Ever heard anyone say that? Have you ever said it? I know I have said it in the past. Horses that pull or charge forward at their own speed are technically behind the leg.
You cannot ask a horse to push forward if he is already running. The cause of pulling and running is usually related to nervousness, mental tension, fear or a combination of all three. It is more often found in mature horses that have not had the best experience or training. Young horses with a good start don’t often exhibit this.
What can we do about this? Below is an extract from the book ‘The way to perfect horsemanship’ by Udo Burger.
Quote: “My old Master Oskar Stensbeck used to re educate head-strong horses by riding into the manege, coming to a halt, and letting the horse quietly ‘chew’ the bit from his hand; he would then light a cigar and read his newspaper until the cigar had burnt out. During all this time he would never let the horse move from the same spot. Then he would quietly dismount and have the horse led back to his box. This ‘meditating exercise’ for the horse alternated with periods of walking with the reins adjusted to a light contact, was one of our favourite lessons, the benefits of which were felt for the rest of their life by both horse and rider.
One wonders why such sensible methods appear to have been forgotten, when they should be common knowledge. Two weeks devoted to teaching a horse to stand still on a loose rein, without allowing him to move by a single step, is not only an excellent way of calming agitated horses; it is also a very good cure for horses that have become pullers and are heavy on the hand, because it teaches them to balance the riders weight by using their own forces. Those who object that this method would take up too much time, ought to give up riding.” End Quote.
So there you go. But does it actually work? Emphatic YES. Years ago I inherited a small group of horses for training at the same stable. Highly strung, nervous, tense mares. I plunged in with both feet and did this exercise with each horse, but I did it for three times in each day. (Sadly no cigar or newspaper, but it was back in the good old days of smoking so I would have a couple of cigs :-p ) My working students thought I had lost the plot with this continuous stream of horses in and out doing nothing but standing still for hours on end. Even worse was the owner who was paying the training bills and ranting about me wasting his time and money!
Because of their tension they were initially VERY spooky horses and would spook at anything when going around the arena. Shadows, doorways things that weren’t even there.
So I took the exercise a stage further and EVERYTIME they even thought of spooking I brought them to a dead halt by the object, dropped the reins and made them stand still till there were bored out of their brains. They were only ever allowed to step forward when I asked them firmly with the leg, but this was when their noses were on the floor and usually by now resting a hind leg. I am pleased to say that in less than two weeks I had horses that ‘neither hurried forward nor held back’ and I could walk, trot and canter them calmly on the buckle. They were then ready to start training.
Soon after we were attending competitions and if any of them spooked or became tense in the warm up I just halted and dropped the reins. You could almost hear their minds shouting, “Oh crap! Boredom again!” I have to admit to feeling a bit smug about it when I was watching other people lunging the hell out of their horses trying to get them ‘to settle or calm down’.
I cannot take any credit for this, I can only thank Mr Burger and his own teacher, and thank my lucky stars I found that paragraph in his book.
The big problem comes when trying to pass this knowledge on in the modern world. Can you imagine going for your dressage lesson and being told you needed to stand still for twenty minutes? Do younger riders today have the patience or understanding for such valuable work? I hope so.
There one or two people who follow this blog who may even have been there or seeing me with that group of horses. If you do, feel free to comment but please, no names or places! :-p
What can we do about this? Below is an extract from the book ‘The way to perfect horsemanship’ by Udo Burger.
Quote: “My old Master Oskar Stensbeck used to re educate head-strong horses by riding into the manege, coming to a halt, and letting the horse quietly ‘chew’ the bit from his hand; he would then light a cigar and read his newspaper until the cigar had burnt out. During all this time he would never let the horse move from the same spot. Then he would quietly dismount and have the horse led back to his box. This ‘meditating exercise’ for the horse alternated with periods of walking with the reins adjusted to a light contact, was one of our favourite lessons, the benefits of which were felt for the rest of their life by both horse and rider.
One wonders why such sensible methods appear to have been forgotten, when they should be common knowledge. Two weeks devoted to teaching a horse to stand still on a loose rein, without allowing him to move by a single step, is not only an excellent way of calming agitated horses; it is also a very good cure for horses that have become pullers and are heavy on the hand, because it teaches them to balance the riders weight by using their own forces. Those who object that this method would take up too much time, ought to give up riding.” End Quote.
So there you go. But does it actually work? Emphatic YES. Years ago I inherited a small group of horses for training at the same stable. Highly strung, nervous, tense mares. I plunged in with both feet and did this exercise with each horse, but I did it for three times in each day. (Sadly no cigar or newspaper, but it was back in the good old days of smoking so I would have a couple of cigs :-p ) My working students thought I had lost the plot with this continuous stream of horses in and out doing nothing but standing still for hours on end. Even worse was the owner who was paying the training bills and ranting about me wasting his time and money!
Because of their tension they were initially VERY spooky horses and would spook at anything when going around the arena. Shadows, doorways things that weren’t even there.
So I took the exercise a stage further and EVERYTIME they even thought of spooking I brought them to a dead halt by the object, dropped the reins and made them stand still till there were bored out of their brains. They were only ever allowed to step forward when I asked them firmly with the leg, but this was when their noses were on the floor and usually by now resting a hind leg. I am pleased to say that in less than two weeks I had horses that ‘neither hurried forward nor held back’ and I could walk, trot and canter them calmly on the buckle. They were then ready to start training.
Soon after we were attending competitions and if any of them spooked or became tense in the warm up I just halted and dropped the reins. You could almost hear their minds shouting, “Oh crap! Boredom again!” I have to admit to feeling a bit smug about it when I was watching other people lunging the hell out of their horses trying to get them ‘to settle or calm down’.
I cannot take any credit for this, I can only thank Mr Burger and his own teacher, and thank my lucky stars I found that paragraph in his book.
The big problem comes when trying to pass this knowledge on in the modern world. Can you imagine going for your dressage lesson and being told you needed to stand still for twenty minutes? Do younger riders today have the patience or understanding for such valuable work? I hope so.
There one or two people who follow this blog who may even have been there or seeing me with that group of horses. If you do, feel free to comment but please, no names or places! :-p
