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Ride!
contest winner, Jan Whitlow, requested a column on lateral flexion,
and what exercises can be used to school your horse to perform true
circles, as opposed to hexagons or squares.
Lateral flexion exercises are a key cornerstone of foundation
training. The horse follows its nose, and directional control works
in a progressive line starting from the nose, then the shoulder,
terminating in the hips and hindquarters.
Before beginning these exercises it is critical to have (in a
snaffle bit) a solid go-forward cue, and also being able to stop the
horse’s feet. With those fundamentals, we have control and they have
already begun to yield to us.
To
begin with basic lateral flexion work, we pick up a rein at a
standstill and wait until the horse gives in the direction of the
pull. The mistake most riders make here is when they pick up the
rein, they want to release as soon as the nose goes over. Very
important - you need to wait for the release until the give is in
the direction of the pull. And when you do release, it should be no
heavier than the weight of the rein. Lateral flexions are a critical
foundation exercise and you might expect to do two to three thousand
repetitions on each side. Some horses of course take longer than
others, but it is vital that the horse truly “gets” this lesson
before moving on.
Once
your horse is doing the lateral flexion work well at a standstill,
you then move on to doing the same exercise but at walk, then work
up to a trot and finally at a canter. The higher the gait at which
you are doing the exercise, the slower your hand speed must be in
asking for the give. Your goal is that your hand speed is such that
the horse can feel the weight of the rein before they actually feel
the contact of the rein.
The
moving flexion work is accomplished by going forward with a soft
leg. After about fifteen feet, pick up on the inside rein while
maintaining light contact on the outside rein until the horse flexes
at the pole. And then soften hand to acknowledge the horse is doing
well. Then do it all over again. The goal is that the horse stays
flexed, giving and is accepting of the bit. Once the horse is doing
very well on the one side, change direction.
Assuming your horse is not displaying resistance, you can practice
the following riding exercises with a snaffle bit. First establish a
12-15 foot circle with a nice go forward and a soft bend. At this
point, we are not at all worrying about how *correct* our circle
is. Next you add some inside leg, while opening your right leg and
right rein as a door for the horse. You should then ask the horse to
use that door with the inside leg and rein, to take one or two steps
over. At this point be looking for the nose to come toward the point
of the shoulder. You may need to bump with your inside leg (not the
spur), to get the reaction you are wanting – which is the one or two
steps. Keep bumping until you get that step or two. You will
probably experience resistance in the jaw as this is a new maneuver.
Simply maintain your rein aids until the jaw gives and then release
momentarily before continuing in the direction of the circle you
started with.
For
example, for bending in a fifteen foot circle to the left, we ask
the horse to move its shoulder to the right and then finish going
left on the circle. There is an important reason to always resume
the circle immediately after the release: If we always pick up on
the rein and ask the shoulder to move over, the horse will learn to
bleed out the shoulder. By finishing off the exercise with the
directional control of going to the left (or the right for right
directional circles) rather than ending with the release, we help
ensure the horse does not learn to bleed out the shoulder.
As
you progress with this exercise, you will likely find that the
shoulder starts leading further than the hips. At that point start
thinking of the shoulders and hips as a set of speakers. We always
want appropriate balance in our speakers and it’s up to you to
adjust the dial. Because we have already taught the horse to turn on
the forehand (in earlier Ride! columns), we can use this to help the
hip catch up with the shoulder -- and then only release when the
shoulder and hip are working together. This is great suppling
exercise.
The
next exercise to work on will be Counter Arc Bends. Again you start
out with a nice soft circle. You will then open your right rein as
if you are going to ask the shoulder to move over, but you will
continue to ask the horse to move to the right. In effect you will
be creating a new circle, with the shoulder leading to the right but
with the horse’s nose and head bent slightly to the outside (left).
You will want to build on this until you can do a complete circle
with the horse maintaining this posture. Not only does this soften
the shoulder and increase your control, but it also nicely
establishes a supporting rein. This means that if you are riding a
regular circle and the horse starts to bulge out at the shoulder,
the right rein can support the shoulder from going out. Once you
are solid in both directions, start the exercise at the trot and
then finally the canter.
When
we are ready to school our horse to the next level, we then do the
same exercise but in a square pattern, enforcing the shoulder
control at sharp ninety degree turns. Again, working in one
direction at the walk until every turn is consistent, and then doing
the exercise in the opposite direction. You then graduate to a
hexagon pattern for further refinement. A tip for novice riders:
always look in the direction that you want to turn before you
actually ask for the turn. To swivel your head and shoulders, even
subtly, to prepare for a turn becomes a pre-cue for your horse. They
feel all those shifts in your body position, and when done
consistently, your horse will learn to respond to these pre-cues.
Your
last stage will be to graduate to octagonal patterns, refining your
directional turns even further, following all the same principles.
What you will discover upon mastering the octagonal pattern through
lateral flexion work, is that you are now able to work in perfect
circles as a result!
One
other huge benefit in performing lateral schooling work…. The one
rein emergency stop! I know I mentioned this in several columns
already, but I am going to keep bringing it up because it is such an
important safety exercise for emergencies. If your horse is
bucking, bolting, spooking, or otherwise out of control, picking up
on two reins does not help. All you are doing is capturing the
energy and actually fueling it. By picking up on one rein to have
the horse move its hips over, you are depleting the energy and
giving it someplace to go. It is incredibly difficult for a horse
to buck, bolt or otherwise be out of control when you are moving its
hips over. The one rein emergency stop (which does require practice
and training) could save your life one day. See the May 2003 issue
of Ride! for details on practicing this exercise, or else visit our
website at
www.cwtraining.com. You can also e-mail me with any questions
you may have at cwtraining@comcast.net.
Until
next month….
Charles Wilhelm
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