From: patty@alpha.larc.nasa.gov (Patty Howell)
Subject: Re: help with balance  (was help with stubborn horse)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA  USA
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 20:41:56 GMT

In article <14807@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu> pallas@cephalo.neusc.bcm.tmc.edu (Sarah Pallas) writes:
>In article <1992Sep13.214220.152@cco.caltech.edu>
>deblev@nimoy.ipac.caltech.edu (Debbie Levine) writes:
>  The idea is to adjust the
> >reins long enough so that the horse's natural head carriage is
> >not restricted by them, and you have to drive them forward into
>  >taking a contact just as you do when ridden. 
>  
>How do you do this?  When I use the whip at the trot, he either
>canters or just gets quicker at the trot.
[...]
>
> 
>We've just had his teeth floated, but I'd like to try a milder bit and
>see if he'd be more accepting of it.  Trouble is that I own about 10
>bits but they are all harsher than the one he has now.  Soon I will
>own one of every kind of bit on the market!
>
>Sarah Pallas and Monty
>
>


Sarah,

Sometimes it pays to step back and take a look at "the big picture"
The things that you are describing are classic of a horse on his
forehand, chasing his balance downhill.
And I think you realize this. You said in one post that he couldn't
do short turns or quick stops because he was too heavy on his forehand.
That is something that you can change.

You asked me once if my background was western, because it sounded
like I had a handy western horse. Keep in mind that a handy
horse is not born handy, any more than he his born "western." Both
are purely in the hands of his trainer (that's you). 

You asked how you could get a horse to step in under himself using
sidereins, because whenever you asked for more stride,
you got faster steps. The answer is that you have got to help the
horse with his balance.

Let me see if I can convince you that balance is everything:
Think of a sprint runner, leaning into the tape at the finish line.
(Note that they only do this at the last second) He cannot stop right
away, because he is "chasing his balance downhill." Think of him trying
to jump a hurdle in that position! A runner, or a horse, cannot be
athletic chasing their balance. Now, instead of that runner being
on a flat track, assume he's going downhill. Instead of long strides
being off balance, very quickly you can visualize shorter and shorter
strides being more and more off balance has his upper body is thrown 
forward. In fact, he'll be lucky if he doesn't fall on his face.
Have I convinced you that balance is everything? "Without
it a horse is good for nothing, with it he is good for everything"
(or words to that effect...William Cavendish, The Duke of Newcastle)

Now then, your horse can be taught to carry himself from behind in a
natural frame (that means without collection) and to prepare for 
transitions (changes of gait, changes in direction,etc) if you can
learn how to manage the horse's balance. There is nothing magic to
this. A new bit is not going to give you good hands, nor teach the
horse good balance. They will only help pay the rent for the tack shop.
(A fact I think you're quickly coming to realize). Sidereins won't
help until the horse carries himself in good balance.

In training a horse, you are trying to "educate" him. The tools you
use in that education are your aids: voice, hands, legs, shifts of weight.
Imagine a teacher repeating the calculus lesson to fourth graders with
a different color chalk each day, resulting in a classroom of students that
don't enjoy lessons anymore, but know they have to go to school, whether
they like it or not, and whether or not they have any hope of understanding.
The lesson is repeated, and white chalk may be easier to read than the 
purple, but there will
never be hope of understanding until the foundation has been laid to
make comprehension possible. It is even worse when the teacher is struggling
to understand the lessons at the same time. *Repeating the same lesson
in a different bit will never make the lesson clear.*

Teach your horse how to carry himself from behind in a natural frame
and you will indeed understand more than most riders ever understand.
Furthermore, you will have acquired "the gift of good hands." 

patty@alpha.larc.nasa.gov
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian