GROUNDWORK, PART 3

YIELD BACKWARDS WITH A DIRECT FEEL

Over the past few months, we’ve received an increasing number of questions about getting started with groundwork. Whilst we advise that an instructor helps you to get started, there are a few basics you can teach at home that ultimately form the foundation of all groundwork activities. Over the following few issues, we will look at these basic building blocks of your groundwork toolbox and help you to build a solid foundation for your in-hand work.

In our last two issues, we looked at asking your horse to yield forwards. In this issue, we will ask your horse to yield softly backwards from a direct feel on his nose.

Yield backwards with a direct feel

HOW TO DO THE EXERCISE

• Stand next to your horse’s head, facing him and place your hand on his nose with your fingers touching each side of the bridge of his nose about where the noseband sits (i.e. not obstructing his nostrils).

• He may not enjoy this sensation or try to walk off through you but aim to keep your hand gently in place until he settles and accepts you touching him there. NOTE: If this proves a real challenge for your horse, just practice putting your hand on his nose for a few days before asking for the next steps. This is a sensitive area, and we need to give our horses time to adapt.

• Once he is calm and not resisting or pushing, lift your energy, focus it behind him with clear intention and apply gentle pressure on the bridge of his nose. NOTE: There are very sensitive structures around this area, so your pressure must be very light. You are NOT trying to push him backwards. The motion is more of a light squeeze on either side of the nose.

• When he has given one step back or even shifted his energy back, reward him immediately by releasing the pressure, removing your hand and saying well done.

• Once your horse gets the hang of this, you can ask him to take two or three steps before removing your hand. Over time, you can get your horse to back up a long way using this technique, but start slowly and build up to this.

TOP TIP: As your horse goes backwards, move your feet in time with his so your body mirrors his body, and you practice being in rhythm with his stride.

Points To Note

• Try to keep your energy moving straight back to encourage your horse to back up straight, but remember that your horse has one stronger side and one weaker side, so he is likely to tend to back up one way or the other. Do not be fussy about this initially; rather, work on it over time.

Troubleshooting

• If your horse fights your hand on his nose, be patient. Some horses can find having your hand on their nose extremely aversive, particularly those who have worn very restrictive tack, such as tight nosebands or flash straps. For these horses, it is best to just try and keep your hand there lightly or even to stroke him gently on his nose until he can accept it before asking for movement.

• If your horse refuses to move backwards, use the halter gently to move his head over the front foot that needs to move back first and ask him to take a lateral step rather than a back-up step. This normally acts to free up the feet and help the horse to move back more easily.

• If your horse still doesn’t go backwards, don’t increase the pressure on his nose, but rather rhythmically flick the end of the leadrope or stick towards his chest to encourage him backwards.

• If he is still struggling to go backwards, it might be worth discussing this with your instructor or vet to ensure that there isn’t another issue that is making this movement difficult. Some issues, such as stifle or sacroiliac problems, can make it difficult or painful for a horse to back-up, and these need to be looked for in horses who are very resistant to backing up.

• If your horse tries to evade your request by dropping his head down - wave your stick, or stamp your foot on the ground to discourage him.

• If your horse tries to evade by throwing his head in the air, try to keep your hand in place (although this can be a challenge with a 17hh giant!) and spend time encouraging him to accept your hand on his nose, using the process described above.

TOP TIP: As your horse goes backwards, move your feet in time with his so your body mirrors his body, and you practice being in rhythm with his stride.

NOTE: If your horse is truly soft, yielding and balanced, backwards will be a two-time gait as he will move his feet in diagonal pairs, as in trot.

Ultimate goals

The ultimate goals of this exercise are to:

1. Allow you to keep your horse at arm’s length when needed.

2. Start to teach the back-up so that the back-up under saddle is easier.

Making the exercise more difficult

Once your horse reliably follows your feel backwards, you can start to specify which foot your horse moves. To do this, ask whichever front foot looks ready to move first to take a step backwards by applying gentle pressure on whichever of your thumb or forefingers are on the same side of the nose as the chosen foot. This will allow you to communicate with each individual foot. As mentioned above, make sure you release the pressure and praise him after each step back with the correct foot.

Next time

In our next edition, we will examine how to ask our horse backwards using an indirect feel.