Midwest Equine Online July 2010
Midwest Equine Online NEW!!!
YEAR END PHOTO CONTEST FOUR CATAGORIES: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ
Foal photos Funniest horse picture Prettiest or most impressive Friends and Horses
All first place winners will receive a feature story in this Magazine, along with individual prizes. Runners up will have a spot with their photos in a photo spread in the January edition
Current prizes: Baby Halter, Autographed book “Horse Laffs” by Les Vance, Midwest Horse Fair tickets, Cover on this magazine.
Send photos to: info@midwestequineonline.com Please send in jpeg format and include the name of the horse(s),owner and location.... Good luck!! All prizes may be subject to change due to availability
Dr. Suz' Formula for Success Last month I elaborated a bit on the elements of timing, feel, and balance as they pertain to horsemanship and your training program. This month, I would like to bring these concepts to life with a specific example of how to apply them to a given training technique. Imagine a virtual clinic whereby you will learn to teach your horse to soften its jaw, half-halt, and flex vertically at the poll. These are three distinct items that we will teach our horse and each can be used at times independently of each other, yet often are used collectively for developing the 'High Level' or advanced horse. In our program at Next Level HorsemanshipTM, we begin to teach a horse to soften its jaw in our groundwork program but for the sake of simplicity and primarily to discuss the concepts of timing, feel and balance, I'm going to make the assumption that the horse is under saddle and just beyond green broke with at least 3-4 rides at the walk, trot and canter. Keep in mind that there are many exercises we can use to teach these concepts. Below I will describe a few which you can use as a formula for success in your riding program. PURPOSE: To achieve softness in the jaw, and to further develop the softness to obtain a level of communication with the horse through contact with the bit or bosal so that we can ask the horse to half halt and/or flex its head vertically at the poll. The principals of timing, feel and balance will be emphasized as a means to successfully achieve, maintain, and finesse the communication through contact with the bit while riding under saddle. MATERIALS: Snaffle bit with loop or split reins, or bosal and reins, saddle and pad (optional), light spur or dressage whip (optional), riding area (outdoor trails preferred), assistant to help you if you aren't comfortable performing the techniques yourself. PRE-REQUISITS: Prior to starting the exercises for softening the jaw, you should
develop a natural cadence to your horse's stride. To do this teach your horse to walk, trot, and canter on a relatively loose rein (little to no contact with the bit) in an enclosed area where you feel safe letting your horse travel at its natural paces. Most horses will learn to balance a rider fairly quickly and develop a good working cadence if allowed to do so on their own. Far too often we try to introduce too much contact too soon before our horses are ready for it and this can create problems when we go to teach the lesson at hand especially for horses with riders that may not have mastered the timing, feel and balance necessary to ask for contact correctly. This is not to say that initially we cannot add contact to a green horse but we must do so appropriately if we are to build, rather than burn cues.) METHODS: I like to begin to teach softening of the jaw on the trail. This is because no matter what type of horse I'm working with, lazy and dull sided, or hot and sensitive, the trail can provide the most conducive environment to achieve the goals in the most efficient manner. The trail sets your horse up for success in learning many maneuvers because it's a natural environment for them which ultimately lends purpose to what you are teaching them, and horses have a tendency to maintain their forward motion much better on trail which is a requirement for learning any new maneuver. When teaching your horse to soften to the bit two things need to happen in the beginning of the exercise. First, you need to initiate the contact by taking up on the reins. Second, the horse has to drive from behind and maintain forward motion up into the 'hold' or contact on his face/jaw. This is accomplished by the action of your leg aids. If you have a horse that you need to use a lot of leg on in the arena to move it forward, the trail will entice it to maintain its forward motion, and if you have a horse that has too much forward motion and feels out of control in the arena, you can use that forward motion on the trail to nearly replace your leg to move the horse onto the bit as you initiate contact. The trail is not a requirement for this exercise; you have to feel safe on your horse and this exercise can be performed indoors as well. Begin by asking your horse to move eagerly (with cadence) forward on the trail. Most horses will be quite strung out in the head and neck region and stiff in their jaw especially when moving up hill. If I have a very forward and hot horse I will pick an uphill stretch and if I have a lazy horse I will try this exercise down a slight decline. With every stride, try to feel your horse's rhythm and gradually take the slack out of the reins until you just make contact with the bit. Notice the response, if any, by your horse when you do this. Most horses will either ignore the contact or push against it (resistance). Rarely will the resistance be coming equally from both sides of the horse's jaw because horses are usually stiff on one side of their body and soft or hollow on the other which causes their jaws to display unequal resistance in response to contact with the bit. Here is where you must learn to feel your horse underneath of you. Feel its jaw and its stride as you have light and equal contact on both reins. Now feel which side of the horse's jaw is more resistant than the other. A horse really has two jaws, left and right, when it comes to training, and softening both is equally important. You will know which jaw is more resistant because you should feel a little push back from your horse on that side or a complete deadness to the contact.
Next, apply as much pressure or 'hold' on the reins as you feel resistance from your horse, then add an ounce or so more to be effective in getting your horse to respond to your contact. Importantly, do not apply the pull on the reins, i.e. contact, evenly at this point. Instead balance the reins to apply more contact to the most resistant side of the jaw. The balance of pull or 'hold' on the reins is very important and should not overpower the forward motion and cadence of the horse. Too much pressure may cause the horse to turn left or right, or to want to stop moving down the trail. At the same time you add additional contact to the bit you must balance your seat in the saddle and add your legs equally on both sides of your horse to encourage it to move forward onto the bit and then soften to it. Realize that you must adjust or balance the leg aid according to the nature of the horse you're working with. On a hot sensitive horse you may need very little leg aid for this exercise in the beginning. On a lazy or dull sided horse you may need to add a tickle or bump with your spur or tap it's hip with a dressage whip to encourage the forward motion you need. This combination of offset pressure or contact to the jaw, and your seat and leg aids must be delicately balanced and precisely timed together to achieve the maximum result. However, the next series in this exercise is where timing is most critical. The moment you feel any attempt by your horse to give to the contact you have applied you must release your aids. You must time the release of your contact with the bit and your legs with the horse's smallest attempt at figuring out what that contact means. The release of your aids means complete release. Make sure that when you release in response to any try by the horse that the release is big enough that it is certain it did the right thing. Remember that horses learn from release of pressure. Your contact with the bit through the reins was pressure on his mouth/jaw/tongue and he really doesn't like it - so he's inclined to do something about it. At first he may try all sorts of not-so-good answers like pushing harder against the bit, stopping forward motion, caving in to the left or right as he travels, etc, but the moment he suggests any type of movement to drop his jaw away from the pressure, release all contact. This is the reward and what ultimately builds the cue for softness. The next step in this exercise is to repeat what you have just done many times during the course of your trail ride. On the first day, don't attempt to 'hold' your horse into the contact for more than one stride or a fleeting moment of 'give in his jaw. Rather, this is the time to fix in his mind that yielding to the pressure of contact in his mouth through the action of the bit is the right answer. Again, timing is everything, if you try to do too much in one day you can burn your cues rather than build them. By the next trail ride you may have solidified the concept in your horse's mind to the point where you can ask for more - like holding the give for 1.5 or 2 strides and further developing the softness and/or overall magnitude of the give by another round of consistency and repetition of this exercise on the trail. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: As you progress through these exercises you will begin
to see your horse become softer in the jaw (both jaws-left and right) and much more accepting of the bit. It will come to trust your hands and realize that they are speaking to it in support of what you may want to ask of it in many other facets of your training program. The trust will only come however, if you have mastered the timing, feel, and balance in the exercises to the point that you recognize when and where the resistance is coming from and you appropriately and consistently reward your horse for its correct attempts at performing the maneuver. When your horse is consistently and reliably 'giving' its jaw in response to contact with the bit you have paved the way for developing the half-halt, sustained vertical flexion, and collection with finesse in transitions under saddle. The half halt is nothing more than asking your horse to yield to the bit and 'come back' to you in his stride (without pushing in the bit) for a defined period of time. You will use this often as you further your mileage under saddle whether in show, harness, or on the trail navigating obstacles. Sustained vertical flexion is used in nearly all disciplines in one fashion or another, either in the training pen or the show pen, and is required for many of the advanced maneuvers performed by more advanced horses. By this time the horse has developed its muscles, the softness in its jaw, and some level of collection to the point where it can easily retain its shape of flexion in all three gaits. In this exercise, the horse should actually be very happy remaining flexed because it trusts that your hands will be kind to it due to you having mastered excellent timing, feel and balance and that it will soon be rewarded with a full release. The exercises described above demonstrate the importance of timing, feel and balance in training and horsemanship and how successful you can be at moving on to the Next Level in horsemanship if you take the time to perfect these elements in your training program. There are many formulas for success in training - this is but one. We would like your requests! If you are having specific training problems with your horse or want to discuss other specific training topics, let us know and we'll break it down in our next Formula for Success. Fax your request to 814-692-1052 or email us at Suzanne@NextLevelHorsemanship.com. Next Level Horsemanship Improve Your Horse. Improve Your Life !
Author's Note: Suzanne Myers, M.S., PhD. owns and operates Next Level Horsemanship TM (NLH) training company in Pennsylvania and is the producer of one of the most unique equestrian challenges in the country, the Equine Masters ChampionshipTM. Suzanne has extensive experience in equine research, diagnostics and teaching at the Pennsylvania State University and conducts professional seminars and equine clinics nationally. Suzanne's lifetime experience training horses includes the track, colt starting, showing, driving, and nearly every breed. NLH was recognized recently for their work with gentling wild mustangs in association with the Bureau of Land Management when Suzanne became the first woman to win the Mustang Heritage Foundation sponsored Midwest Mustang Challenge in Madison
WI in 2008 and her 3 assistant trainers took top 10 placings in a similar event in Tennessee in 2009. Suzanne accepts horses for training from across the United States. Contact her at Suzanne@NextLevelHorsemanship.com, or through her website, www.NextLevelHorsemanship.com.
Suzanne Myers, M.S., PhD Next Level HorsemanshipTM 790 Shady Dell Road Port Matilda, PA 16870
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