Recently I met Dr. Hilary Clayton at the USDF Symposium in Kansas City Missouri. She is the author of two informative books, The Dynamic Horse and Conditioning Sport Horses. I recommend that any serious rider study and reference these books throughout their riding and training career.

The neck of the horse is often misunderstood. When working your horse on the flat you are often told to create more bend, supple the neck, flex the poll. First of all, remember the foundation of the training scale is relaxation. Establish a calm forward moving gait before manipulating the neck. Next, vibrate the bit in the horses mouth using both sides of the bit together, barely moving the bit across your horses tongue. Never wag the head from side to side or pull agressively on your horses mouth. You should always give more than you take as horses respond to the release of the pressure. That means if you take a half an inch of the rein and create some resistance, give an inch and he will respond gratefully.

When the horse is on the bit, the neck should grown out of the shoulder and become longer, not shorten in a compressed uncomforatable braced position. It may take time for you to learn this distinction, but it is crucial to understanding so that your horse can perform in balance with the rider.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 7:07 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.