Trisha wren ~ Connect With Your Horse

A quick recap: Hunter is a 12yo 16hh Standardbred gelding, purchased by us in December 2005. He was ridden lightly on our farm that summer, and then had about 4 months off. I started doing Connected work with him in July 06, teaching him how to soften, release his neck and back, and come through from behind (see Jan 07 article). He’s a typical, head high, gangly type Standardbred; my aim is to show how even this more challenging conformation and carriage can be improved.

Hunter once again had time off from October to December 2006, this time because although he was responding to the Connected work I felt that there was something missing; he wasn’t quite ‘letting go’. I suspected there was something physical going on; his neck still seemed quite stuck, and his back was twitchy. He also became excessively spooky during this time, so my first avenue was to identify whether his diet was deficient. Over a period of time I introduced Magnesium Oxide, Mycosorb (toxin binder), and weekly Selenium, and his behaviour did settle. I then enlisted the help of Annette Kopp, an equine osteopath from Te Kuiti; sure enough, he had issues at his neck, withers, and back, which Annette released. He certainly enjoyed his session, and was much softer afterwards.

In January 07 I did a few brief groundwork sessions, then in mid February started again in earnest, with Hunter showing good progress each time.

NB: the halter used provides support and clarity of communication; it is fitted snugly so that it doesn’t move around on the horse’s head.

I started as usual with a variety of body exercises, followed by 2 types of S walking; making sure that he was releasing through his whole body and softly stepping under from behind. Since Annette worked with him he is understanding these exercises much better, letting go mentally and physically, where before he tended to tense and worry.

The next step is to put him out on 1 line – the ‘Connected’ equivalent of lunging. Where conventional lunging might allow incorrect carriage to develop, the 1 line work continually reminds and supports the horse to release and rebalance. It’s crucial that the person stays soft and connected throughout, walking with the horse and using their body to help him – if you are hanging on to the line or bracing against the horse there is no incentive for them to soften. You can help and encourage your horse to keep rebalancing by slowly changing the rotation of your body, allowing the horse to bend to the outside and then asking them to rebalance back to the inside.

With a lot of help Hunter gradually started to let go, settle and connect himself better from back to front. You can see that for a naturally head high horse he is actually staying nice and soft in his neck.

Still to come – we’ll build up to doing the 1 line work in trot, and doing more riding.

Trisha