Re-training the crooked horse

Did you know that horses are naturally crooked? Naturally 'one sided'? And naturally have one hind limb stronger than the other? 

This translates into ridden work / lunge work / other types of exercise, as...

• One rein stiffer than the other
• Your horse finding movements easier in one direction than the other
• Possibly even holding their head and neck to the outside of the circle
• Only bending through the ribcage in one direction
• Uneven rein contact
• More neck bend in one direction, less in the other
• Can stretch down on one rein, but struggles on the other rein 

Over the long term, this unequal use of the body and limbs can lead to degenerative processes, and potentially injury, as some parts of the body are under more strain than others. 

So it's important to train our horses symmetrically, to use their limbs equally with flexibility type training! 

If the horse has one hindlimb stronger than the other (which they all do!), we need to look at our training, and focus on how we can equalise the hindlimb function, and this of course will help the rest of the body! 

In hand exercise is the one of the best ways I have found to train symmetry in the horse. Starting with the basics, if your horse can't really walk a small circle with an inside bend, on both reins, without veering off or falling in, or pushing you, etc, then he isn't set up and trained enough to cope with the demands of ridden work etc further down the line, and won't be able to work symmetrically. 

In hand exercise can be like adding another layer into training your horse! It doesn't have to be complicated, I'm all about simplifying training and techniques so that my clients feel confident enough to try new methods, and will actually do the work and enjoy it! If it's complicated and over-whelming, it doesn't get done!!

By adding a new layer of training in to your routine, you can be helping your horse with symmetry, flexibility, good correct posture and core engagement - all at the same time!! And this will help everything else that you do with your horse, and over time your horse will become more symmetrical and flexible, and find the movements that he used to struggle with much easier! 

You can either do in-hand work as a full exercise session, or just do 10 mins before ridden or lunge / long rein work a few days per week, to continually work on symmetry and flexibility. 

The way that I teach in hand work is to first teach the horse square (really important!!), then bend in standstill, then small circles, then straight line with neck bend, then advance to leg yield, shoulder in and quarters in. One exercise leads to the next, and it's in simple, manageable steps for horse and owner! 

Similar to the core engagement work that I teach, it's long term work, to be practised and refined over time, and on a continual basis, so finding ways to build it into your routine several days a week is the best way to do this sort of work! 

If your horse could be more even on both reins, moving equally left-right, bending equally each way, doing lateral movements equally each way, just by adding in some new groundwork training, wouldn't this make life easier with your horse, it would also improve your competition scores, and you will be more in harmony with your horse! 

I do also find that horses love doing in-hand work, they really relax into it, it can be great exercise for older horses, super important for horses coming back into work or going through rehabilitation, an excellent addition for competition horses to help increase scores, and great for happy hackers or non-ridden horses as it's low impact and great for their flexibility! 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN SOME SIMPLE GROUNDWORK EXERCISES?

My Ebook 'Simple Groundwork Exercises' is available for immediate download from my Ebooks page: CLICK HERE FOR EBOOKS

My Online Course 'In Hand Exercises' is also available for instant access, and is a full step by step approach to learning In Hand Exercises, from foundation exercises to lateral work! CLICK HERE FOR IN HAND COURSE

If you have any questions just get in touch! Jenny x