Rosewood Riding and Positive Behavioural Training

29/05/2024

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT TEACH LATERAL FLEXION

My previous post started some debate about the use of lateral flexion in training. This has prompted me to explain my view on lateral flexion by reposting an essay I wrote in August 2022.
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Lateral flexion is one of the most common exercises taught to horses that are being started. Virtually every trainer, 90% or more, in the “Natural Horsemanship” sphere teaches it. I am one of the few trainers who won’t teach lateral flexions and discourage its practice at my clinics.

For those that don’t know what a lateral flexion is, it is when a person applies a feel to the inside rein and asks a horse to softly bend its neck around in the direction of the feel, while the horse keeps its feet absolutely still. It can be one on the ground and under saddle.

The purpose of teaching lateral flexion to a horse is to ingrain them to offer a soft lateral bend to the inside rein. From talking to trainers who teach lateral flexion to horses and riders, it is intended to teach a horse to give to the inside rein without resistance and to build strength and control. That sounds like a worthy goal, right?

So what’s my problem with teaching lateral flexion?

I have two objections.

The first objection is easy to explain and get out of the way quickly.

I have never heard a single trainer, who teaches lateral flexion, talk about the horse giving its thought to the feel of the inside rein or to be looking in the direction of the bend. Not one person! Without a change of thought, bending the neck is just a trick and avoidance of rein pressure. Nothing of significant value is learned without the horse thinking in the direction of the feel of the rein. Go to YouTube and watch videos and notice how all the talk is about how the horse bends and how light the feel is in the reins. Nothing about getting a change of thought. Even more telling, is the fact that when most riders release the inside rein, the horse instantly flips its neck straight like a spring, as if he has been just waiting for the second the rein is dropped. Anytime we ask a horse a question we should be waiting for a change of thought, not just a movement.

My second objection to teaching lateral flexion is gravely serious.

Trainers make a big deal that when performing a lateral flexion the feet should not move. I believe this is a serious mistake that makes lateral flexions damaging to how a horse operates. When asking for flexion to the inside, the thought should follow the feel, the neck should follow the feel and the inside hind foot should yield across the outside hind foot. This should occur because the inside rein inspires the horse to think to the inside and line up its body in that direction without the need for the rider’s leg to drive the hindquarters to disengage. The inside rein should connect to the entire body, not just from nose to wither.

By insisting the feet are stationary when the horse yields to the inside rein, we are teaching a horse that the rein should not connect to the hindquarters. In other words, giving to the inside rein should only go as far back as the wither and not to the whole horse. To create straightness, balance, softness, and correctness I need the inside rein to connect to the inside hind.

Without a connection to the inside hind foot, when we ask a horse to move in a circle or turn, the hindquarters will push the shoulders to the outside of the circle or turn. It creates imbalance and crookedness. We taught the horse to be crooked. Then to fix it we often apply an outside rein to block the shoulders from drifting to the outside. The outside rein blocks the shoulders, but the real cause of the problem stems from the inside rein not connecting to the hindquarters.

At the very least it causes crookedness, and we need to call on the outside rein. But in the worst case, it causes rubber-necking and we need to call an ambulance (rubber-necking is when a horse is bent say to the left, but traveling to the right). Don’t ride a horse that rubber-necks until it has been re-trained to connect the inside rein to the hindquarters.

I have asked dozens of trainers and clinicians who teach lateral flexion why they require the horse’s feet to be still. Some of these trainers are the biggest names in the business and people some of you no doubt admire and follow. Not one of them can give me a rational explanation of why the horse must stand still. Never have I heard a logical reason why you can’t teach a horse to softly bend to the inside rein while at the same time connecting the hindquarters to the inside rein. It stuns me that so far nobody has been able to explain what it is about lateral flexion that I don’t understand.

The closest it has come to an answer is that lateral flexion is setting a horse up for the one-rein stop. But this is not true because it is the disengagement of the hindquarters that sets up a horse for the one-rein stop. When a horse is having a meltdown, your best chance of gaining back control is to disengage the hindquarters as soon as possible to shut down any bucking or bolting.

I am totally in agreement that we should teach to softly give to the inside rein. I’m not in agreement with why we can’t do that and have the hindquarters softly yielding too.

What advantage is gained by having the feet standstill? What disadvantage is created by connecting the hindquarters to the inside rein? Maybe next time you attend a horsemanship clinic or have a lesson, you could ask your teacher these two questions. If you get a perfectly rational explanation, please let me know. I want to understand if I missing something.

11/03/2024

Eleni Shanahan This is my horse Jimmy that I was telling you about, the first horse I rode with just a string around his neck. These photos were taken in 1998 (by a professional equestrian photographer in light of how we were talking about how to take photos of horses!) just after he was retired with ringbone at age 8. Jim went to the Rainbow bridge in 2018. He had a cheeky sense of humour. He made it to 28 years old, retired for 20 of those years but could still do a lot of fun tricks for many years.

26/02/2024

Author Stephen Crane's descriptions of mine mules in Pennsylvania's anthracite collieries | 1894

From McClure's Magazine, 1894:

"Over in a wide and lightless room we found the mule-stables. There we discovered a number of these animals standing with an air of calmness and self-possession that was somehow amazing to find in a mine.

A little dark urchin came and belabored his mule 'China' until he stood broadside to us that we might admire his innumerable fine qualities. The stable was like a dungeon.

The mules were arranged in solemn rows. They turned their heads toward our lamps. The glare made their eyes shine wondrously like lenses. They resembled enormous rats.

About the room stood bales of hay, and straw. The commonplace air worn by the long-eared slaves made it all infinitely usual. One had to wait to see the tragedy of it.

It was not until we had grown familiar with the life and the traditions of the mines that we were capable of understanding the story told by these beasts standing, in calm array, with spread legs.

It is a common affair for mules to be imprisoned for years in the limitless night of the mines. Our acquaintance, 'China,' had been four years buried. Upon the surface there had been the march of the seasons; the white splendor of snows had changed again-and again to the glories of green springs.

ln our times had the earth been ablaze with the decorations of brilliant autumns. But 'China' and his friends had remained in these dungeons from which daylight, if one could get a view up a shaft, would appear a tiny circle, a silver star aglow in a sable sky.

Usually when brought to the surface, the mules tremble at the earth radiant in the sun-shine. Later, they go almost mad with fantastic joy. The frill splendor of the heavens, the grass, the trees, the breezes, breaks upon them suddenly. They caper and career with extravagant mulish glee.

A miner told me of a mule that had spent some delirious months upon the surface after years of labor in the mines. Finally the time came when he was to be taken back. But the memory of a black existence was upon him; he knew that gaping mouth that threatened to swallow him. No cudgellings could induce him.

The men held conventions and discussed plans to budge that mule. The celebrated quality of obstinacy in him won him liberty to gambol clumsily about on the surface.

After being long in the mines, the mules are apt to duck and dodge at the close glare of lamps, but some of them have been known to have piteous fears of being left in the dead darkness.

We met a boy who said that sometimes the only way he could get his team to move was to run ahead of them with the light. Afraid of the darkness, they would follow. To those who have known the sunlight there may come the fragrant dream of a lost paradise.

Perhaps this is what they brood over as they stand solemnly flapping their ears. Perhaps they despair and thirst for this bloomland that lies in an unknown direction and at impossible distances."

Read the full story of Crane's visit to a mine near Scranton, Pennsylvania 👇
https://wynninghistory.com/2022/01/22/in-the-depths-of-a-coal-mine/

18/12/2023

Hi all, I have 3 rounds of low sugar meadow hay available (was holding 6 for someone but she decided to only take 3.) Mix of 80-90% cocksfoot and fog grass, some rye. They were cut early November between 12 and 5 pm. They are on pallets under a tarp. Can load on to float or trailer but can't deliver. Ph 0412 199 385. Located in Macclesfield, South Australia

28/10/2023

I currently have availability for one weekly or fortnightly riding lesson! Located in Macclesfield 😀

Horse riding lessons, trick training, problem solving, agistment

27/08/2023

12/05/2023

07/05/2023

HORSEMAN
There are horse trainers, horse traders and horse whisperers. There are show men, show boaters and show offs. There are fast talkers and would be magicians.

But then there are true Horsemen and Horsewomen, and these are harder to find and sometimes even harder to recognize because they are often tucked away in quiet hidden places, working slowly and silently without national recognition or appreciation.

Often times, the true horseman or woman does not have the most horses in training or those horses that are exceptionally bred or high priced. Often times, the true Horsemen and Women do not have access to big money owners or run through dozens and dozens of prospects in order to find the few that can take the pressure of aged event prize money or high profile exhibition. Many times, the true horsemen and women are slow and steady, methodical and patient, training on an individual horse's timeline and not to a rigid show schedule set by the seasons or show management.

These people recognize a horse's physical and mental capabilities and showcase their assets without sacrificing their bodies or minds. Horsemen and women take their time developing their horses' skills and confidence through a traditional steps, one before the next, placing just as much credence in their teaching relationship and equine partnership as they do in show pen results. Horsemen and women are humble because their reward comes from within; from knowing that they have taught through kindness, patience, fortitude, and logic. Their rewards coming from creating a confident horse that works with them and not for them, horses that are not scared or intimidated, horses with solid foundations that last season after season and that carry a gamut of riders from the experienced non pro to the Amateur to the Green Reiner. Always Dedicated. Always Patient. Always Consistent. Whether it be riding young horses, resurrecting older horses, or maintaining the Steady Eddy, a True Horseman is one of the first ones to throw a leg over in the morning and one of the last ones to pull their boots off in the evening.
Horsemen and women are a pleasure to watch in the arena or on the ranch as they diligently and patiently impart their knowledge and logic to both horses and students.

In an era where the horse industry is so economically driven and success is measured primarily in prize money and accolades, the tradition of the true horseman and the process of training horses seems to be changing; giving way to an assembly line mentality where immediate success and financial compensation take precedence over handcrafted quality and longevity. Dedicated to their craft, loyal to their students, ambitious, hardworking and a role model for anyone interested in making their way in an industry dominated by pressure to build great animals in less and less time, old fashioned horsemen are women are now Artisans, assets to our heritage and traditions and harder and harder to find.

A thoughtful teacher, a thorough instructor, a gentle hand, a firm guide, a rational yet fearless showman, the greatest compliment that I think could ever be given to someone who works with horses, is to be thought of as a Horseman.

📝Becky Hanson

Tara McKenzie Fotos

07/05/2023

‘When done well’

This is a criticism I hear levelled at the school I currently study with - ‘Oh when done well it’s great’. Implying that when not done well, it’s really not. It’s a criticism shared about many ‘approaches’ to horse training.

And that is basically the universal truth of everything anywhere. Because the only way for anyone to get better at anything js to allow them to be not good. To improve your skill and understanding you must be supported to make humdinging mistakes, : sometimes for long periods of time. It is impossible to start at the ‘When done well’ stage. Most ordinary people have to begin at the beginning.

It must also be acknowledged that some people are going to be better at understanding and executing something than others. Not everyone can be brilliant. That doesn’t mean they can’t give things a go.

It also doesn’t mean a system is inherently flawed. It just means there is a fluctuating spectrum that we’re all on. Some of us will have natural aptitude and various other things in our favour that means we fall into the ‘When done well camp’, with enough time and practice. Others will never quite get there. That’s life.


Anything you want to get better at is going to require giving people the grace to be ‘bad at something’. Sometimes for long periods of time.

This seems to be much harder for people to allow in the horse world compared to anywhere else. My running club applaud me for being slow and rubbish at running because I’m giving it a go. That doesn’t appear to be the case in equestrian spheres.

Of course where horse training is concerned there is the additional sentient being of a horse involved. That can feel very tricky.

But the truth is lots of people do have horses and do want to ride them. Making people feel crap about themselves rarely helps them improve.

I have yet to see any approach to training horses that doesn’t have a ‘When done well’ version and a ‘When done not so well version’. A bit more understanding about that inevitable truth could go a long way.

07/05/2023

It's that time of year again 🤗🍂