"First the mouth..." Part 1

Hey everyone!

Thanks for the great response on the last few posts, a special thank-you to those of you from Peru, Germany and Sweden who have been kind enough to send me e-mails (dressage.blog@gmail.com).

I'm writing this post on the concept of 'getting the mouth first' before attempting anything in dressage (or riding for that matter) after an encounter I had with a coach a little while ago that completely revolutionized the way I ride/think about riding. Although I had been riding for quite a few years before this conversation, and understood to a certain extent that the horse's mouth was important, it wasn't until I was told (quite vehemently and with a lot of gusto) by a very cool trainer that if I didn't get my horse's mouth everything I did was basically useless and counter-productive (pretty harsh stuff really, especially if you've been invested in a riding style for many years and then are told something that makes you feel like a horrible rider/human being/coach/trainer/person - I'm a tad sensitive). As if this conversation wasn't mind boggling enough, the horse I was riding that I thought was so wonderful and light was apprently doing nothing more than (and I quote) "avoiding the bit entirely and holding his head in a 'pretty' position like a trained monkey -- you MUST get his mouth! -- He is no better than the horse which takes the bit between his teeth and pulls with all his force to avoid your hand"

The mouth is the single most important and sensitive part of the horse - it is a direct center of communication, it is the source of relaxation and it is the source of pretty much everything you need to get your horse to do just about anything. The mouth is also a very easy thing to hurt, ruin, make oversensitive and/or dull. Let's just put it this way: I don't allow any of my beginner students (or anyone with an unsteady hand or bad balance) to ride in a bit. They all go in bosals (when not on the lunge) or have the reins attached to the noseband or cavesson (when on the lunge) until I (and my horses) can trust their hands not to hurt the horses' mouths.

An anatomical sidenote here, the way the jaw of the horse is shaped is somewhat different to the way in which the human jaw is build (shocker, I know). The horse's lower jaw is rather pointed at the tips and is shaped somewhat like a 'U'. The tips of the jaw (i.e. the upper ends of the U) are narrow and pointed and therefore much more fragile than the rest of the jaw. The gum is thicker as it reaches the tips of the lower jaw and as a result the number of nerve endings and blood vessles increase towards the ends of the U. Alright, so where does the bit rest? Only a few mm away from the most sensitive and fragile point of the entire jaw. * When our hand pulls the bit downward (either through pulling or by riding with our hand in our lap/knee/anywhere lower than the bellybutton) we exert incredible amounts of force on the very fragile points of the jaw and the pressure in pounds/sq. inch becomes rather impressive. * Now, we have to remember here that when the bit is resting kindly in the mouth it is only a few milimeters away from this point, therefore just about any pulling action will case the bit to land on a very uncomfortable spot in the mouth.

Let's back up a second here. I have nothing against bits - even stronger bits (if the rider is skilled enough and the horse is well trained enough). Nor do I have anything against a hackamore, bosal or any other bitless option (albeit I tend to use these options only for beginner riders because I feel that you don't get the level of communication you do with a bit). Lastly, I don't think we should all ride in the circus with our hands above our heads and our eyes blindfolded while hoping (praying?) that our horses will stop out of their own volition.

So, the mouth is important, and avoiding the bit isn't lightness... so how do we fix this problem sans gimmicks?

1. Re-introduction to the bit from the ground using a series of flexion exercises. From what I understand many trainers use this system, but the clearest explanation on how to perform these (in my opinion) comes from a book written by Philippe Karl called Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage.

2. Re-introduction of bit and rein aids under saddle with clear definition between "action-reaction" and "demi-arret" (also adapted from Philippe Karl but present in other works by Descarpentry amongst other french classical masters)

3. Flexions under saddle.

Off to clinic 1!

Hey eveyone!

I'm off to a clinic this weekend to learn about communicating with horses via groundwork and leadership - could be interesting. Will let you all know how it goes at the end of the weekend. I'm a bit skeptical of how this is going to transfer to under saddle work, but I'm always up for a challenge - and who wouldn't enjoy teaching their horses how to bow and do fun tricks?  ;)

Have a great weekend! - Happy Riding

Dressage Person

Update: Back from clinic!

Well that was fun! =) I got a horse to lay down with me in the middle of the arena and have a snooze whereby there were 11 other horses doing bomb-proofing things like tarps and cracking whips everywhere (picture coming soon :P). Very interesting clinic, I learned a lot about bomb-proofing horses and getting them to trust you as their leader. Don't think I've ever been to a clinic where there were so many horses in one arena so chill with so many weird things going on around them. I've always wanted to know how to lie a horse down, so now I know, and it's one more thing crossed off the 'to-do' bucket list.

Two weeks from now I'm headed back up to Phillipe Karl's clinic and am seriously looking forward to it. Yay!

Happy riding everyone.

Great Lesson

Hey there,

This is more of an informal post. I just got back from teaching a good friend of mine who's riding a rather old (20-something) tb. She's riding him as a favor for his owners to get him back into some shape so that he can at least enjoy his retirement and move properly. Anyways, my friend is a lovely rider - very solid seat, quiet leg, super talented - but for some reason the horse she rides gets super hot and he often tosses his head, gets unbalanced and then races off at whatever gait he feels like (throwing in a buck or two). He's been getting much better (more flexible, longer stride, softer mouth), but still this rushing problem. SO, I hopped on and walked/trotted him and discovered an interesting hitch. When he pulls his head up and in the air, the instinct one has is to lift your hands higher and then wait there for him to release - BUT when I did this he began to race off, so I immediately gave him a lot of rein (without losing the contact, but being very kind and giving) - and, suddenly, he slowed down. Interesting - since it appeared to me that my friend was releasing - so I trotted around some more, and every time he resisted with the bit I'd place him and then give. All of a sudden, a round, balanced horse (albeit for only 3 strides at a time, but that's pretty great for an old guy with no muscles - and so we'd repeat with lots of praise).  So, I put my friend back on, and tried to make her give more often. She was obviously resistant to the idea of letting a horse that takes off take more rein, but I finally convinced her to give it a try - only problem was that even though she was giving, it was barely a give. So using some psychology here (and sensing my friend was still a bit tense) I told her that every time he slowed down and balanced himself at trot she had to pretend that she was riding Totilas and he'd just done 15 clean tempi-changes down the diagonal and praise her horse accordingly. Not only did this help her release more clearly, but all the tension left her body and she was much happier with the small improvements her horse was making (small in comparison to tempi changes, I suppose, but I thought self-carriage was a pretty big step!).  So there's my new teaching trick of the day - next time I have a student I feel is 'death gripping (not pulling, just not releasing)' their horse I'm going to make them pretend they've just ridden a super fancy amazing movement and/or just won a grand prix test and to praise their horses like they've done just that. Something tells me both the horse and rider will appreciate it ;)

The Shoulder-In (Part 2; Purpose & Execution)

So, now that we've cleared up some misconceptions about the shoulder-in, I'd like to discuss the many purposes of this exercise, some ways of performing it for schooling purposes and how to perform it on a dressage test. =)

Purpose:


For the horse:

• To make the horse more flexible, supple and light
• To develop collection (including piaffe)
• To improve extensions
• To prevent horses from rearing/spooking

For the rider:

• To develop coordination of the aids
• To develop 'feel'
• To make the rider's aids lighter and thus the horse lighter
• To develop seat

Who should perform the shoulder-in?

• A horse that accepts a very basic contact with the bit by softly mouthing when asked and who has an understanding of stretching into a very light contact until the neck is horizontal (therefore even very green but well started horses who are only in walk work can begin this movement). 
• A rider who is able to ask the horse to lightly mouth the bit and has the ability to use their hands steadily, has a quiet leg, and has an understanding of weight in the saddle (if only in walk).

So how do you perform the shoulder-in on a well schooled horse?

In three easy steps:

1) sit in the direction of the movement (i.e. if you are on the right rein, with a right bend, going left, sit to the left; if you are on the left rein with a left bend, going right, sit to the right)

2) Bend your horse to the inside as if starting a circle and then lighten the inside rein (by pushing forward towards the horse's ears). ** remember, bend does not occur in the rib-cage and therefore to achieve bend what you need is for the neck to bend to the inside without your horse's head tilting and without the horse escaping through the haunch by swinging it to the outside**

3) Use a very light inside leg to maintain the shoulder-in and to encourage the horse to cross over with his forelegs.

Ok, so now that you know how to do it on a horse that understand quite well what it is supposed to do, how do you perform the shoulder-in on a horse that doesn't know how to do it? And more importantly, how do you help the horse develop into an athlete by using the shoulder-in?

1. For horses that are really stuck in the shoulder and have difficulty bending in the neck, it's best to start schooling shoulder in by first having the horse bend it's neck almost 90 degrees and continue to walk on two tracks (i.e. the front feet and the back feet are both facing the same way and the shoulders are directly in front of the hips). In fact, most horses beginning sideways movements should start this way as it allows the horse to understand that simply because his head is facing a certain direction does not mean the body has to follow. Once your horse is able to do this with a very light contact in the rein and with little-to-no difficulty on both sides of the arena (for approximately the entire long side of the arena, and is able to do it in a slow walk and a more active walk) with his neck at or almost at vertical and with no poll flexion, you can start moving the shoulders off the track by following steps 1-3. If your horse does only one step, this is great! Simply make a small volte (8 meter circle) and try again for a few steps. This exercise can be very difficult for horses that are stuck, so be happy with only a few steps at a time and be sure to reward generously and lighten the aids as soon as the horse crosses his front legs.
2. Once your horse is able to bend it's neck at almost 90 degrees, in both directions, and is starting to understand the concept of shoulders off the track and forelegs crossing (if only for a few steps), you can begin counter-bending shoulder-in exercises and shallow loops in trot (with long strides, not rushing strides, but long strides - especially in the correct bend). To begin, start with a small volte and half way through the volte, change your weight to the outside hip bone, open your outside rein and return to the rail (so you do a small circle with a very distinct counter-bend/neck rein).  You can vary the size, shape, distance, angle of these loops and inter-change them with correct bend, add in a few steps of shoulder in when returning to the rail in counter-bend and on the track before beginning a circle. Your horse should start to feel very maneuverable and as though you could place the head and neck in any direction and move his body in any direction regardless of the placement of his head/neck. This is an important exercise because it improves the shoulder-in, the musculature of the horse, and prepares the horse for half-pass, counter-canter, and flying changes. In addition, it will help your extensions, collections and transitions between piaffe and passage. Just remember that when doing this exercise you must first have the horse's mouth, then you can change the horse's neck position and only when the neck position is where you want it and the horse is giving in the jaw can you pick your direction. 

**Remember: this is the gymnasticizing part of the exercise, therefore the very big neck bend isn't what we're aiming for at the show, but is a great way to lengthen the muscles of the horse and thus make him more flexible and more understanding of the fact that his head is not the source of direction. In addition, if you stick to the exercises above at walk and trot over the course of 2-4 weeks (depending on the stiffness/education level of your horse), your horse's neck will develop much 'lifting muscle' right at the whither (thus the whither is 'higher' and the horse's back is 'up') and will also help develop the shoulder (no more muscle wastage behind the shoulder). You may also notice that your horse's 'hunter bump' begins to disappear or get smaller.**

Once you have steps 1 and 2 completely mastered, you can begin schooling the shoulder-in for competition. Because you have completed the above steps, it will be very easy for you and your horse to get a correct angle, bend and action on your test because the requirements on the tests are actually quite a bit easier than the exercises you have just completed =) Simply ask for the neck bend, sit to the direction of movement (the outside of the bend), use a supporting inside leg (not pressure, but just there) and allow your horse to complete the shoulder-in down the rail (really, it's that easy!). Remember that on the test, the movement is generally performed (if not always) in collection. To achieve this in shoulder-in simply sit up taller, into your seatbones, take a deep breath and think 'sloooow'. Also try and imagine how the collection will feel in your body - especially in your abs and upper thigh. You may also use a 'demi-arret' (a french version of a half-halt - very different from the german half-halt and to be discussed in a future post in detail) to put your horse on his haunch (by lifting his neck - thus using it as a lever) and encouraging the collection in the movement. 

There you have it! A somewhat complete version of the history, misconceptions, purpose and execution of the shoulder-in. Good news is that the shoulder-in is the foundation of so many advanced movements that by completing the above exercises you will have a horse that is totally free in the shoulders, has great  musculature, an understanding of correct collection, excellent bend, and a perfect foundation for beginning more fun exercises like the counter-canter, piaffe, extended trot etc. I have not covered the purpose of the shoulder-in for correcting behaviours like rearing in this 2-part post - perhaps in the future.

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, comments, anything please post them below or e-mail me at dressage.blog@gmail.com

Happy Riding!