It's all about balance! Do you recognize if your horse is horizontally and vertically balanced?
My horse Seni (2013), horizontally on the forehand and vertically out of alignment and falling into the circle.
Horizontal imbalance
The natural balance of the horse is that they carry more weight on their forehand, about 3/5 of the weight on the front legs and 2/5 of the weight on the hind legs. That is normal, as the neck and head are relatively heavy. There is no problem with this, it even helps them to easily step forward to the next piece of grass.
Problems only arise when the riders weight is added and the front legs have to carry the extra weight of the rider too. Now we have to help them to get horizontally balanced and distribute the weight more equally over the front and hind legs. From horizontal balance, we want to shift even more weight to the hind legs, to activate the carry and spring function of the hind legs and move into collection to lift the sternum and free the shoulders. To be able to do this, we have to strengthen the hind legs and make them more bendable in all joints by gymnastic exercises (lateral work).
Can you see if your horse has more weight on the front legs? Are the front legs vertical under the body? Horses are not designed to carry people. If you want to ride, even more weight is added to the front legs, so your horse has a higher risk for front leg injuries like navicular. It's our responsibility to help them gain strength and get better balanced to prepare them for riding.
Vertical imbalance
When a horse takes a turn and he is leaning inward, he will put his head out in order not to fall. The head of the horse is the ‘balancing weight’ at the end of the spine. The inside front leg loads more weight, so longeing a horse in this posture can create injuries in the front legs.
If you look at your horse in front, can you see if there is more weight on 1 front leg or is the weight equally balanced over both front legs. On a circle, is the head pointing out in order to counterbalance him/herself to prevent from falling in?
When a horse loses its vertical balance, it will speed up. We have to help the horse to be vertically balanced and keep the head and neck aligned above the sternum. The inside hind leg has to step under the centre of the body of the horse so that the outside shoulder is free to swing the outside front leg into the turn.
Spinal alignment
The shape of the spine, from cervical (neck), thoracic, lumbar, sacrum to tail also has a preferred bending (some horses have an S shape). My horse Seni has a slight curve to the left. In my spine there is also a slight curve to the left, so our left turn is much easier than the right turn. You need to be aware of your own asymmetry as well. For instance, which turn in your upper body is easier, left or right?
Diagonal imbalance
As a result from the above asymmetries, there is the diagonal imbalance. If your horse has a preferred right front leg, a more pushing left hind leg and a spine that has slight left curve, it will result in a diagonal push over the right shoulder, meaning the horse will easily drift away over the right shoulder.
If your horse is horizontally and vertically imbalanced, the inside front leg on the circle gets most of the weight and that can create problems like navicular disease. Therefore, it is important to balance your horse over 4 legs, preferable even more weight on the hind legs, and keep the neck and head between the shoulders.
When you and your horse are truly connected, you can help your horse get better balanced at liberty!
Some people ask how long it takes to get these results and what tools are needed. There is NO quick fix and the tools can be as simple as conscious breathing and body language. As you can see from the picture above, it's the same horse a couple of years later, his weight more balanced over 4 legs, even in liberty. So it's not the reins that give you the horizontal or vertical balance!
2013
In the first picture (2013) you can see how my horse Seni is falling on the shoulders, putting more weight on the front legs and his hind legs are pushing him forward.
In the turn you can see how he is leaning inward and that more weight is carried on the inside front leg. You can imagine that it will not be healthy for the front legs to ride a horse that is not balanced!
2017
In the second picture (2017) he is horizontally more balanced, there is even more weight on the hind quarters now, his hind legs are stepping under his body and are carrying the weight instead of pushing.
On the circle he is now bending into the circle, his inside hind leg is stepping under and the outside shoulder is free to swing into the circle. The head is a tiny bit too much into the circle, the nose should stay in between the shoulder blades.
Horses easily over bend at the base of the neck, so it is important that the horse keeps the head in front of the body, so the energy can flow through the spine from the hind legs (the engine of the horse), over the back to the front. If the neck is over bent, the energy is lost over the shoulder.
We want to take our horse from natural balance to horizontal balance and then even to collection. We want freedom of the shoulders, equal bending to the left and right in the body, more flexibility throughout the whole body. Therefore, we need a systematic set of gymnastic exercises to contract certain muscles so that other muscles can stretch and lengthen. We want to train the hind legs to become stronger and make the carrying phase of the hind legs longer than the pushing phase.
Take the time it takes, developing strength and flexibility takes years! It’s best to take one step at a time, enjoy the journey, believe in yourself and listen to your horse.
If you would like to learn more and see if my way of teaching is a good fit for you and your horse, you can get the Lateral Movements mini-course. It has 4 videos that will prepare you for lateral work.
You can get these 4 videos for only € 27!
The biggest course I have created is the Lateral Movements Simplified course. It's a 6-month journey where you will learn how to explain all lateral movements to your horse on the ground. The course starts only twice a year, on January 1st and on July 1st.
I know from running this course a couple of times that it is completely possible for every horse and every rider to learn all lateral movements on the ground (shoulder in, haunches in, renvers, half pass and pirouette) to help your horse build strength and flexibility to prepare for shifting weight and collection so that your horse can carry you in a healthy way.
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Vorden, the Netherlands
info@lucieklaassen.com
(31) 641 206 107
My dream/mission
I want to make a soulful and inspirational contribution to the horse world where welfare, connection and communication between human and horse are the basis of everything we do with our horse.
My Philosophy
I believe everyone can learn how to connect to your authentic self to become the human your horse WANTS to be with. Understand and feel the depth of the breath, listen to the wisdom of your body and connect from the heart. From that place help your horse become stronger, more balanced, flexible and collected so that you can enjoy a happy and healthy life together!
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