The Horse’s Full Range Of Motion
This is Karen Loshbaugh on Perhaps, and today we are going to once again do a demonstration, with a horse that has a more advanced level of training.
This horse has shown through I1 successfully, Karen won her silver medal on the horse. It has been trained exclusively by us for some 5 years or so. We are going to demonstrate how we begin at the same place. These foundation exercises, developing the horse through the top line are something that you do at every level of training. You should always come back to it to relieve the tension across the horse’s back, and that is why they are so much more willing to work because we are letting them out of that tension.
So now what we are going to do is Karen is going to bring the horse up and bring her all the way into collection going through the stages of the working trot. This is one thing that your horse should never lose, just because it is Grand Prix doesn’t mean it’s stuck in collected trot, that is very contrary to how one should think about dressage. So there she is in a nice working trot, the horse is still quite flat, but nicely engaged working through her back. Now she is going to sit to the trot and bring the horse on up into collection. Notice she keeps the same rhythm and look how the horse begins to elevate and is lowering behind. The hind leg and the front diagonal pair are still moving on exactly the same step, very nice!
This is a horse, that as a mover is not that great by contemporary standards, she is more of a Thoroughbred type horse with not a lot of natural lift (as are most older breeds like Lusitanos, Lipizzaners, and these kinds of horses). But we show how through correct movements you can develop that lift, she is beautiful in the collected trot! Now she will let the horse stretch again and show you the whole range of motion. Just like a person, you don’t want to go to the gym and just work half a muscle (Example: If you were doing a bicep exercise you wouldn’t want to curl it just half way, you would want to go the full range). We want them to use their full range of muscles so they develop fully. If you never use the full range of muscles, the horse will never fully develop and it will never get connected across the top line.
So look how beautifully and seamlessly she stretches into the contact again. Beautiful swinging trot behind without any loss of rhythm whatsoever. So she shows us one more time. Karen will bring her back into collection through the working trot, little quicker this time, and all the way back into collection. Notice how light the reins are, the horse is now in self carriage. Notice how loose the curb rein is, when you see people riding and the curb rein is straight back that’s not dressage folks, that’s holding a horse together against your hands.
This is what a horse looks like when it is correctly trained, it becomes light and in self carriage, and what a beautiful picture it is! Watch with what ease, when she wants to make a downward transition for instance, is she just stretches up through her back and lets her come back to a walk. Beautifully done, and then she lets her stretch back out in the walk. So in all three gaits as your horse develops you want to always come back to the foundation, then you simply go as high as you can each day, always coming back to the foundation work for your warm up and your warm down. That’s our lesson for today!
7 responses to “The Horse’s Full Range Of Motion”
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Fiona Wallis says: Hi I found your videos through Facebook. Really helpful thanks how do I get my horse to stretch all the way down in the first place? Do I just fiddle and “milk” the reins until he comes down? We are doing Pre novice eventing and our dressage test asks us to perform a 20m circle rising trot with the horse stretching down. I can get him to come down a little but not all the way. He gets very tense on competition days and this reflects in his results unfortunately. I have to relax myself as well. He is Aust Stock Horse so his natural movement isn’t great and I was thinking of making him go over raised trotting poles to try and get his movement a bit more… Something other than a low shuffle.
Hope you have time to reply. Fiona 🙂 Qld Australia
Admin says: Hi Fiona,
Yes, we do use cavaletti’s to help improve the horse’s movement and get them to work over their topline at certain stages of their training but the horse already needs to have the back engaged. A horse can go over trot poles with his back hollow. This could be one of the issues of why he isn’t stretching very well, especially if he is tense. They need to have impulsion and important that they flex at the the jaw and poll, and they understand moving away from the inside leg to the outside rein. The feeling is that when you give forward with the reins they keep following it so they can keep the connection and seek the bit.
Keep checking back (we add new video blogs weekly) plus we will be giving people an option for “online training”…
Also important to remember that a horse cannot stretch down if it is being pinched by an ill-fitting saddle, or has pain in it’s body that limits its physical capability to lift it’s back and belly. The trainer, rider, tack, and horse must all work together for harmony…
Admin says: Well said and there will be a video blog covering this subject from a Trainer’s perspective. An ill fitting saddle is a huge conflict of the aids. The rider is trying to engage the horse’s back and encourage him to lift it and stretch over the top line while the saddle is hitting on the negative reflex points causing the horse to hollow it’s back away from the pain and discomfort. If the angle of the saddle tree doesn’t allow the shoulder blades free movement the horse will not extend out of the shoulder and can produce a very stilted motion. As Dr. Robson pointed out, the inability of a horse to stretch is often caused by a saddle tree that is too narrow at the withers. This does not allow the trapezius muscles to expand as the horse’s neck lowers causing the horse to lift it’s head up and drop it’s back to avoid the discomfort. I am glad that we heard from Dr. Robson DVM because I have seen her book/DVD “How to Recognize the Horse in Pain”. An excellent source if you are unsure of your saddle fit or feel that your horse’s behavioral or performance issues are caused by pain or discomfort. For in depth saddle fit tips there are excellent ones on youtube “Schleese Saddle Fit Tips”.
Amber says: I would love to get articles to print on how to engage your horses back.
Amazing demonstration. Congratulations. It looks so easy, as with most of difficult things…
Julia Brown says: Wonderful wonderful wonderful. So helpful and much to aspire to.
Hi I found your videos through Facebook. Really helpful thanks how do I get my horse to stretch all the way down in the first place? Do I just fiddle and “milk” the reins until he comes down? We are doing Pre novice eventing and our dressage test asks us to perform a 20m circle rising trot with the horse stretching down. I can get him to come down a little but not all the way. He gets very tense on competition days and this reflects in his results unfortunately. I have to relax myself as well. He is Aust Stock Horse so his natural movement isn’t great and I was thinking of making him go over raised trotting poles to try and get his movement a bit more… Something other than a low shuffle.
Hope you have time to reply. Fiona 🙂 Qld Australia
Hi Fiona,
Yes, we do use cavaletti’s to help improve the horse’s movement and get them to work over their topline at certain stages of their training but the horse already needs to have the back engaged. A horse can go over trot poles with his back hollow. This could be one of the issues of why he isn’t stretching very well, especially if he is tense. They need to have impulsion and important that they flex at the the jaw and poll, and they understand moving away from the inside leg to the outside rein. The feeling is that when you give forward with the reins they keep following it so they can keep the connection and seek the bit.
Keep checking back (we add new video blogs weekly) plus we will be giving people an option for “online training”…
Also important to remember that a horse cannot stretch down if it is being pinched by an ill-fitting saddle, or has pain in it’s body that limits its physical capability to lift it’s back and belly. The trainer, rider, tack, and horse must all work together for harmony…
Well said and there will be a video blog covering this subject from a Trainer’s perspective. An ill fitting saddle is a huge conflict of the aids. The rider is trying to engage the horse’s back and encourage him to lift it and stretch over the top line while the saddle is hitting on the negative reflex points causing the horse to hollow it’s back away from the pain and discomfort. If the angle of the saddle tree doesn’t allow the shoulder blades free movement the horse will not extend out of the shoulder and can produce a very stilted motion. As Dr. Robson pointed out, the inability of a horse to stretch is often caused by a saddle tree that is too narrow at the withers. This does not allow the trapezius muscles to expand as the horse’s neck lowers causing the horse to lift it’s head up and drop it’s back to avoid the discomfort. I am glad that we heard from Dr. Robson DVM because I have seen her book/DVD “How to Recognize the Horse in Pain”. An excellent source if you are unsure of your saddle fit or feel that your horse’s behavioral or performance issues are caused by pain or discomfort. For in depth saddle fit tips there are excellent ones on youtube “Schleese Saddle Fit Tips”.
I would love to get articles to print on how to engage your horses back.
Amazing demonstration. Congratulations. It looks so easy, as with most of difficult things…
Wonderful wonderful wonderful. So helpful and much to aspire to.