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The Serpentine, Shoulder and Haunches In By Gaye DeRusso These are also beneficial movements to teach your horse. They not only help with gait but makes your horse more controllable and more balanced. Serpentine There are different sizes of serpentines, most riders in the arena, just make a big 3 loop serpentine from one end to the other. I do that also, but since I am a trail rider, I tend to make my serpentines the same size I can make on a fire trail and I go all the way across the fire trail, from one side to the other. The serpentine is basically bending your horse one way and then the other. The movement is similar to how you see a snake move across the ground. I like to do this in the center of the arena or on the quarter line. I do this in the beginning to help warm up my horse, get him to relax, be supple and give to the bit with his head, neck, and body. Start at one end of the arena, aiming toward the opposite end. Start by walking and bending your horse to the right. So right rein against your horse's neck, pulling slightly toward the opposite hip, left rein opened to the side to support the other side of the horse. Right leg digging by the girth at the same time you pull on the rein to get the horse to bend his body around your leg. The left leg should be slightly behind the girth to prevent the hindquarters from drifting to the left. Do this for one to two strides, then straighten the horse and then bend the opposite way. So left rein against the horse's neck, pulling slightly toward the opposite hip. right rein opens up to support the other side of his body. Left leg digs in by the girth when you pull on the left rein, so horse bends his body around your left leg. Right leg goes slightly behind the girth to prevent hindquarter from drifting. Now if you are confused don't worry, just start basic and then once you get it you can use more aids to help the horse. So, think of it this way, right rein, right leg then left rein and left leg. It will work you just won't be supporting the outside of the horse. But that's ok, just get the idea down and then you can change later once you get it. The serpentine is helpful for pacey horses as you keep separating their legs, also gives your horse something to focus on if they are getting antsy or fast or barn sour. Moving the Shoulders This is very helpful to do with pacey horses, just by moving their shoulders over you can go from a pace to a gait in some horses. Works great for most Rockies and horses that do a saddle gait. The easiest way is to do it with your leg yield. So instead of having the horse move forward and sideways and forward. You will ask the horse just to move the shoulders over, then go forward then move the shoulders over. Go down the quarter line to the left. Once the horse is straight, bring your left rein slightly toward your right hip. Open your right rein toward the rail. With your left leg at the girth not behind it like in the leg yield, so left leg at the girth, press and ask your horse to move his shoulders toward the rail for one stride, then straighten him out, by pressing with your right rein against his neck and your right leg, for one step then repeat. When you get to the rail, your horse's shoulders should get there before the rest of his body if you do it right. Shoulder In is a harder movement to try. It is a movement they call two tracking because your horse's shoulders will come to the inside of the rail while his hindquarters stay on the rail. So, you will be going slightly sideways as you go down the rail. While walking around a corner in the arena that goes down the long side of arena, look toward the opposite corner, turn your shoulders slightly to the inside. Bend your horse around the corner using your left rein against the horse's neck toward your opposite hip, dig lightly with your left leg so your horse bends around it, open your right rein to support his right side. Then press with your right leg slightly behind the girth to ask him to turn as if you were going to walk diagonally across the arena. Once he starts to turn, keep him bent but now push with your left leg to ask him to walk slightly to the inside of the rail with his shoulders while keeping his hindquarter on the rail. You may need more pressure on your right rein to help lead him in the direction toward the end of the arena. It's confusing. So even though you acted like you wanted to walk across the diagonal, once he turns off the rail you want him to stay bending but walk the same direction you were going with his shoulders to the inside of the rail and the hindquarters on the rail. This is hard to do so only try and get one step in the beginning then go straight and just leg yield back to the rail. Next session try for two steps then go straight then leg yield and ask for more steps each time you work on it. I will do this usually 2 -4 times around the arena until I get some good steps, I always do it out of the corner in the beginning because it helps to set you up. If your horse won't turn to come off the rail, you need to use more right leg. If he comes off but then won't go down the arena, you need to use more left leg. You will need to alternate your legs to help him know what to do. So, use right leg to push off rail, then lighten the right leg and press with the left leg so he goes forward, if his shoulders try and go back to the rail then you use your right leg and lighten your left leg. It takes a lot of coordination on the rider's part to do this right, so the horse understands. If it's too hard, just use the moving the shoulders over at the leg yield instead. Haunches In This is also hard, but I do not think as hard as the shoulder in. It will look like your horse is bent to the outside of the arena, the shoulders are on the rail and the hindquarters will come off the rail to the inside of the arena. This is another 2-track exercise. While walking down the rail bend your horse to the outside of the arena. So, if we are going to the left, you will bend your horse to the right. Right rein against his neck slightly toward the opposite hip, left rein open to guide him down the rail so he doesn't turn and walk into the wall. Right leg behind the girth and press till his hindquarter comes off the rail and moves toward the inside of the arena. Left leg is at the girth but not pressing unless he moves his hindquarters too far over that you are going sideways. Remember to alternate your legs so the horse understands. Right leg tells him to move his hindquarters over, left leg tells him to go forward. Ask for only one good step and once you get it go straight by taking the right leg off and asking to go forward with your left leg and then try on other side of the arena. Each session in the arena try and get one more step then go straight. If he won't move his hindquarter over, carry a dressage whip in the hand next to the fence (outside) and give small taps as you press with the leg on that side. Once you can do this well, then try to do it with your horse's head straight instead of turning it toward the wall. I usually do this 2-4 times around the arena, just on the long sides of the arena. This is also great for breaking up a pace. But it also gives you control of the horse's hindquarters, so if you are riding and your horse starts to bunch up like he is going to kick out, you can move his hindquarters over so he cannot reach the horse next to you. Same thing if he tries to kick at dogs, or cars etc. Now that you can move his hindquarter, you can move his hindquarters away from the object to keep the object safe. The Circle and Leg Yield By Gaye DeRusso Lateral movements are movements where you push your horse sideways. By doing so, it can help you go from a 2-beat gait, such as a trot or pace to a 4-beat gait. It also helps your horse to become more maneuverable and safer to control. The Circle Circles are helpful if trying to separate your horse's legs, get it to reach underneath itself more to increase stride length, become more flexible and listen to the rider's aids. It is very helpful for pacey horses. Start with a smaller circle about 10 meters in size. Look around the circle and try to trace an imaginary line with your eyes to follow. If you're not good at imagination, then try putting cones in a circle pattern and ride around the outside of the cones to give you guidance. Let's start by going in a circle to the left. Your inside rein (toward the inside of the circle) will be your left rein. You are going to pull and release on this rein to get your horse to bend and follow the circle. Every time you pull on the rein, dig slightly with your inside leg (left leg) at the girth, if the horse leans on your leg, it's helpful to wear a spur. They will not lean on a spur. By coordinating your hand with your leg, it will tell your horse that when you pull on that rein, you want the horse to give with his body and bend around your leg. This will make your horse more balanced in time. With your outside rein (right rein), you will give support to guide the outside of the horse's body (right side). If the horse is cutting in on the circle open the outside rein and apply pressure, to help guide the horse out. If the horse is drifting out (to the right) then close the rein against the horse's neck to block the horse from drifting. With your outside leg (right leg), keep it right behind the girth and if the horse drifts out, apply pressure to block the horse from drifting and to control the hindquarters. If you need to block the horse from drifting, remember to lighten your inside leg, so your horse understands which leg to move away from. Make circles 2-3 times in one direction, then reverse and repeat in other direction. Remember this is good for pacey horses to do at a walk but also in gait. For trotty horses this is good to do at a walk, but if you try to gait and they are getting trotty, I raise their head and sit in more of a chair seat, but if they are still trotty then do not gait in a circle and only do the circle at a walk. Leg Yield This is a movement that requires your horse to move forward and sideways at the same time. The horse will be slightly bent away from the direction he is going. So, if you are pushing your horse off your left leg over to the right, the horse will be looking slightly to the left as you do the movement. Teaching him to move sideways in a leg yield will help improve his suppleness, straightness, and acceptance of the rider's aids. It is helpful if your horse gets distracted on the trail to give him a job to do or if you need to move him over to get out of the way of a hiker or biker. It is very helpful at separating the horse's legs and getting a pacey horse to gait. Do this in an arena or a wide road when teaching the horse. In the arena walk down the quarter line (halfway between the middle of the arena and the rail). Let's say we are walking to the left. Turn left down the quarter line, the first time you do this just walk a straight line to the other end of the arena. You will be surprised how many horses cannot walk a straight line. Repeat until your horse can walk a straight line to the other end of the arena. Use your legs and reins to keep him straight. Once he can walk a straight line again turn down the quarter line to the left. Once the horse is straight, press your left rein (inside rein) against your horse's neck, pulling slightly toward your right hip, but do not cross your rein over the neck. With your right rein (outside rein), open it to the side in the direction you are trying to go (that is to the right). The reins are guiding the horse. With your legs, bring your left leg (inside leg) slightly behind the girth and press until your horse takes a step sideways to the right. If as you press with your leg, your horse tries to speed up, pull on your reins and block the forward motion, so the only opening for your horse is to the right. Once he takes a step sideways, then take the left leg off and apply the right leg to block the horse from moving over anymore. At the same time bring your reins back to center. So basically, you are asking the horse to take a step sideways while walking and then you ask them to go straight for a step. Then you repeat and ask for another step sideways and another step straight. As your horse figures this out, in time he will move sideways then straight and understand to keep doing this till he gets back to the rail of the arena or the other side of the road. Once your horse has the idea in one direction then repeat the other way. I usually do this anywhere from 2-4 times around the arena. With the pacey horse I will do this at the walk and their gait. As it helps to separate a pacey horse's legs. I like to keep the pacey horse's head lower and neck and back, relaxed and round as I do this to help with their gait. For the trotty horse, I will do this at the walk and if I go to gait and he starts getting trotty, I will raise his head and sit more in a chair seat to help him hold his gait, but if he is still having issues staying in gait and doing the leg yield, then I will do it just at a walk, until he can hold his gait better. By Gaye DeRusso
These are the basic ways to correctly use your reins to communicate with your horse. Direct Rein It is used for steering and control. It is one of the most basic rein aids. The direct rein is when you pull the rein straight back toward your hip on the same side. Indirect Rein Is used in bending and transferring weight. The rider pulls the rein toward the opposite hip, so the rein goes against the horse's neck but not over its mane. An experienced rider can use this rein to shift the weight and balance of the horse onto the opposite side of his body. When the rein is brought across in front of the withers, the horse’s weight will shift to his opposite front leg; when the rein is brought behind the withers, the horse’s weight shifts to his opposite hind leg. Supporting Rein This rein is very important, but most people do not use it. It helps to control the outside of the horse's body when circling or making a turn. When you neck rein a horse and you are holding both reins in one hand, you are using the outside rein as a supporting rein. You always want to support both sides of the horse when riding. Leading or Open Rein Helpful for young green horses or when the horse gets stuck. The rider opens the rein away from the horse's neck and leads the horse's nose in the direction they want to go. This way you do not interfere with the horse's forward movement. Say your horse won't go through a puddle, you can use an open rein and lead left then lead right and go back and forth till you get your horse to move forward then stop reward and repeat. Just by doing this you can sometimes get through the puddle. Knowing how to use your reins correctly will avoid confusion with the horse and help you clearly tell him what to do. The more you know how to help him, the happier your horse will be. |
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