Mental relaxation without physical one
Aug 5, 2015
In my training it is crucial for me that the horses are relaxed and supple when I work with them. I want them to be mentally balanced, answering my aids happily and lightly and working cooperatively with me. Mental balance is necessary for physical suppleness, which forms the basis for all further training. Without suppleness, training does not strengthen the right muscles and horse and rider cannot communicate in lightness and harmony. However, during the years, I have trained some horses that were mentally balanced but still not totally relaxed in their body.
This summer, I trained a four years old gelding which had just finished young horse training. He had gotten a good foundation in training and was most of the time calm and relaxed under the rider. However, when I started riding him calmly in an even and supple walk, I could often feel him holding his breath and he did not snort when warming up on a long rein. Although he was mentally relaxed, he seemed to be tensed in his body, not breathing freely. The breathing of a horse gives us important information about his physical estate and regular snorting shows us that the horse is supple and does not hold its breath. That is necessary for the horse to be able to move freely through his back and carry the rider correctly. But many riders may not even pay attention to the horse’s breathing and do not care whether their horses snort. I do believe that it is necessary to teach horses like this youngster to snort and breath deeply in the beginning of the training session. Without that physical suppleness, my training can’t be as successful and the horse is not able to work in a biomechanical correct manner. So what did I do?
I spent a lot of time riding him long and low in walk and trot in the beginning, disturbing him as little as possible with my seat or the reins. I then rode him rather much in a calm, but free canter because horses can’t hold their breath when cantering. I could feel how cantering helped him getting more supple in his body and made him snort. Whenever he snorted, I praised him very clearly and gave him a long rein as a reward. This encouraged him to stretch more forward down in the warmup and helped him to relax in his body and breathe deeply.
Warming up in ground work or lunging before riding can also help a horse to relax in his body before the rider sits on his back. Some horses, like this youngster, can be mentally balanced but need extra help from the rider to relax in their body and breath deeply. Give your horse the time it needs to relax in his body during warmup. Some horses need more time than others and there are some horses you have to teach to relax mentally AND physically under the rider. Always pay attention to the breathing of your horse and when it snorts you know that it is supple and ready to work correctly under you. m a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me.
This summer, I trained a four years old gelding which had just finished young horse training. He had gotten a good foundation in training and was most of the time calm and relaxed under the rider. However, when I started riding him calmly in an even and supple walk, I could often feel him holding his breath and he did not snort when warming up on a long rein. Although he was mentally relaxed, he seemed to be tensed in his body, not breathing freely. The breathing of a horse gives us important information about his physical estate and regular snorting shows us that the horse is supple and does not hold its breath. That is necessary for the horse to be able to move freely through his back and carry the rider correctly. But many riders may not even pay attention to the horse’s breathing and do not care whether their horses snort. I do believe that it is necessary to teach horses like this youngster to snort and breath deeply in the beginning of the training session. Without that physical suppleness, my training can’t be as successful and the horse is not able to work in a biomechanical correct manner. So what did I do?
I spent a lot of time riding him long and low in walk and trot in the beginning, disturbing him as little as possible with my seat or the reins. I then rode him rather much in a calm, but free canter because horses can’t hold their breath when cantering. I could feel how cantering helped him getting more supple in his body and made him snort. Whenever he snorted, I praised him very clearly and gave him a long rein as a reward. This encouraged him to stretch more forward down in the warmup and helped him to relax in his body and breathe deeply.
Warming up in ground work or lunging before riding can also help a horse to relax in his body before the rider sits on his back. Some horses, like this youngster, can be mentally balanced but need extra help from the rider to relax in their body and breath deeply. Give your horse the time it needs to relax in his body during warmup. Some horses need more time than others and there are some horses you have to teach to relax mentally AND physically under the rider. Always pay attention to the breathing of your horse and when it snorts you know that it is supple and ready to work correctly under you.