Lack of balance affects
Hi there, I'm Trish Hyatt and I love to help people learn from their horse.
I'm really glad that you're interested in how to improve your horse's bend and balance.
Below are videos showing some of the effects of incorrect bend and lack of strength or suppleness on your horse's balance.
I've also included some tips you can apply to your horse today.
Special Offer! Enroll Now and get a 50% Discount
Problems that affect balance can cause the horse to either speed up (run-away),
or slow down (too lazy), to preserve their balance (not die!).
Falling onto the inside or outside shoulder
Causes the horse to get closer to or further away from objects.
We will correct shoulder issues by riding exercises that help us identify the best choices for our horse.
If it is a bend issue, we need to make sure we are also getting a true flexion. And that we don't bend the neck more than the spine.
Key takeaways: Falling onto or drifting through a shoulder, is usually not a shoulder issue. The solution depends on the cause.
Feedback to the Rider: Wrong bend on approach. Didn't get right flexion before turn and is falling on to right shoulder. Horse stayed on left flexion throughout. Focus on The Key to Unlocking Your Horse's Bend workshop and lesson.
Losing the hindquarters
The hind feet do not correctly follow the tracks of the front feet.
We will identify the cause which could be
Feedback to the Rider: Notice how the horse steps to the right with the hind, on the left turns. This indicates a lack of bend in the ribs or not wanting or not able to carry as much weight on the right hind. This also causes the weight to fall to the left shoulder as you turn left, being pushed there from the right hind.
The Single Slalom, Balance and Bend course will provide:
The Single Slalom, Balance and Bend course will provide:
TRY THIS:
The next time your horse is drifting sideways, try this on the side the horse is drifting to.
Imagine you are sitting (seatbone), and standing (stirrup), on a thumbtack.
To not get poked, you need to slightly lift your weight off the thumbtack. It is very subtle. No one should see you make a change. Just don't let that thumbtack poke you.
See if that helps your horse to not drift as much.
Bonus tip: If you want the horse to move sideways (leg-yield). Imagine the thumbtack is on the opposite side of where you want to go. The increase of weight in the direction of travel will help the horse move that way to get back underneath you.
In both cases, if you don't notice a difference don't make the movement bigger. It means there are other things we need to identify and correct. That is what we're going to work on in this course.
Being unbalanced is stressful.
Especially when you don't have control of your own feet.
Having the Wrong Flexion
Is your horse looking where he's going?
Try this now to see how it affects your own balance.
Walk a left circle looking left. Then continue left, but look right.
Most people will notice they start to land harder on the left foot and may even drift that way.
Imagine the result if you were going faster!
Looking where you are going helps you to stay in balance.
This video clip shows a little bit of everything we've discussed. The tempo is rushing due to poor balance, and the balance is affected by the rushing. Her left hind tends to be carried to the left which means the right hind is the stronger one. Riding the horse in a left shoulder-in can help to strengthen this leg. It stepped out on the way back even though the horse was left bent at the time so it's not just slipping out because the horse is avoiding right bend.
Coming back the horse misses some flexion changes which contributes to her leaning towards the post with her shoulders. This is just part of the feedback this rider received on her ride to help her identify what to focus on in the exercises provided.
Not able to ride? No problem.
TRY THIS NEXT TIME YOU'RE WITH YOUR HORSE:
Hold your horses halter with a hand on each side of their cheeks.
If safe to do so, stand in front and with gentle vibrations downward, or slightly side to side on the noseband, ask them to lower their head so you can see their mane.
It is a suggestion. You can not force is, or you will create tension.
Keep your hands in contact as they may lift their head or flick at a fly and bump you in the face.
Once you can see the top of the mane, suggest with little vibrations to one side, that they barely turn their nose that way. A flexion has less than 1" (2.5cm) of movement. If you don't see a change, you may already have it. Then try the other direction.
Can you move your horse's nose either side of center, while the ears stay level?
If if doesn't move equally well both ways, they're bracing. If they seem to but the ears are not level, they are avoiding the flexion by ducking under it. We will also work on this.
It is a little thing, that you absolutely Must Have.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time will I need?
The Key to unlocking your horse's bend workshop is 40 minutes and the other 5 lesson videos are around 10 minutes each.
What if I can't ride?
You can review the lessons for at least one year.
You can also do the lesson as groundwork, on lead line or driving lines so you're ready for when you can ride.
How do I access the course?
You can access the lessons online, 24 hours a day,
The more often you practice, the more you'll progress.
Wisconsin, USA
USA
Tall Grass Horsemanship
Wisconsin, USA
USA
Tall Grass Horsemanship
About Trish Hyatt
International Coach and Clinician
National and International Top 10 Competitor
Technical Delegate and Judge of Working Equitation
Trish Hyatt puts her many skills to use introducing the international discipline of Working Equitation to riders eager to improve their partnership with their horse, with a focus on fun, classical horsemanship and use of the horse for practical work or as cross-training for other disciplines.
Creating courses and teaching online for 5+ years.
Trish's superpower is the ability to give you and your horse what you need in a way that you understand so each horse and rider makes progress and knows what they need to work on.