From: Laura
We are training my 5 yr. Morgan stallion, Nicholas. He is just short of 14.2 hands, very compact & close-coupled and has a short, strong neck. He is rather like a small, golden Lipizzaner. At this point we are doing basic ground work. He has learned the Natural Horsemanship yields & lunges. Like most horses, he has a favorite side/direction & is more free moving when circling to the left than to the right. When circling to the right, he attempts to run out of the circle & becomes resistive. He has been checked by a good vet/ chiro so we know there are no problems of that nature. When working to the left, he drops his head & neck & moves very nicely. To the right, the head pops up & he is just more stiff & not as nicely moving. My question, what should we be doing to help him become more flexible? He is ready to ride, mentally, but I don't want to until we work through this problem. Or is this something that would work out better under saddle? Thanks. Laura
You are clever to want to help him through this stage BEFORE you begin ridden work; he'll be able to learn to carry weight and balance under a rider much more easily if he is already moving well, in both directions, on his own.
The problem is evident when he goes to the right, but there's nothing wrong with his right side -- that's the side that stretches when he moves to the left, and he's obviously comfortable doing that. The problem is actually on his LEFT side: the muscles in his body and neck are tighter on that side, which limits the amount of stretching he can do when he moves to the right. .... okay, are you still with me? ;-)
There can be other reasons for a horse to lift its head and stiffen when it goes in one direction -- bad vision in one eye is one possibility -- but since your vet and chiro have both checked him out and found him to be just fine, we won't touch on those other reasons here.
You can help him from the ground by beginning a program of passive stretching exercises that will help the muscles on his left side become longer and more flexible. Since he is quite stiff on that side, you'll want to be very organized and systematic about the stretching, which you will do on BOTH sides.
You need to do an entire series of stretches, and you will need to do them in the proper order and at the proper time for your horse to get the maximum benefit -- it's important to stretch the muscles one group at a time, and to stretch both sides of the horse (yes, Nicholas too, even though he seems to be stiff on only ONE side) in one area before you move on to the next group of muscles. Stretching has to be done gently and slowly and only AFTER the horse has been warmed up -- and you need to know how to perform each stretch, how long to hold it, and how to protect your own back while you do each stretch.
It's a good idea to talk to your veterinarian about this too, but here's my suggestion:
I think it would be very much worth the money for you to invest in Nancy Spencer's video BASIC EQUINE STRETCHING and the companion wall chart. You can get them from
Equitonics PO Box 156 Fairfax Station, VA 22039.
If I remember correctly, the video costs $34.95 and the chart costs $19.95, with another $3.95 per item for shipping. They're both WELL worth the investment.
These materials are very clear, and you will learn exactly what to do, how and when to do it, and how to do it safely. Stretching is something you can go on doing forever, and you'll be surprised at how much difference it will make to Nicholas in even a few days. I've been doing similar exercises with horses at home and at clinics for years, but I changed several techniques after learning Nancy's method -- her system was better than mine! These techniques work well whether your goal is dressage competition or endurance riding -- or anything else. Let me know how they work for you!
- Jessica
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