Recently I started straightness training with my horses without a longe line. In the video Romanesque, El Blanco, Prince Elmelund and Toronto are willing and focused and are doing their very best while they are at liberty. On the circle I am searching and striving for lateral bending, a forward down tendency and a stepping under of the inside hind leg. It is still work in progress, but it’s a start:
The forward-down tendency and lowering the horses neck is an important part of riding horses, but it is only part.
When a rider rides a horse only in forward-down – without engaging the hind legs in a proper way – the following symptoms can occur:.
- The horse leans on the rein and uses the hand of the rider for support, like a fifth leg.
- The horse shows little shoulder-freedom.
- The horse will develop only pushing ability and not any carrying ability , so he will never learn to carry the rider in balance.
- Due to the weight of the rider that is added to the front legs, strain injuries can occur.
Only running a horse onto the forehand with no parameters except the lowering of the neck can damage the horse.
We tend to think that faces of people and snouts of horses are symmetrical, but the pictures below show that they are not. In fact, they are sometimes very asymmetrical.
The right and left sides of horse’s snouts and nostrils can differ in size and shape.
