. Many horses lack impulsion and the will to move forward for quite a few different reasons. The first and most common is that the horse has a physiological issue, such as the saddle does not fit and is impinging the longissimus muscles. Or a hind end lameness of any sort, which could be very subtle. Second is that a horse who is not conditioned properly is not going to have the impulsion he would have in regular work and well conditioned. Thirdly and the problems that I will address in this blog are that the horse has become "dead" to the leg, or the riders actions of attempting to say "go" are actually saying "whoa". So for starters you should never ask your horse to go forward more then twice in a row as a general rule. So if you are constantly putting on leg to keep your horse at a specific gait, you are adding to the problem. Think of it this way...if you were trying to circle to the right and your horse continued on a straight line would you continue to just use your inside rein over and over again? I should hope not. You would check the way your asking and if your doing it correctly then turn up the volume sort of speak. So that's what we will do. First check your position and how you are asking them to engage their hind end. Any tension in your lower back or abdominal muscles is not allowing the horse to move forward. In the same token if your giving it all you've got with your legs, other then tensing your core you may also have tension in your shoulders or chest which also interferes with forward motion. So step one is to allow your body to relax and follow. Your shoulders,chest, back and core should not interfere with your horse when asking for impulsion. Keep you body following as you add leg. Now the next step is crucial! When the horse moves forward (and I dont care how slowly he is going, so long as he goes a little faster off your leg) you must must must let your leg relax completely! This is his reward for moving forward. Without that he will never know how to move off your leg. Ok so once those rider related issues are taken care of and you want to add leg again to get some more impulsion (and you are keeping your body elastic and following) and your horse does not respond you have to turn up the volume! We know he knows what your leg means and that he is at that moment choosing to ignore it. So you must carry a dressage whip and use it in an educated manner. The first time the horse does not move forward off you asking with a normal amount of pressure you add a firm and surprising swat with the whip, right at that moment. They should go forward immediately and with a rider who is not interfering with that impulsion and also praising them for that reaction. Now undoubtedly this impulsion wont last and you will find the need to ask again. So do so with your leg in a normal fashion and if they dont immediately go forward you immediately (and Im talking within one step) use the whip again. And praise. DO NOT ask more than once with your leg...they heard you the first time and ignored you. Within a very short period of time your horse will not need you to use the whip so often. They will put two and two together and become more sensitive to the leg. BUT you must be sure to do it exactly as I explained...always asking only once nicely and ALWAYS praising and following with your body. If it doesnt work within a few trys work on it with a trainer! Good luck!

Lift and open

Our goal is to have our horses lift and lighten the front of their bodies and thats exactly what we need to do with our bodies in order to get that message across. Many riders attempt to pull their horse "down" on to the bit. They end up with their shoulders rolled forward looking down and sometimes even with no flex in the elbow. What should be done first is a mental check list. Lift your body from the top of your head, roll your shoulders up and back, so you have a nice open chest and a bend in your elbow. Then BREATHE! Think of your chest as being high and weightless. Then get your connection and push the hind end forward into a lightened front end. When connecting the horse properly (once I have my contact and MY 'front end' light), I think of engaging the hind end FIRS.T Most importantly you are adding that energy with a closed outside hand. The energy moves from the leg into that hand and recycles back to the hind end again. If you add or push energy into no contact you get what? A faster horse and a down hill carriage. So we add energy to the back end, while asking the front end to stay up and open and relaxed as our chest and head and lungs are. It is SOOOO important that your shoulders do not come in front of the vertical if you expect your horse to lighten and lift his/her front end. They already carry more weight on the front legs and if you add your weight it is that much more difficult and confusing for them to lighten and shift their weight to the hind end.

Sometimes when you do all of this your horse will start to come behind the bit slightly as in this picture of Innamorada above performing piaffe. This mare has a sensitive mouth and sometimes will even back up in piaffe if you hold too much contact. What I suggest is that you simultaneously give with the reins from your elbow(without loosing your shoulder chest position) and add energy to the hind end. Usually that is enough to get the energy headed in the right direction although every horse is different and has different human created habits! Good luck...and stay light in your front end!