Your Horse as an Athlete

We have had some incredibly sunny weather here in the NW, making it very cold at night. As with every year, I'm aware of just how "furry" my horses get and if the temp drops too low, I will put their blankets on for warmth. But, usually, it just isn't necessary. What I have begun doing, though, is warming up their muscles before I exercise them. I've begun doing some simple massage techniques as well as stretching and what's interesting is to feel the difference between Chanty, who has no feet or lameness issues and Sal who has had founder and hock problems over the years. You can see how little she moves her hips, feel how hard and tight her back and gluteal hip muscles are and see how much she shortens her stride with the tightness on both sides of her body. Sally is a virtual treasure trove of issues for me to learn about and work on. I can see what abnormal looks like and then appreciate the improvement when I see it in her or other horses with less severe problems.

The massage with Chanty showed me that as I have been asking her to lift her back and use her hind quarters more, she is "feeling the burn". She reacts to the compressions over her hips and hindquarters as if there is a little soreness. Just as we need to go slow with our own bodies and not cram 6 mos of exercise and training into 1 week, we need to give our horse a chance to adapt to a regular program of exercise.

Ever since I returned from seeing Gerd Heuschmann's clinic, I've been focused on the idea of balancing my horse or I should say, asking her to balance herself. I am improving my balance in leaps and bounds and so it makes sense that she needs to take the responsibility for herself. He suggests that while you are helping your horse balance and lift his front end, that you hold the reins as you would the handle of a pot or pan, with the rein coming over the top of your first finger and down through your fist. This keeps your from pulling back, but instead, encourages you to lift your hands more, which is easier on the horse's mouth and discourages them from leaning on the bit.

With the weather so nice, I've been able to ride out on the new trail behind our facility. It has packed gravel, so much easier on the horse's feet and legs than the deep sand. When I want to take her up or down a hill, I think "lift your head", "don't fall" and it creates a slower, more balanced step in both directions, instead of rushing through the change in the incline of the trail. The difference is dramatic. It shows once again that behavior issues under saddle (racing ahead, changing direction suddenly, stopping or resisting in transitions) is not about the horse's attitude or stubborness, but their feeling of inbalance that creates emotional tension. Imagine being a new skiing student and being asked to take off down a slope without being balanced and you can sympathize with your horse better.

This week one of my students rode her 6 year old and worked on circles and bends, so important to flexing the body and allowing the muscles to strengthen equally with stretch that takes away the tension and resistance. With an occasional "lift"of her hands to encourage her horse to carry his own weight instead of falling onto her hands over the forehand, he began to look more coordinated. He was no longer walking with front legs crisscrossing in an obvious side to side movement that wreaked of inbalance. Now he walks out with feet forward and his back muscles sliding forward and back. She has a smoother ride, he's more comfortable and low and behold, she doesn't notice the behavior problems of pulling her in one direction, stopping, resisting her leg cues to move into a trot. It all looks beautiful-simply by allowing the horse to gain the flexibility and strength he needs to feel in balance.

How often do we blame our horse's attitude, stubborness and behavior for our difficulties under the saddle. When you watch a rider who sits off balance on their horse and then asks him to perform athletic movements quietly and proficiently, when the horse is also off balance, you will understand why there is so much struggle and frustration among riders and their horses. They, like you, are not able to simply get out of bed and be a coordinated, talent athlete. The best dancers, ball players, runners, tennis players, etc practice their talent all of the time and through many months and years of building their muscles, increasing their strength and flexibility and learning to adapt to new demands on their body, they improve their performance.

I know that most people just want to "get on and ride"and figure that their horse is like their car-just get in, turn on the key and go. And if you ask nothing of your horse accept to carry you straight from point A to point B with as little effort from you or him as possible, then you should also know that you will be limited to that very same activity from now on. It's when riders want to vary from the simple task of going straight ahead, to even asking their horse to circle one time, that they will notice how NOT simple the act of riding is for them and their horse.

When I was that skiing student years ago, I was left to my own devices on a bunny hill as my companion, skied off down the slope with beautiful movements side to side, flexing and bending his body to slow and turn. Knowing nothing, and allowing gravity to simply take me where it would, I headed straight down at full speed and was stopped only because I came close to a tree (after bumping into several other skiers) and sat down to avoid a terrible crash. I still managed to jam my thumb. My heart racing with total fright, I vowed never to ski again.

Why do we assume that a horse is emotionally,mentally and physically prepared to do everything we ask, with only a minimal amount of preparation and training. Until we think of our horses as athletes who need to mold their minds and bodies, so they can do more than walk a straight line from point A to point B, we are doomed to frustrate ourselves and them at the very least and at the worst, cause permanent physical damage. Unless, you like going straight at a walk all of the time. Not me....