Things Fall Apart

Here I'll try to explain how to teach the horse to understand collection and engagement in motion by using work in hand.

The following exercise:

* Strengthens the neck muscles to the withers in order to increase strength between the shoulders and the head

* Develops sensitivity of the mouth

* Develops muscles of front and hind ends

* Makes all joints more elastic

We will start work on collected motion on the easiest of the gaits - the walk. I start with work in hand because it is easy for the horse to do because he is not carrying the burden of a human's weight. Without a rider he can more easily learn to make his back round and stay softly on the bit and engage his hindquarters under his body. If you perfected the bending exercises I talked about in an earlier article, that means horse knows how to open his jaw and give at the poll - but if you did not, you can also teach him to stay on the bit and be light doing this exercise. For this exercise, I put away the lunge line and take a 120cm dressage whip, which will be extension of my hand. I lead the horse to the arena wall and let's say I track left, and stand at the horse's shoulder, facing forward. I take the reins over the horse's head and hold the end of them in my left hand together with the dressage whip. The whip should be invisible for the horse. In my right hand, I hold both snaffle reins very close to the snaffle rings (under the chin), holding them firmly and at about an arm's length so there is some distance between the horse and I. I try to hold the head up so the poll is the highest point of the horse. Do not worry about the horse's face being at the vertical - we will get there later.

Moving forward

The first step, without collection and engagement, we teach the horse to move forward staying with the trainer. I do a couple of steps forward making a clucking sound. If the horse does a step or two following me, I stop and pat him. He should understand that now he is supposed to stay with me and not to be by himself. If the horse just stays there I gently touch him with the end of my whip right behind the girth. If the horse is lazy and does not move, ask harder. If he still does not move, we should realize that the horse does not understand what is asked of him. He is puzzled. He does not see the whip but he feels it but still won't move. You need to remember that the motion is supposed to start from behind. If you just pull on the reins, the horse most definitely will stand there and you can pull as hard as you want but he is going to win. So, how do we get him to move - and move collected? What is going on with this resistance and how do we solve it?

Resistance

Rule number one in all horse disciplines is the desire to move forward. Rule number two is that you should realize that the horse resents everything new and will look for a way out - how not to do the things that he does not understand. And once he gets away with some trick, he will pull the same trick over and over again.

Ok, so what exactly is going on here: The horse is blocked from moving outside by the wall and on the inside by the whip (which is behind my back on the left). Where can the horse go if he decides to resist? He cannot go down through the ground. He can try to go backwards but I will not let him by touching him with the dressage whip. He might try is to rear. Then I would firmly pull the reins down. When he goes forward - I praise him. He supposed to understand that the only way out is to move forward off the touch from the whip behind the girth, (That's where rider's leg will be applied when riding) If the touch of the whip is too strong horse might trot forward. Then I firmly restrict his attempt pulling up and back on the reins. So this exercise is a matter of finding the right balance between how much to pull on the reins and how much to push the horse forward with the whip - and helping the horse figure out that moving forward is what we want. You must praise him for moving forward so he understands that is what you want.

As you work on finding the right amount of hand and whip, it is necessary to watch the horse's ears. If they start moving slowly in different directions that means to watch out for unpredictable move on the part of the horse. Be alert and reduce the demands. It is better to stop and wait a few seconds letting him relax for a moment before asking again. A quiet horse usually will move forward without too much trouble after a few attempts. But a hot horse might jump or rear. Be careful. Stay away from the front hooves. Pretty soon if you're careful and patient any horse will understand that the easiest way out is to walk besides the trainer. Do not stop insisting on your demands. Be persistent. If you give up, the horse will learn that you are a push over and will learn to take advantage of you.

To review - the right hand asks the horse to move forward left one touches him with the whip behind the girth. Using this method we are teaching the horse first to engage the hind legs (touch of the whip does the trick) and push himself forward with them. This is a very basic part of dressage.

Collection with forward motion

We have just taught the horse to understand that he is supposed to move forward, staying with the trainer. Now we complicate the task by asking the horse not only to move forward off the whip but also stay on the bit and be light in hand. The same technique is applied as was used for teaching the horse to open his mouth, give the jaw and yield in the poll. As soon as he does that - let the pressure go but keep light contact. As soon as horse gives you the jaw he will yield in the poll - so watch carefully for chewing.

Ok, for this next phase I am once again walking, tracking left by the fence by horse's shoulder. His nose is stretched out. He's just learned to move forward off the whip. Now I apply pressure on the bit pulling it backwards with little tugs. The horse will be confused. The whip makes him to move forward, but on other hand his forward motion is restricted by the bit applying pressure in the opposite direction. I keep applying the whip and pulling on snaffle. Horse must be walking. As soon as he opens his mouth by giving me his lower jaw and starts chewing on the bit I immediately release the pressure applied on his lower jaw.

The horse will soon realize that in this position (head at the vertical and poll is the highest point) he does not feel uncomfortable. I release the pressure, pat the horse and walk