RB Week in Review Videos

[stormyranch]

How do you teach them to reach?

[Michelle Clarke]

Many horses tend to travel using their flexor muscles. Head up, back dropped, legs pumping up and down and hindend out behind. So first, I get them in the roundpen and push them at a trot until they actually go foward instead of up and down. Usually this results in them swinging the body and dropping the base of the neck to stretch out. Many will canter to alliviate the different feel or out run the stretch, so I keep at it until they stay at the trot and find a nice medium cadence.

Next I concentrate on the inside hind leg, which is literally the cornerstone of all roundess. I want it to go not only forward, but more toward the medial line of the body. Using this technique, simple physics causes the horse to bend slightly through the middle, lift the abdominals (which brings the back up), stand them up on the inside shoulder and bring the head in and down. Since the head and neck is used for balance, by setting up the hindend, you "fix" the frontend. Whenever I have a horse that pulls on the rein (or lead) or gets stiff against my leg, I just put that inside hind leg forward and under.

The horse will hang its' head with the top side of the neck, instead of hold it up with the under side neck muscle; thereby allowing the front legs to move forward instead of just up and down. It all works together.

I have a whip with a very long lash that I use to touch the inside hind leg when the leg is back and just about to come off the ground to come forward - above the hock where the natural bend is.

The physiological changes that happen are simple: head up and above the withers causes adrenaline to run through the veins. Head and neck down wither height or below cause endorphins to be released - hence the relax response.

Also, my roundpens are not "round"...I use watermelon shaped work areas. I have found that actual round pens allow the horse to get into a braced state and stay there, just motoring around the pen in the same form - usually stiff and unchanging. A watermelon shape causes the horse to change shape four times in each revolution; they have a chance to bend and go into the ends, plus have two straight aways. You can set up bends and roundness in the ends and then let the horse carry forward and get strong on the sides. It brings a change quicker as the horse has to adjust the body more, therefore think more about what they are doing.

There is a lot to it really. I plan on doing a video series on it this fall and winter. Here is the hard part. Once I get a horse really forward, the back has a lot of movement (it's not locked or dropped anymore), not to mention the actual forward movement of the horse. It scares a lot of folks - they tend to like the little trit-trot and short canter.

Once the horse gets strong in all three gaits with this exercise, then I begin to bring the front end up, moving the weight back and getting more true reach and lift.

This video is old, of Eric riding Rev. Rev had the foward part really down, staying round most of the time. Eric was not working on roundness at all, he was working on Rev not spooking at the cows and stuff on the other side of the fence, but you can see how Rev really moves out; especially the last part of the clip.

[fantasykiger]

I have just started working on this technique with Fantasy after working with a trainer friend of mine. She noticed that with the considerable time off Fantasy just seems to be all left feet when asked to travel at the faster gaits. So she showed me how to work on placement of her inside hind to get Fantasy to reach under to bend better and relax. Something she just recently learned at a clinic.
I practice everytime before I ride and it has made a differance. I start at the walk, my timing has to be good too, at when to que her inside hind. Once she is consistant at the walk I ask her to pick up the trot. I am doing it all on a lunge line, as I don't have a round pen.

[stormyranch]

Thanks For the great info Michelle. That's so cool to know.