Are you your horse’s leader? Do you own that hindquarter, or does your horse just lend it to you periodically?
Throughout the programme so far, we have looked at the importance of disengaging the hindquarter and getting our hindquarter yields as soft as possible. In Level One, hindquarter control and disengagement was imperative for safety - safe leading and handling, bending to a stop, slowing and turning. In Level Two we begin to look at how well our horse disengages in our on-line work - falling leaf patterns, change of directions maintaining the trot, at liberty - spiralling in to us and having our horses stay with us and in no contact riding - gaining and maintaining impulsion, smooth and easy upward and downward transitions.
In Level Two we will also take our first steps toward contact riding; that is, riding with two short reins and soft feel. All of this is in preparation for Level Three where we will begin to add in greater soft feel, begin lateral movements, regulations and engagement of the hindquarter.
Levels One and Two are about learning how to influence the horse’s power and flight distance by disengaging the hindquarter. Engaging the hindquarter is something a horse will do in order to power up and be prepared for flight or fight. If our horse still perceives us as predatory, he will tend to use his hindquarter in a negative way. In order to have true soft feel and refinement in contact riding, we need to engage the hindquarter in a positive way.
Signs that your horse’s hindquarter is:
| Negatively Engaged | Positively Engaged |
| Bucking | Smooth transitions |
| Shying | Smooth to ride |
| Running off | Soft turns and direction changes |
| Rearing | Light on the reins |
| Kicking | Flowing movement |
| Bouncy and hard to ride | Easy lateral movements |
| Heavy on the reins / Hard to turn | Relaxed |
| Heavy on your leg | |
We spend most of Levels One and Two trying to disengage our horse’s hindquarter so that in Level 3 and beyond we can begin to re-engage it. Trying to engage the hindquarter before the horse is ready, i.e. mentally, emotionally and physically prepared, will only result in empowering a horse that’s scared, right brained, impulsive, reactionary, short, braced, or explosive ... or a combination of several of these things. This is part of the reason why we begin with one rein and do not progress to a bridle until the end of Level 2.
In order to be able to re-engage in a positive manner to perform some of the more sophisticated manoeuvres in the higher levels, our horse must first be confidently and happily disengaging ... trusting us with influence over their power and flight response.
Read More Road To Horsemanship articles.
- By Meredith Ransley, Quantum Savvy.