Moving Forward With Your Horse

In order for your horse to be truly broke, you have to have control of his body. Each part, head, neck, shoulders, ribcage, and hindquarters have to work independently and as a cohesive unit. When each works on its own, you horse is supple. When all the parts work together, your horse is traveling in proper alignment. Both are necessary for your horse to carry himself in a balanced frame, which is essential for his physical and emotional well-being, smooth gaits, and for optimum performance.Before you can get control of the part and then put them all together, your horse has to have a foundation of forward motion. To understand what forward motion is, take yourself for a walk. First, walk with long fluid strides. Walk as though you’re deliberately going somewhere. Follow a straight path, stand up tall, and swing your arms and legs freely. Let every step efficiently take you closer to your destination without any variation of speed in your gait or any departure from your path of travel. When your energy is focused on consistently propelling you toward your destination, you have forward motion.

Now try walking without forward motion. Unnaturally shorten your stride. Lift your legs up and down instead of swinging them fluidly from your hips. Instead of following a perfectly straight path, let yourself wander slightly from side-to-side. Also, lean forward too much while you walk. Don’t even look exactly where you’re going. In fact, tilt your head slightly to the side. When you’re moving while doing these things, you’re getting to your destination without forward motion. Did you notice how it feels? It’s not very relaxing, is it? Does it make you feel unbalanced and tense? When your horse isn’t moving forward, he feels exactly the same way.

It creates tension and he’ll travel in an unbalanced frame. Trying to control his body when it isn’t in alignment or his hind end isn’t “in gear” is like driving a car that’s in neutral. You can rev it and turn the steering wheel all day long, but it’s not going to perform or respond to you very well until you shift it into gear and send power to the wheels.I start the process of teaching forward motion on the ground, especially if it’s a horse that hasn’t had much training or is out of condition. I put him in our 60 ft round pen at Maverick and ask the horse to move forward at a long-strided walk. If he breaks to the trot or lope, that’s okay and could mean that he’s not relaxed or balanced enough to lengthen his stride at the walk. If does trot or lope, I try to keep him going long enough for him to relax his topline and lengthen his stride. I say I try to, because sometimes the horse is going to get tired before he reaches that goal. If I can get close, then I’ll quit for that day.

After a few sessions when the horse is beginning to carry himself with his head and neck on the arc of the circle, his topline is relaxed, and his stride is long and even, he’s ready to begin work under saddle. I give him soft supportive rein contact while I use my legs to encourage him to travel with a long and relaxed stride. Again I give him time to master this, or at least come close, at the walk before we move on to other gaits. I incorporate bending exercises as well to increase flexibility and suppleness, which will in turn enhance forward motion. However, I always make forward motion a priority. In other words, if I ask a horse to bend and he shortens his stride, I quit asking him to bend and take the time to reestablish a forward and balanced gait. That’s because a bend or any other maneuver won’t be executed properly unless the horse has balanced forward movement. If you do lose forward motion, other problems will begin to develop, such as dullness to leg and rein cues, drifting, and problems with transitions just to name a few.

It’s important with you’re working on forward motion to keep the rein contact light and supportive…without being restrictive. If your arms are tense and your fingers are tight, you’ll create resistance. That will in turn shorten your horse’s stride.

If you want your horse to be broke, don’t just consider where he’s going but how he gets there. As you ask for more advanced maneuvers, such as speed control, bending, or navigating a steep slope on trail, a foundation of forward motion will help your horse get the job done well.

“Performance Through Partnership”™

Dale Rudin
“Performance Through Partnership”
Columbia, TN
For more info: www.dale-rudin-horse-training.com