We use a chambon mainly in the beginning when we first start teaching a horse to lunge. It encourages horses that have been moving with a hollow back to stretch their frame down and out. Horses with undeveloped toplines need to lower the poll down and forward to allow the back to begin to lift and give room for the hind legs to swing deeper under the body.

A horse must first learn to move forward with impulsion but many horses aren’t ready for side reins (they haven’t developed the correct contact with the bit) and a horse will never be able to reach under his body with his hind legs if his back is hollow. We will also sometimes have riders ride with the chambon who haven’t developed enough themselves as riders to ask the horse stretch. This works in …