How Heavy is Your Horse's Head?

Do you ever wonder how much your horse's head weighs? You would if you had to carry it around with you every time you ride. At the very least you'd wonder, why doesn't he carry it himself. After all, he's got all that muscle on his back and hind legs. I'm just one person with two hands!

And yet, every time we pick up the reins, without knowing it, we allow our horse to balance himself by pulling on the reins, reins that we hold in our hands. And if that doesn't work, then he just brings his weight onto his forehand and pulls himself forward. Try doing that while getting on your hands and knees ("all fours"). Can you walk forward easily while leaning on your hands (front end)? Not hardly. Now put a small child on your back, yelling "giddyup horsey" and you can see how difficult it is to balance your self, including that big head at the front of it all.

Riding a horse whose balance is tipped forward is like riding a bike downhill while leaning your head over the handlebars. You can do it, but it doesn't feel comfortable and makes it difficult to ride with any control. If you're lucky, you'll end each ride without crashing, but in the process will begin to feel a lot of soreness from bracing your body against the gravitational pull.

Horses naturally weight their forehand when they are standing or grazing. But, when it's necessary to move off quickly, they can lift their head, shift their weight back and run in any direction with amazing speed and agility. We seem to think that this is something we have to train them to do, but in reality, what we need to do is first, allow them to gain the strength to carry us and then,encourage them to balance us while they run off with natural speed and agility. It's not simply a question of getting a horse to go forward, nor does it help to artificially or forcefully pull the head up. Try it with the child on your back on all fours. Lean onto your hands while this wild child kicks you in the sides and pulls your hair to lift your head. Are you feeling lighter. Does your back lift and your weight shift back to lighten your front end (the weight on your hands)? NO!!! Your back hollows which makes it harder to bring your hips and 'hind legs' forward and your neck is bent back, mouth open, saying OUCH!

In addition to all of the kicking and pulling you are enduring with the child on your back, imagine feeling him constantly moving on your back, off balance, bouncing up and down as you lunge forward trying to avoid the discomfort of the whole ride. Are we having fun yet?

This may all seem like an exageration, but truth be told, we do it every day to our horses. We assume that the horse can take whatever we dish out. We figure we don't have to be balanced and we don't have to help our horse to learn to balance himself. We blame the horse for lifting his head, running away from our hands and our cues or stopping and bucking or kicking out when we ask for change of gait or direction.

What is really going on here? As riders, we are not taught about the meaning of "self carriage". Before a horse can ever learn to walk, trot and canter with a consistent rhythm, we must show him that what we offer is a way to lift his weight off the front end (with soft, giving hands that consistently "lift" the reins, never pulling back) slowly with each step and that while doing this, we will ride with a quiet, balanced seat that is never heavy or driving. Once a horse is able to gain the flexibility and strength in his back and hindquarters, head and neck,through progressive exercises, we can then ask him to move off athletically with speed and agility as we see him in nature, without a rider.

Self carriage is about giving your horse the responsibility to move his body without bracing, without falling downhill, without leaning on your hands. It is your responsibility to be the best rider you can be first and then to use your seat, legs and hands kindly and gently as you improve your horse's balance. He'll do anything you ask and you won't have to carry his head around anymore.