Well Max had another assessment today and it has been determined that he needs a lot of work. He has good stamina, and can really go. But he has had limited training and thus does not know how to handle fear, anger, and frustration. The good news is that he is not really a very emotional guy. But the bad news is that his steady good nature has masked a lack of training and education. And even his good nature has a limit. When that limit is reached, he does not have the right tools to handle his emotional outburst and it manifests itself as bucking. In this video below, you will see my intern Emma working on getting him to be much more responsive to the leg.
To get a horse under control, we need to work on just getting command of certain parts. I would never be able to say to a green horse "Calm Down !!" such a command would be meaningless. Thus, when the horse becomes agitated, instead of saying "Calm Down", I would say, turn your head to the left, and move your hind quarters to the right.
When the horse has his head bent to one side, you gain a lot of leverage on his neck so that it is difficult for him to throw his head down and buck.
When the horse is moving his hindquarters to the side, the power of the haunches is redirected sideways instead of forward, (as in a bolting horse) or upward. (as in a bucking horse)
When the horse is performing an easily understandable, maneuver, he gains a great deal of confidence in the rider and in himself because he knows that he is doing something correct. There is no ambiguity about what is being asked of him, and he can easily deliver. The posture that the horse is put into greatly discourages bucking because it become physically difficult to do, the movement greatly discourages bolting because the horse is bent and moving in circles.
Many people underestimate how much a horse can be asked to move the hindquarters. In this video, Max is asked to move his hindquarters to the side but he is still a bit sluggish, and particularly sluggish in his turn to the left. Over time he will become better, more responsive, happier to deliver, and more fit to perform the task. It should be noted that the horse should not be asked to perform this exercise for more than 5 minutes at a time, and certainly not more than twice a day. It should also not be done more than 4 or 5 times per week as it can become fairly strenuous. Once the horse has learned it well and is fit, I work on this no more than once or twice a week, and then only for about a minute or two if the horse is performing it properly and with alacrity.
This is also a great way to start developing a lot of impulsion. The horse will become much more attuned and responsive to the leg. Since the leg is applied one at a time, the horse will learn the importance of moving off the leg one at a time. When the horse is really moving off the leg with alacrity, then the rider may apply both legs to drive the horse forward.
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