The Foundations of Flexion, Bending, and Shoulder Movement

“Now we want to be able to bend her anyway left or right and move her hind quarters and shoulders anyway.”

“So I’ve got my bend.”

“Yes I’ve got bend.”

“bending so either at the standstill which you already know or on the circle which is like that”

“that’s step one bending”

“Get her bent.”

“I do a little circle here.”

“if we can do that we have control over her whole body.”

“so normally we do flexion”

“Okay see her head bent?”

“Have I got hind corner out?”

“do we have hind quarter in?”

“Let’s see if we can do hind quarter out first.”

“So if we’re bending her to the left can we move her hind quarter out of the circle and into the circle?”

“bending hind quarter.”

“So we’re going to do bending hind quarters and shoulders.”

“Let’s see now if I can get hindquarters in.”

“So I’m going to put my outside leg back and try and push her hindquarters in.”

“So we kind of have hindquarters.”

“That’s something we’ve gotta learn now.”

“so i’m going to put my leg forward and ask her to move her shoulders out here”

“She’s listening to the leg.”

“So if I start to pick up speed she starts to look out.”

“it’s just muscles she’s got to develop that’s right”

“So when I bring her nose in see how she comes in?”

“Do we have shoulders in?”

“Shoulders in.”

“And then can we move her shoulders out of the circle and into the circle?”

“can i get her shoulders out”

“Do I have shoulders out?”

“start to work on when you have to do shoulders out of the circle.”

“that’s the one we’re going to practice today”

“the thing with the shoulders out is we’re keeping her a little bit bent. We’re putting our inside leg forward. And our hands go over to the side to say go over there. So I’m pushing her with my leg to say go over there.”

“We’ve got shoulders out.”

“And we’re pushing her shoulders away.”

“away from the circle like that with her head bent.”

“now can we do shoulders look okay”

“she just assumes she comes in so doing what’s easiest for her”

“She’s moving her shoulders.”

“the way i gotta do that is teach her shoulders to stay out”

“What I want to be able to do is push her shoulders”

“Yeah a little bit like spins but…”

“Yes we can because we have been practicing spins.”

“So that one we have to work on.”

“It can be both. It could be physical or it could be mental. He could have been injured on this side and he’s got tightness in his body or he could have been hurt on this side by someone and mentally it’s become a habit. You can even have an injury that has caused a lot of pain and even though the pain might be gone the habit’s there still for that sickness. I think with him it’s more physical. Like some people are left-handed and right-handed. Same with horses. He’s probably been worked more on one side than the other. Yeah so he’s just not used to stretching that side maybe.”

“You do typically horses want to be left alone. You do get horses like that every now and but it all comes down to the foundation training they get. If you miss it at the beginning then you’re going to be backtracking and trying to fix issues.”

“And the older they get it’s like people. And it’s like people they get set in their ways. And if they’ve been used to dominating people or horses for six years and then you start saying now you’re going to work mate. You’re better off getting a young horse. They’re like malleable and they’re willing. They’re like I don’t know what life’s about. And you teach them what life’s about.”

“But he’s known I don’t work. You want me to work now. it’s worse with mares mares are worse but if you say he’s a dominant gelding yeah no I think you’d be better off with a young gelding a young two or three year old gelding unbroken yeah no handling is fine”

“You go for something young they haven’t learnt the only teachings they’ve had is from their mother teaching them the sex you know so and as far as horses go I mean I feel like he will be a good horse him I mean he’s not big enough for what you want I guess but I’ve always felt like he’s a good horse

“He’ll do lots of bending lots of circles little circles just like what Paige is doing. It’s all the same stuff. Put your hand on your leg and walk him in a circle until he drops his head and gives.”

“So now we’re starting to get a better response to the reins. not necessarily better like just he was a little bit easier a little bit softer last week he wasn’t as resistant to start with he’s now the same as last week now but it just took him longer to get there this week than it did today it was only two days ago and you know that can be any number of factors because maybe because I did a lot of slow work he’s thinking I can be lazy about it today or maybe he had a bad night or pardon or Paige came back yeah it could be a pleasure of things yeah yeah yeah not too bad They’re like us they have off days too. So what I’m looking for in the back up is for him to back up first off my legs and then for him to drop his head like that. So I’m asking release ask, release ask release until he drops his head.”

“So all these little things need to be really good or a lot better for the trot to be any good like even just Yeah he did well. I can’t remember exactly how how far he got along in all the stuff before. Yeah but he was good that day but I can’t remember where we got to. You know I’m trying. We’re doing the circles. So you know we want to make sure we’ve got these circles where now he’s softening. That’s good. He’s still not 100% soft he’s leaning a little bit but he’s thinking about it now which is great. That’s good. Oh. Good boy. Circles that was really good. Much better.”

“So he’s kind of on and off it. When he leans on my hand I’m going to bump his nose. Otherwise I’m just going to keep him walking until he’s given and two there he dropped his nose. So he tucked his head a little bit more. See how his nose is stuck out like that? That’s resistance in his body. When his head dropped that was a bit better.”

“This side he wants to lean quite a bit so I’m going to bump him. And you can kind of see he wants to dive in a little bit to this circle. So I’m speeding him up just to not let him dawdle.”

“When his head dropped that was a bit better. not perfect but I’ll give him that you let him out that’s a reward then I’m going to keep doing this exercise until he starts to get it”

“He’ll do lots of bending lots of circles little circles just like what Paige is doing. It’s all the same stuff. Put your hand on your leg and walk him in a circle until he drops his head and gives.”

“You need to get a chin strap or curb strap on this bit. so the bit doesn’t come through their mouth when you’re bending them. And a horse that’s well trained it won’t happen because they’re not resisting. But because he’s resisting the bit’s pulling through his mouth. So if we avoid it that’s as far like he’ll go to that degree to get away from the rain pressure.”

“So we need a horse that doesn’t pull that hard. And right now he needs to find out that pulling that hard doesn’t get him out of it. But if the equipment fails on us while we’re trying to do that we’re just going to be set back because we have to stop and fix the equipment.”

“A good foundation will last you can go into 10 years and get back on them. Their fitness might not be up to scratch but it doesn’t take long for a horse’s fitness to come back.”

“If you can get them to start their career and give them a good foundation from the get-go then you have horses that are more willing to clean. But horses that have already had stuff They always got that in the back of their mind that things could go back to that original way of doing things.”

“Some breeds need more work than others like stock horses you do need to keep them in work for them to stay good but a quarter horse should usually stay in if you’ve got a good foundation on them they’ll just come in and do their job and then they know they’re going to get rewarded.”

“And then getting him to move his hind end when you bend his head. So there’s a one rein stop and a one rein go. One rein stop is you just drive forward. And you want to be able to do this at the walk and trot and canter and gallop. You want to be able to go somewhere and then shut your horse down. Come wide and then come into your hip. And the horse should stop. I’ve got no legs on. Stop. And give. And then he gets cut out. So you need to be able to do that at the walk and trot. And then the one-rein go is what I was doing before where I kept his butt moving when I did that until his head softened.”

“So first I want to be able to one range stop from the trot. Then I want to be able to one-range go. And then I’ll do my circles from there. After I’ve done my circles I’ll do my lift range. So they’re kind of the four things you want to establish. Almost just basic safety and basic control.”

“So if he trots off when you don’t want him to one rein stop if he leans on your aims make sure you push his butt until he stops leaning just try and not let him practice the behaviours you don’t want so just try and nip him in the bud"

“So all of that fighting there all of that tension and working through it it took a while but you have to just persist until he starts to try and there he started to try and he found the right answer and then now for him trying. So that’s just going to build his confidence that if I try and figure out the answer he leaves me alone.”

“That’s all you guys need to do is just little bits like this where you just get an improvement each day or each session.”

"But also if you, you know, like if he, I did some stuff with him and you couldn’t work him in the two months, it’s not going to be a bad thing, he’s going to still remember the last things he had, so, yeah, yeah, that’s fine, yep, yep, yep, just implement, use the tools though, so if he trots off when you don’t want him to, one rein, stop, if he leans on your aims, make sure you push his butt until he stops leaning, just try and not let him practice the behaviours you don’t want, so just try and nip him in the bud, but the more, like if I can get another session or two on end, the more I can help speed, I can, yeah

“Licking and chewing just means that he’s processing the information that he’s just received or learnt. So when he salivates it means that he’s relaxing and he’s getting off the vinter of his brain. If his door was tight and he wasn’t licking and chewing it would mean that there was tension there.”

“If his bottom lip was all crunched up that would mean he’s holding tension in his body and his mind. So licking and chewing is a good sign.”

“If his door was tight and he wasn’t licking and chewing it would mean that there was tension there.”

“If his bottom lip was all crunched up that would mean he’s holding tension in his body and his mind.”

“Well one to see where he is mentally and physically and then two to fix those mental and physical issues before you get on. Because if you get on and you have to try and fix them in the saddle it just is harder.”

“When you can see it and see it with your eyes from the ground you can identify it easier for one. Two it’s just easier to control him on the ground than in the saddle.”

“So now he’s got to learn that you do a little bit then you rest. You get a reward. You do a little bit then you get a reward. So he learns to just wait and do little chunks not get the whole job done.”

“So that’s what we’re doing with this walking stuff. It’s multitasking. It’s not only teaching him how to use his body better put his brain on but it’s also building his confidence in people that if I do something for them they’ll do something for me not just I have to work for them and that’s it.”

“if I try and figure out the answer he leaves me alone. And then he’ll do it more. He’ll look one he’ll do the behaviour I want more he’ll learn to look for answers more and more.”

“groundwork makes sure he’s soft and listening before getting on. This side is stiff as usual. because he’s leaning on the rope and he’s got a bit of a twist in his head. On this side he’s a lot softer because he’s got a loop in the rope.”

“When you can see it and see it with your eyes from the ground you can identify it easier for one. Two it’s just easier to control him on the ground than in the saddle. So this right hand side is really stiff. And I’m sure once I get in the saddle it’s going to be stiff. but if I can get it a little bit less stiff before I get on it just makes my life easier.”

“But the more we work it and get him to learn how to be soft the more even he’ll get.”

“I’m just doing some exercises to try and get him to soften to these reins and also like Because if I start asking him to go fast and I don’t have good control on my brake rein like he’s not really giving to those reins well enough.”

“So I’m trying to soften his head and link it up with his hind end and get him to use his body better so that if I go and add speed I’m not going to have a horse that I can’t stop.”

“I want him to slowly bring his head back. So these ones are going to be the ones that really fix his body.”

“So like I said before I’m not going to trot him until I’ve got it at the walk if I don’t have it the wall it’s going to be very a lot stiffer at the trot. I want to get to the trot but I need to get it fixed at the wall.”

“So right now he’s a bit dull in his brain he’s a bit switched off but later on the more and more you do it you’ll start to trust that if he looks for an answer you’ll let him rest and you’ll give him credit where credit’s due. There we go that’s better. So all of that fighting there all of that tension and working through it it took a while but you have to just persist until he starts to try and there he started to try and he found the right answer and then now for him trying. So that’s just going to build his confidence that if I try and figure out the answer he leaves me alone. And then he’ll do it more. He’ll look one he’ll do the behaviour I want more and two he’ll learn to look for answers more and more.”

“So now we’re starting to get a better response to the reins. not necessarily better like just he was a little bit easier a little bit softer last week he wasn’t as resistant to start with he’s now the same as last week now but it just took him longer to get there this week than it did today it was only two days ago and you know that can be any number of factors because maybe because I did a lot of slow work he’s thinking I can be lazy about it today or maybe he had a bad night or pardon or Paige came back yeah it could be a pleasure of things yeah yeah yeah not too bad They’re like us they have off days too.”

“And now you can see as he’s starting to unlock his lateral he’s starting to lower his head and become more relaxed and not too stiff. So now I’ve got it at the walk now I’ll try a little bit of trot.”

“That was better. It’s getting quicker and quicker each time with that softening. A couple of strides and I’m going to wind it down here. Stop.”

“he’s trying and he’s thinking and he’s softening so I’m going to leave him at this because this is much much better than what it started with and then if he just learns that oh that’s all I have to do and then we build on that so that’s all you guys need to do is just little bits like this where you just get an improvement each day or each session.”