| PROGRAMME | Shortening | Lengthening | For You |
| | | |
| Find the centre | X | | |
| Backwards & sideways | X | X | |
| Point to point | | X | X |
| Pinch Test | X | X | X |
| Stopping spot | X | X | X |
| Simple lead changes | X | | |
| Canter passenger lessons | X | X | X |
| Bareback passenger lessons | X | X | X |
Find The Centre - Shortening
This exercise is about teaching your horse to find comfort in the centre, not so much the circle itself. If you have a horse that likes to run, circles will give him the chance to run without actually going anywhere – comfort is to run. After a time he will realise that running is not giving him comfort ... he is not getting anywhere and nothing is after him; and he will begin to settle down – comfort is to stop. This may take you 10 laps, it may take you 10,000. The key is to reward the try by going to the centre as often as possible. Keeping him on the circle forever will not teach him anything. Remember, horses learn by comfort and release so reward the try.
Establish a comfort spot in the centre of the circle by relaxing there for a few minutes. Keeping your eyes on the centre marker, ride a circle either left or right on a casual rein. The responsibility is the same as circles on the ground, don’t change gait or direction and watch where you are going. Your goal is to ride a circle with no corrections. As soon as your horse tries – maybe only for a stride or two on a casual rein - go to the middle and stop. You may go to the middle with an indirect rein, or spiralling in sideways or later on, a direct rein. Stay there for a while to re establish the comfort spot then repeat in the opposite direction.
Backwards And Sideways –Shortening & Positive Reflexes
“The better your horse goes backwards and sideways the better he’ll do everything else.” Both of these directions are about hindquarter control and softness, ultimately impulsion. Impulsion is controlled forward energy coming from the hindquarter, so the better your backwards and sideways, the more influence you have over your horse’s forward movement. An example might be trail riding. You just want to go for a quiet ride however your horse has other ideas. He’s jigging and prancing and getting impulsive and harder to control. Remember when a horse feels the need to flee, forward is the direction he will take, being the easiest and the fastest. This he can do without yielding his hindquarter. So, you turn him and ask him to go sideways, or backwards, in the same direction you were already going. Both of these directions take a lot more effort for your horse and some hindquarter yielding. Sooner or later, depending on how much homework you have done and how emotionally fit you are, your horse will become less right-brained and begin to settle down. Again, this may take 50 metres; it may take 5 kilometres. Preparation is the key. If it takes a long time, then you need to do more preparation at home; that is, spend more time on your impulsion programmes and on your ground work.
Point To Point - Lengthening
Straight lines will lengthen your horse, however even if you have a long horse, it’s important that your horse follows your focus in a straight line. This is a programme for everyone; those of you with long horses will do less of this one, over shorter distances. If you try to make a very short horse (i.e. one that bucks) go forward in a straight line, he probably will buck. Using this programme over long distances will allow and encourage your horse to go forward and find comfort. Over time his confidence in forward movement will grow and your upward transitions will be lighter and smoother.
Pick a solid focus point, like a tree, a post in a fence-line, the side of a shed etc. Pick up a semi-short rein - step two of your butterfly rein – and ride toward it with your arms out-stretched in front of you. There should be very little contact on the reins. Keep your focus on where you are going at all times. If your horse strays off track use a direct rein to straighten him up then leave him be. When you get to your stopping spot, sit back and quit riding and let your object stop you. Sit for a while to establish a comfort spot. This will encourage your horse to go forward more easily next time. Turn your horse and pick a new focus point to ride toward and repeat. Try this in a small area at first and at slower gaits, then build to where you can do it at all gaits and even in open spaces or over uneven ground!
The Pinch Test – For Everything
Be able to contact yield your horse in all directions while holding your reins between just your finger and thumb. This will really test out your body position, your phases, your politeness, your positive reflexes and just how much you have been relying on your reins. Remember, for a positive reflex, if you feel like you are working too hard you probably are. For that reason we added rhythmic pressure after phase two. The same should happen when you ride. If you are asking your horse to yield from your leg, for example in a hindquarter yield, rather than push harder with your leg, or worse pull harder on the rein, add a little rhythmic pressure. You could tap your horse with your hand, use the end of your schooling rein, or your Horseman’s String. Just remember to start light and be rhythmical.
Hold the reins in the middle and lift them straight up until you have contact. Ask your horse to; back up 7 metres; go sideways 7 metres; try an indirect rein in a full circle; direct rein full circle. If your horse gets stuck in the back-up, use an indirect rein to soften and unlock the hindquarter. In the sideways, remember to turn your toe out. Your phases should be; 1) leg on, 2) toe out, 3) make a fist with your toes, 4) point your toes down. This will really empower your leg without using strength and make sure that you apply pressure under the belly-line (the widest part of your horse’s barrel) to lift and elevate your horse sideways.
Stopping Spot
This programme is a combination of your find the centre and point to point programmes. If you have done enough of these, you will be starting to feel your horse looking for the comfort spots and following your focus.
In an open space, pick a comfort spot (like at a tree or bush) and establish comfort there. At the trot, set off and take a passenger lesson, keeping your horse trotting for ten minutes while you explore your area. At first you might just do circles around your spot if your horse is impulsive. When your time is up, ride back to your spot and stop for 5 minutes. It’s important that you only allow your horse comfort in this one spot, so that he starts to hunt for it. Repeat the exercise.
Those of you with short horses will do a lot of straight lines and big circles to explore and lengthen your horse. Those of you with long horses may have to do small circles as you progress around the area; that’s okay. Your objective is to be able to trot or canter all over an open area, like a paddock, on a loose rein on a relaxed horse. Build to where you can comfortably canter for longer periods in bigger spaces on a casual rein. Using a familiar comfort spot and the strategies you have learnt through the impulsion programmes will help you achieve this goal.
Simple Lead Changes - Shortening
Changing leads by disengaging the hindquarter and striking off on the new lead, will help settle a long horse dramatically ... provided you do actually disengage the hindquarter! In this programme, it’s not the canter lead that matters so much but how effective you are at controlling the hindquarter. Some horses will drop to the trot without disengaging their hindquarter; some will try to canter through the entire thing. It’s up to you, to ensure you have truly softened that hind before you ask for the new lead. You can also be very effective in calming an impulsive horse by doing a simple lead change pattern with trot to walk transitions. We prepared for this by teaching our horses to spiral in and also by changing direction with the falling leaf, on line. More strategies for success with simple lead changes can be found in Lesson 7, 8 and 9 of the programme.
Canter Passenger Lessons – Great For Everything
Yep!! The time has come to take it up a notch and do your passenger lessons all over again, this time at the canter. Prepare yourself to enjoy the coming lessons by doing this programme. Your seat will improve and both you and your horse will become more confident together. As we pick up the pace and do more riding, this can be where the fear and excuses creep in for some people, that stops them from advancing any further. If you do your homework, get your passenger lessons done and recognize the need to address emotional lack of fitness, the countless benefits of true horsemanship will be yours. It’s up to you.
Bareback Passenger Lessons – For Your Seat
Do these in a small area, at the trot is fine for Level Two. You can use a bareback pad, a great idea for building confidence, giving you a bit more stick and saving your horse’s back. Once you can do them confidently at the trot, you might like to try the canter.
How Will You Know When You Have Done Enough?
Programmes are all about creating a lasting change. A programme can be whatever you want it to be. If you find something difficult, make a programme of it. This will help you approach it piecemeal rather than getting frustrated trying to do it all in one go. A good general rule of thumb for setting a programme would be to do something 7 times in a row – that is repeat it for the next 7 times you are with your horse, be that everyday, once a week or once a month. Then repeat it every other time you are with your horse ... alternately. Then just come back and revisit it every now and then.
If you get to the end of your programme and you do not feel like you have made a lasting change, you may have to do the whole thing again. Better to take the time you need now than to take a shortcut and get hung up on something important later on because of it. Be sure to finish your programme. If you are getting results half way through and you quit doing them, you are setting yourself up to have to repeat the whole thing again later on. Finish the programme, get it solid and reap the rewards long term.
Circles And Straight Lines
Remember, circles and patterns will shorten your horse; straight-lines will lengthen your horse – sometimes in an instant! Those of you with long horses will be tempted to do all shortening programmes and vice versa. It’s important that you know all of the programmes, as one day you might be struggling to get that previously impulsive horse to go!
Some of your horses will be long one second and short the next, then get long and impulsive all over again. Remember, horses live for the moment, so it only has to make sense to them. It’s important to know how to counter balance - that is lengthen or shorten - in an instant. Part of being a horseman is being able to read your horse’s mood and feelings and being able to help him out if he gets bothered. This means knowing what to do when. As a thinking horseman, as soon as your horse starts to feel dull and sluggish, you’ll know to lengthen him with some straight lines and focus games. If he starts getting fizzed up, you’ll know to take control of that hindquarter and get him left-brained again. If you have done your homework, it’ll only take a reminder from you to your horse and he’ll be back on track. If you haven’t, you’ll be riding circles all the way home wishing you had.
Read More Road To Horsemanship articles.
- By Meredith Ransley, Quantum Savvy.