VOLUME 17 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

Leading affecting Movement
http://horsesforlife.com/LeadingAffectingMovement

 

 

After what seems like a lifetime of studying horses, it came to me fairly late that I could see a difference in the movement of horses before and after riding. Sometimes the horse seemed to lose, rather than gain. The freedom, the pride, the exquisite use of his entire body, the lift, the power, literally turned into pedestrian, boring, flat and often awkward. I began to look for when this change occurred.

 When was it? When did it go from incredible to dull? And why was I seeing it in some horses and not others?

 

When you look at the pictures of foals, you actually see an incredible athleticism. It is easy to find pictures of these little babies up on their hind legs flailing away with their forelegs, jumping and rearing and playing. And when you look at these pictures, you can see that all of these babies are born doing piaffe, passage and Levade. These little babies, looking like little stick horses with their long legs and tiny bodies, all skeleton and no muscle, look and seem to be doing incredible, so where did that go?

 

The most beautiful pictures of adult horses, perhaps not surprisingly, are also those of horses showing incredible movement and a connection throughout their entire body. There is a symmetry throughout.

 

While most horses often tend to look better without a rider than with one, it was surprising to see how many adult horses look dull and almost boring in their corrals and pastures. Where did the magic go?

 

Of course, there are always those certain pictures, those certain horses that absolutely take your breath away. But where more often than not, was the defining moment?

 

Did the change occur when a rider climbed onto the horse's back?

 

That is difficult to ascertain. Especially with so many horses being started at such a young age. You often see thoroughbreds getting ready for the race track at 18 months of age, so that they are ready to go on the race track at two. You see the same thing happening with reining horses and many Western horses, who are literally being started while they are still babies. You see the same thing with dressage horses, started very early and asked to perform so that they are ready to show what they can do in the sales ring at three years of age.

 

 So, is the change we see happening because young horses are being started too early? Do we have horses that are being asked to work in bear weight long before their musculoskeletal system is ready for it?

 

 This might very well be part of the process that inhibits incredible movement from truly developing. These impingements upon the body lead the horse to learn new and awkward ways of moving to compensate for the weight his body is not ready to support.

 

 How early is too early? And, will this really make a difference?

 

Personal experience working with horses that are taught to carry riders much later in life provides a valuable insight, one that every rider should experience. Once one has experienced it, there can be absolutely no doubt about the incredible difference found. The difference is so pronounced that each rider would truly benefit from experiencing it for themselves.

 

 As drastic a difference as this does make, it does not explain the lack of brilliance we see in the horse that is not yet mounted. It appears it was not just when the rider got on, it began the moment we took the horse in hand. The moment we put him under the lunge or put him in a halter and lead rope.

Can that truly be?

 

And if so, why?

 

 Wynmalen talks about how, with a lead rope in hand, we can literally teach the horse the different rein effects with the lead rope. Does it not then also make sense that if we can teach the rein effects with the lead rope, that we can interfere with the horse's movement with the lead rope the same way we can interfere with the horse's movement with the reins? And the answer is, of course, it does. Not only can we interfere with the horse on the lead rope, we can also limit the range of movement of the horse. And by teaching him a new party pattern while on the lead rope, we teach him a new way of going that he takes with him even when he is not with us.

 

Thus, not surprisingly, once we have an educated eye, we can ascertain the skill of the rider by the way the horse moves while being led. What touch and what feel does the rider have upon the lead rope? Can they work with the horse through the weight of the lead rope alone? Does the horse display freedom of movement in his shoulders, back and hindquarters while on the lead rope?

 

 The delicacy of touch shown upon the lead rope is the touch of a master horseman.

 

It is worth cultivating this delicate touch. This fineness of riding, this riding in lightness that turns our interaction with our horses into a true art from the very moment our fingertips brush upon his body, with or without the many pieces of equipment that we use upon his body, sometimes without thinking.

 

 It is thus that we will protect that delicate brilliance that we need to protect and guard through our interaction with our horses.