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The Best
Exercise for When You Don't Have Much Time
In the training program at the ranch, we never,
ever ride a horse without first starting with a bit of ground work.
Even the most well trained horse can have an off day and my staff
and I always take the time to check what the horse’s physical,
mental and emotional states are prior to riding. This also helps us
see what the horse’s level of resistance may be. These exercises
are great for this evaluation, along with really focusing on the
fundamentals for your horse. Whether you do this before a ride or
as the only thing you do with your horse, it’s a great way to spend
training time.
Begin with concentrated circles. We need to
teach the horse to go forward consistently and to keep the body
position such that the horse is nicely bending around us. If you
want to start with a left circle, your left hand should be on the
lead line, three to six inches from the snap of the halter. Unless
your horse is already very soft, I recommend a cowboy or string
halter and a twelve foot lead. Begin with a pre-cue. Cluck or
kiss, whatever you want your “go forward” sound to be, every time.
Then, if there is no movement, your cue to move forward is the left
hip bone. I use a dressage whip with the popper removed. I tap the
point of the hip until the horse moves forward. Stop tapping the
moment the horse moves forward to release the pressure. I also
bring my hand with the whip down to fully release the pressure,
since even holding a whip up in the air represents pressure to some
horses. You may need to do this several times until the horse walks
forward consistently. You will get better results from tapping
firmly once or twice rather repeatedly tapping lightly. Use as much
pressure as you need to get the desired reaction but nothing more.
You can use less and less as the horse understands the lesson and
becomes lighter and more responsive. Over time, your horse will
respond to your pre-cue and you will not need to tap at all. Make
sure the horse is moving to the left with nice energy, a “go
someplace” kind of walk. The horse should start to bend around you
as it learns to give to the pressure of the halter. This is also a
good beginning lesson to teach a horse to go over obstacles and to
trailer load. This exercise encourages the horse bend and be supple
throughout the body in addition to going forward whenever you ask.
What is also great about this exercise is that it is also gymnastic
work as well.
Once the forward movement is solid in both
directions, you can begin to work on getting the horse to move his
hips over. This requires that the horse have a nice bend to his
body. Imagine a ten-foot circle with the horse’s nose, shoulder and
hind legs aligned on the arc of the circle with yourself in the
center. If you do not have the bend and the shoulder is stepping
inside the circle, you will not be able to get the hips to move
over. When you the horse has a nice bend, you are teaching the
horse to engage his hindquarters. Here again, we have a gymnastic
exercise which physically develops the hind quarters and topline,
which also enhances suppleness and is teaching the horse to stop his
feet.
Once the horse is moving in the left circle
with the bend in his body and without showing any resistance, to
move the hips over bring your left hand toward the horse’s left hip,
looking for the hip to move away. Maintain the contact until you
get at least one step. Even if the horse takes only one step,
release the pressure. Get the horse moving again in the same
direction and continue the exercise until the horse immediately
swings his hip once you move the line toward his hip. The eventual
goal is that the horse will turn on the forehand on the ground,
which has a great carry over into the saddle.
The final part of the lesson is backing. To do
this, get the horse moving forward with nice energy, again he should
be consistently soft with a nice bend. Pickup the line to move his
hips over and once he does, release the pressure, pause and then ask
him to back up by making contact with the lead rope toward the
horse’s nose. Once you get at least one step backwards, release.
Then begin again, repeating the circle, moving the hips over and
asking for the backup. As the horse responds better, you can begin
to ask for two steps backward and then three and more. Your goal is
twenty to thirty steps backward, with your horse so smooth that he
looks like he is moving on roller blades. Once his feet are moving
freely, continue backing him until he softens at the pole (between
the first vertebrae and the axis) with his chin down towards his
chest. Again, another great gymnastic exercise that builds the
hindquarters and topline.
What this set of exercises gives us is
suppleness, an obedient horse and the tools to start solid ground
manners, along with help to instill a good work ethic in the horse.
These lessons also establish you as the leader because you are
controlling your horse’s space. The number one principle with
horses is that space equals leadership.
Some horses can learn this in a very short
time, two to three hours. Others may take weeks depending on how
much baggage they may have, how naturally willing they are and of
course, how consistent you are with your timing and feel on the
release why you see they horse is giving.
In any case, when you only have ten, twenty or
thirty minutes to spend with your horse, this is a great way to use
the time. Even if your horse is completely finished and knows the
lesson, this is wonderful maintenance work - it really cements the
basics well for the physical, mental and emotional aspects of every
horse.
As I said earlier, this is the one set of
exercises we do on every horse every time we ride. We may need only
to spend a couple of minutes on it, or maybe up to a half hour, but
no matter what - we will go through this routine to ensure we have
an attentive, responsive, supple and respectful horse.
Charles Wilhelm
NW August 2008 |
