Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Horse is relaxed, now what?

From: Sheila

Hi Jessica, I'm so glad you've got Horse-Sense back in gear! I really missed it!

We bought 13 year old horse in May knowing nothing about what breed(s) he may be or what kind of training he might have had. We have been riding him in an all purpose English saddle with a snaffle bit. It turned out he was pretty green as far as being ridden in a ring (but very experienced on the trail). He knew how to walk/trot/canter from the aids but had no set speed or body/head position for any gait. He has gotten much better, will keep up a nice rhythm at all 3 gaits and has gone from stiffening his back and neck and carrying his head up (nose out) to relaxing his neck and carrying his neck/head stretched down. Recently he has started walking on a loose rein with his head low enough to be a WP horse!

My question is this: he will soon be going very relaxed with a level neck at all 3 gaits, and I would like to know what's next? I have experimented with moving him into a more energetic walk and keeping contact with his mouth instead of giving him a loose rein, and that's fine with him. But while it was easy to visualize the goal of the horse relaxing and stretching, I am unclear about visualizing my goal for the next phase.

Thanks for your help,

Sheila

Hi Sheila! It sounds as though you've done a great job of getting your new horse relaxed and stretched -- now you can move on to the next phase.

It's time to begin asking for more energetic forward movement. This means that you'll be asking your horse to step under himself from behind, and to bend his joints more (not to move FASTER). You've already begun this phase, actually -- your work on contact at a more energetic walk is EXACTLY right.

You can do this by working on transitions -- now that he's relaxed, you can pick up the contact and start asking for transitions (between gaits and within gaits) that are prompt and smooth and round and on contact. Pay as much attention to your downward transitions as you do to your upward ones, and remember that the walk is a GAIT. You want a clear, four-beat, marching walk, not a shuffle! And that kind of walk is a lot of work -- in fact, ALL of this is a lot of work. You can do a lot of this work on the trail, as well as in the ring.

Keep the work fun -- keep rewarding and praising him, and remember to give him a moment to stretch after every few minutes of concentrated work on contact.

Take your time, be patient, and remember that your horse may have days when he'll be a bit sore and stiff. This is hard work, and that means that he'll be developing muscles that he hasn't been using much, and he'll be using other muscles in different ways.

Your goal for the next six months or so is to keep your horse happy and calm while helping him to become balanced, responsive, flexible, and strong. You'll do it by working on transitions and figures, and you'll monitor his progress by LOOKING at him. He should get better-looking every month, as his muscles develop correctly and he learns to carry himself and use himself better.

Jessica

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