Deportment Lessons!

Can your horse carry a book on his head?

Which would you prefer when working your horse.... to exercise him/her for exercise sake, or to exercise him in a way that develops correct posture for physical development and well being?

Posture simply meaning having the correct position of body and limbs and the correct use of muscles.  Think deportment classes for horses!

For a dressage horse posture has to be one of our top priorities and the good news is that we can develop it from the ground.

In the past I've lunged Grace for exercise reasons of courses, and for my own safety before riding her to assess how calm (or not) she is from a distance - allowing her to burn off excess energy, BEFORE I get on.  I must admit that in the past lunging was more about attaining obedience to voice aids than achieving postural or physical well being.

That's no longer the case.  We are now embarking on a touch of Pilates by lunging with posture in mind.

How do we know when our horse has good posture?

Step 1: Your horse begins to stretch down reaching forward and down to the floor with his neck and head.  

Walking round in a circle on the lunge with their nose on the floor (or as close as...)  encourages them to round their back.  Down and round should be easy for our horses - they do it while they graze.

To offer this posture they have to step through from behind, which creates that lovely 'swing' in the back.  Think 'Bruce Forsyth dropping his chin down with concavity in the whole of his neck!

This video isn't the greatest demo but it was only our second time going for long and low - so you get the idea!

Step 2: You see the abdominal muscles coming into play! The 'heave line' appears and extends towards the girth as posture improves.  See below.

Granted our tummy is a little large given our period of forced rest, so the heave line is only just coming into play!

Step 3: Exhalation! Your horse begins to breath properly - from the diaphragm with lovely sighs and big exhalations to prove it - usually just as the abs engage!

It's a good idea for riders or trainers to plough through videos and photos of horses moving on the lunge and in competitions to learn to recognise this basic level of good posture.

To come full circle i'm not seriously considering asking my horses to carry books on their head but we're after the same goal - correct self carriage!

Somehow I suspect there is a lot more to it than these 3 simple steps but slowly slowly catch the monkey!