Learn Your Horse

23/08/2024

Incredible video - highly suggest all riders watch

08/08/2024

Layering the foundations of long reining with a combination of communications; body positioning, hand positioning, tempo, fluidity and contact 🌼 this combo got the hang of flow and lightness very well during their first long reining session ✨ trust is everything when it comes to ease with horses

27/07/2024

What is the difference between a tense & relaxed back?

~ ELONGATION THROUGH THE BODY ~

Why is elongation through the horses neck and back important in relation to training ——> because it’s signifies a release of negative tensions through muscles upon movement.

Negative tension in muscles creates excessive tightness in the body. Stiffness in the horses back is the reason so many riders struggle to find ease with their horses in training.

Resistance, heaviness, explosiveness, defensiveness and dullness are all reflections of negative tension stored in the horses body.

Training horses over negative tension creates huge long-term health complications and behavioural issues.

Whether it’s related to pain or emotional stress, releasing negative tensions from the body will always provide huge benefits to the horses training and mindset.
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Here I have a couple of basic comparison photos to show the subtleties between a tight vs. relaxed back in motion. What it does to the range of the horses hip & in effect, the back. I want to highlight how important it is that we find softness in our training by being patient and kind to our horses when learning. With relaxation we not only gain more range in the horses motion, we start to empower the horse.

- the most powerful elements of training

25/07/2024

Looking out the window during heavy winds, I noticed my gelding standing very tense staring off into the distance. Whilst other horses nibbled at their hay, he was standing by himself like a statue, constricted and tight, head and neck fully elevated focusing on all noises/ movement in the environment for some time.

So I took this opportunity to go out and support him during the spooky winds. My goal is always to settle the horses nervous system, but today my gelding especially needed mind and body relief as he was no longer grazing amongst his girls and his muscles had turned to concrete. Although he has come very far from his past (panic attacks/ galloping around on windy days), there’s still many more layers to unfold.

I spent 45 mins with him; shifting his focus from external distractions (all things moving/ making noise in the winds) towards internal awareness; recognising and releasing lingering body tensions. I’ve shared a snippet of the session (sound on) to give an idea of how we can influence horses, without forcing them to focus on us (flapping flags, flicking ropes, spiralling them through tight circles), but instead teaching them to tune back into their own bodies. There are many different ways to unwind the nervous system - I personally love this subtle technique. It’s a game changer ✨

Immediately after this session, he walked himself calmly to the point of the paddock he was previously avoiding and ate hay by himself. The rest of the day he remained calm, having little naps with the herd and happily grazing.

07/07/2024

I’ll be heading up on a monthly basis to Seaspray VIC. Any riders in the Gippsland area looking for ridden or ground assistance, classical dressage tuition or assistance in equine behaviours and communications please reach out. 2 full days lessons - spectators welcome. 10th - 11th July

30/06/2024

Riders often question why their horses tails are crooked. The reason why the tail starts to pull to one side is due to strained, tight or overworking muscles and ligaments, which start to create misalignment in the body - different areas of muscle are working harder than others to compensate and protect weaknesses around the skeleton.

A crooked tail can be a result of high impact injuries like flip overs or paddock falls. Or it can be developed overtime from compensating around discomfort or pain. And this issue is not always just isolated to the pelvis. In my experience it’s nearly always connected to the lower cervical (c7-t1).

After we have learnt to create a space with our horses, where they feel safe and relaxed in our company + under our hands. I then teach my students to work on the horses head and neck position; how this affects the loading patterns of the horses front legs and when uneven loading occurs, how much pressure this puts on the horses lower cervical spine (c7-t1). How the last vertebrae of the horses neck (C-7) counter rotates against the first vertebrae of the horses back (T-1) if the shoulders are unequally loading, and how the flow on affect of this twisting runs down the spinal column into the tail as a result.

Equal forelimb loading + head and neck position are the key to creating more space in the body for changes in alignment, all the way down to the end of the spine - into the tail.

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First and foremost! If a horse is stressed, you can guarantee they aren’t activating or properly moving through muscle chains within the topline. If horses are exercised over stress, you will stiffen the body further into the horses natural crookedness, and possibly create a crooked tail…. So if your horse isn’t calm and relaxed when walking around the arena, you’re probably not ready to start alignment work.

Accessing “topline muscle chains” are why you see such heavy adjustments of this horses tail in the footage. Muscles responsible for bringing the tail to the left have become “switched off” through years of compensation. When he feels these muscles come into use, there’s a different “feeling” that runs down the body. It most likely feels weird as we touch on those restrictions, as he starts to move through parts of it (instead avoiding by compensating around it).

Releasing the end of the horses spine (sacrum & tail) is only possible when balance is maintained at the front of the spine (chest).

If you do try this, don’t lean back or push against your horse if they are heavy in the shoulders. They are allowed to fall off centre, it’s not about perfection. It’s about relaxation and communication, to help create little shifts in balance over the circle. Stand at the face, so you don’t lean or crash into their shoulder. Gently direct your horses nose onto their line of walking (in front of their sternum) and you stay on your line next to them. Soften your rein connection every time they centre the nose on their line. Talk to them, comfort them. Lightly stoke their necks so they know they are doing well.
And that’s it! That’s the start of the exercise - Nice and simple.

In my last post (grey gelding), this was the exercise I was doing with him. Have a look if you’re interested, because….
(disclaimer): 9/10 times alignment shifts will release areas of connective tissue, but the catch to muscles releasing is the emotions that sit behind muscle tensions. You will most likely notice suppressed or bottled or emotions releasing too if your horse is relaxed and finding their centre.

11/05/2024

I have had 2 rides on this beautiful boy over the last 2 weeks to feel where he is at.

Session 1 (in my green hoodie) he couldn’t open his body enough to offer much forward (impulsion) - his body was only comfortable plodding in a supple trot. If he felt stressed he would rush into a fast, shortened stride/lame trot. The slow trot was where he could maintain the best ribcage suspension, and I’m more than happy to stay with the horse in that slow trot as long as necessary whilst they are getting stronger. But today I could feel he didn’t want that. A bit more freedom was found physically over these last 2 weeks and he wanted to go FORWARD.

How far he has come! When I first met this guy, his owner found it difficult to get him going and maintain walk under saddle.

We still have lameness in R hind. But we are seeing as he gets stronger in his core and thoracic sling, function is returning to the hind end.

Very proud of this combination. His owner works carefully to maintain quality in his rehabilitation between our fortnightly lessons. Every fortnight I’m noticing beautiful changes ✨

05/05/2024

The most vulnerable point of the horses back is the bridge between the shoulders and pelvis, where weight of the rider is carried. Most riders exercise their horses in outlines to strengthen the centre of the horses back and topline.

Many trainers and riders have the idea that to engage the topline, we must get the horses neck round and low in order to raise the horses centre.

But that’s a very broad statement. How round? How low? This horse pictured was sent away for 6 weeks under a professional trainer to be brought back into ridden work. He was ridden round, low and forward. Look at the difference of his muscle and skeleton condition before he left VS arriving back home. After weeks of ridden work, the spinal column and ribcage has collapsed. The collapse of the spine has pulled the pelvis into an anterior rotation, and he is no longer sound, nor can he move functionally in the hind end anymore.

He left home a healthy horse with a strong back, and arrived home 6 weeks later an unsound horse, with a swayed back.

There is a lot more to understand when it comes to the biomechanical education of training horses. Riding is an art form. We ride and shape our horses from understanding. Without it, we can very easily compromise the musculoskeletal systems of a horse.

04/05/2024

Sitting over this guys back for the first time, reinforces to me how just how powerful emotions, experiences and memories are in relation to how the body stores trauma. What we do with horses in training never leaves them. Fear in this case, is extremely obvious when looking at this horse being mounted. His body would completely lock up in anticipation of “what he thought was going to come”. And in all fairness, this tension is completely understandable when it came to the first moment we re-introducing a rider over the back again.

This is a 15YO warmblood who for the majority of his life was ridden under modern dressage riders and trainers. In his past he was trained through the strenuous technique of Rolkur, ridden deep, round and hollow in the back for many years.

Re-introducing a rider over his back, he demonstrates enormous levels of fear, tension and stress. Knowing the level of distress and pain ridden work had caused him in the past, I knew mounting would be a very delicate process.

It has taken 2 years of rehabilitation to get this boy to a point mentally and physically where the opportunity of riding has become possible again. The first time I viewed this boy, he was standing up vertically on his back legs, rearing as he was led around the arena.

I am extremely proud of his courage, allowing me to make the transition to his back even over all this overwhelm.

There are a few more steps I want to integrate into his training to ensure this beautiful horse can find more peace next time he is mounted.

(We have recently had the go ahead from professionals to ride this horse + management through body work assistance and treatments).

Send a message to learn more

15/03/2024

CHANGE THE OBJECTIVE
In the beginning, it’s not about getting the horse in the float, it’s how they feel when facing up to the float.

If the horse feels fear outside the float, you can guarantee that’s the emotion your horse is feeling when pressured to come further into it. Fear towards the float doesn’t make it an inviting space to walk into. We need to be smart with what emotions we push our horses over, especially if we are wanting results of calmness, ease and relaxation loading on and off the float.

The process of “how you approach the float” should be the goal when teaching a horse to load:
- Patience
- Room to think
- Time to process
- Awareness surrounding the horses emotions
- Recognition of efforts
- Recognition of tension leaving the body
- Awareness of YOUR energy in a tight space
- The manner in which you communicate (body language, physical gesture, verbal expression)
- Ending the session without overloading the process

The result of this goal, will speak for itself ✨

3 relaxing sessions to teach a horse to load is always a better road than one overwhelming confrontation that shakes the horses confidence & trust in you.

22/01/2024

16/11/2023

I love the recent posts that I’m seeing surrounding training, treats and positive reinforcement. It is such an important topic to discuss as it opens opportunity for more understanding as to what riders may be unconsciously fuelling in relationships with their horses.

I usually find riders are totally for or against treat rewards depending on their experiences. And I’m supportive of both so long as the horse is relaxed and happy whilst learning. I often have discussions with new students about reward and what or if your horse truely gains much from your words, touch or even a treat. And although this post is not focused purely around food rewards, I’d like to still discuss the feeling of reward in itself.

I would like to add that whether or not you give your horse treats in training, “reward” is still something most riders are training regardless. And it’s something I feel riders need to question; how good does your horse feel when they receive (any form of) reward or praise from you?

Reward can come from a verbal communication, physical touch, a smile. A treat. But just because we give a pat, a verbal praise or a treat, doesn’t mean it actually feels rewarding in the horses world.

Often I watch as riders reward horses and think to myself “even though they are praising the horses efforts, it doesn’t seem the horse is finding that rewarding.”

A horse in any exercise, clearly unhappy and/or sour about what is being asked of them, does what they are being told, and within the riders praise there is not one sign of a proud, relaxed or happy horse. The horses emotional state goes completely unnoticed under the task that is being carried out.

An extreme example would be a horse ridden in Rolkur, being praised for trot to halt transitions. Although the rider is pleased with the transitions, is the horse pleased with the experience?

All too often I see the horses emotions get overlooked by what we ask of them physically. This can be in any form of training/discipline; liberty, ground, ridden etc. Rewarded though touch and verbal communication, it’s not uncommon for a horse to become familiar with “praising” being connected to internal feelings of stress. And the essence of reward loses its meaning overtime.

Reward should be something that creates pride, happiness and confidence in a horse, no matter what form it is given through.

The point of the reward is for it to FEEL rewarding. It should feel GOOD.
Comforting.
Relaxing.
Satisfying.
Soothing.

I really believe that any form of reward given, is never truely comforting to a horse if in the moment of receiving it they are fuelled with anxiety, anger, fear or high levels of pain. And many problems can arise from these conflicting communications. I have seen horses triggered by the words “good boy,” and react with sourness when receiving a pat (or treat) from a rider who was rewarding their efforts. Why would a horse become so angry from a verbal praise, or a pat?

Could it be that what we think we are giving, is no longer being received or recognised as the same thing for the horse….

With or without treats, to only be praised for physical effort and overlooking the horses emotional state, all whilst they experience feelings of helplessness, pain, anger or fear can become degrading to an animal that tries so hard to please. And can create huge insecurities and behavioural complications.

It’s not always so simple as teach the horse to do, reward for the effort, no matter the emotion is was taught over.

There are so many more layers to the horse’s existence other than:
I direct.
You follow.
Reward.
Repeat.

My whole point is that there are many angles to training: positive reinforcement with food, reinforcement with repetition, repetition with force, liberty, pressure release…. All these different approaches can upset any horse if there are misunderstandings in communication or an overstepping of boundaries/ thresholds.

Many riders have incredible connections and open communication with their horses. Many riders think they do but at the end of the day, their horse is replaceable.
For those of you that question giving a treat occasionally in training, don’t feel pressured do it so if it throws everything out of whack. Of course there’s more to relationships than just treats. Do what works best for you.

Our horses work hard for us. There’s nothing wrong with giving back in ways you feel makes them feel appreciated. For me a little cookie is a gesture I give to the horse out of appreciation of effort, gratitude, love and just an extra “you’re amazing I want to give you a treat.”

It is my strong belief though in many cases that food is not the core of the problem, but EXPOSES core problems. It brings out insecurities very quickly. Personally I’m looking to surface the core of the issue to assist horses in my line of work anyway. So works well for me 😅

Photo of me and my chins looking for a treat that fell down my pants. This horse is usually frightened of standing still under a rider and he was so happy to do so during our ride, I wanted to give him a cookie and cuddle out of appreciation of taking care of me.

28/10/2023

❓ ARE YOU CONDUCTING THIS STRETCH CORRECTLY?

A stretch is not just simply moving a part of the body from A to B and back to A. It is the careful repositioning of a body part from neutral (A) gently to correctly mobilised (B), held for 10-15 seconds before a controlled return back to neutral (A).

A stretch that is commonly struggled with in relation to this progress is a lateral cervical mobilisation stretch. In the left photo you can see the stretch being incorrectly carried out, with the tilting of the head and neck to get the treat without stretching the muscles of the top of the neck and poll region.

In the right photo, the ears remain perpendicular to the ground and you can see a clear stretch of the muscles around the body of the handler. You can imagine here that each vertebral joint has an even extension around the handler, rather than some joints being mobilised and others locking.

If you are using stretches for your horse, ensure your physiotherapist has seen you conduct them to make sure the desired result is being achieved. ✨

27/10/2023

How a horse feels when they are haltered by a rider may not seem like an important topic to discuss for most. But the amount of tension sitting behind (some) horses when haltered seems to be an issue that commonly goes unnoticed in the equine world.

I want to touch on this subject a little deeper and challenge riders to recognise how big a deal experiences connected to haltering really are.

Day in and day out our horses choices are managed by us. When horses are caught (haltered) they learn quickly that through this tool they are tethered to our hands, which limits their choices; what they do with their body, where they go, what they do in training, how long they do it for, what they get to investigate, look at, move away from. As we regularly handle them from their face, their balance is many times argued with by the rider, the tempo they move at is directed by the rider, even where they carry their head is up to the rider. If we think about it (good intensions and all), we control many aspects of our horses mind, body and spirit the moment that halters go on, and I feel it’s important that riders start looking at that aspect of horsemanship through a new lens.

The amount of tension that can be created around, as whats perceived by us as “basic education” is something I’ve noticed people don’t take much consideration to with youngsters or schooled horses. Negative emotions connected to the halter always stem from horses experiences once caught/handled/trained. Many horses I observe show numerous signs of stress under the halter, way before the rider has even saddled up, started ground work or mounted their horse. It seems to me a lot of riders don’t realise how heavy emotions become through experiences connected to routine; haltering commonly being the starting point to most horses training.

Walking up and putting a contraption over our horses head, tethering them to our hands and creating experiences connected to this tool, creates a multitude of feelings that go way deeper than many would imagine.

I’m a strong believer that many behavioural issues riders face are commonly problems that have accumulated on top of underlying emotions connected to the halter.
And to be successful, I feel it’s important for riders to peel back the layers of their training when it comes to creating positive change with their horse.

I would love to see more riders take a step back from always using tools, physical direction or movement as the first approach to correcting or retraining horses. But instead, give the horse room to release and free accumulated tensions in stillness to help layer new emotional foundations.

Stillness within itself is a skill set with horses as it relies on the ability to communicate through intention, peacefulness and patience. Working through intension vs force takes time, trust and understanding.

It takes skill to create “calm and happy to engage” feeling horses.

It takes no skill to create heavily micromanaged, tense and worried about “what may come” feeling horses.

Just remember everything we do with our horse is training them from the way they feel ——> to the way they behave. We have influence in creating new feelings through the tools we use and the way we treat our horses.

Horses aren’t born sour. Or Lazy. Or crazy. Every single horse I’ve ever met wants relaxation. They look for it. And they thrive with it. But they cannot find relaxation unless we create that possibility for them to experience it with us.

@ Learn Your Horse

06/09/2023

This is a beautiful picture demonstrating the difference between the alignment of the horses pelvis, ribcage, spine and skull during bend. Zoom in and have a good look at the shape of the horses skeleton when collapsing between the shoulders (left) vs carrying the ribcage between the shoulders (right). The difference being a horse that is kinking through the lower cervical, bracing through the thoracic spine, stepping wide with the inside hind leg and catching the imbalances over the off fore.
The flow on effect from head to tail is uneven curvature of the spine and the horses limbs stepping wide of the body. Making it impossible to exercise elevation of the horses ribcage.
This crookedness commonly occurs when riders try to bend and flex horses from the neck without understanding of how to position the ribcage.

• I’ve highlighted the area of the horses lower cervical C7-T1 (red circles).

03/09/2023

Do you ever spend time with your horse away from training?
Time learning through observation instead of time teaching?
No showing, asking, telling or pressuring. Just existing in the same space, enjoying each others company without expectation.

There are many layers to our horses existence. Connection, love and trust comes from what the horse experiences. Your company, without the need to always train, is very powerful.

02/09/2023

01/09/2023

It’s so important riders learn how to correctly engage and raise the horses ribcage during ridden work and training. Without understanding, the horse is many times ridden though extension of the spinal column hollowing, instead of raising. Long term this will result in injury and musculoskeletal changes.

The purpose of dressage is to preserve essence and soundness of the horse. To create harmony, balance and suppleness through training

28/08/2023

Learn how to guide active lift and suspension through your horses chest during exercise

25/08/2023

21/08/2023

Finding calmness and balance between changes of tempo in trot. The beauty and elegance of Andalusians 🌻

18/07/2023

Why is it important we do not pull or hold pressure against our horses jaw?

Because muscle chains that run from the horses tongue and jaw are directly connected to forces of the horses hips.

This here is an example of a deceased horse. A horse who can no longer feel pain or discomfort. Yet applied pressure on the horses jaw still demonstrate automatic mechanical systems that lock up the range of the hind leg motion.

A fixed noseband, weight on the bars of the horses jaw, even stress alone in itself will create a clenched jaw; automatically locking the function of the horses TMJ, action of the hip and range in which the horse can swing the hind leg.

Restriction of the jaw = restriction of the hind legs.

It is crucial that we do not disable the function of the horses hind leg during exercise. As a soft, swinging hind leg is what enables the horse to raise their ribcage and spinal column in motion.

A relaxed jaw allows muscle groups responsible for ribcage elevation to activate during exercise. A clenched jaw disables these muscle chains.

How much does applied contact / bit pressure affect stride length? …. This much!!!

There is a huge difference to applying contact to the reins VS the horse coming up, through and onto its own contact. Applying strong unforgiving contact can hollow the horse and inhibit the hind leg action, riders often then have to resort to excessive forward to keep the horse going.

The connection from “hyoid to hind leg” involves the sternohyoid to sternum through the diaphragm to psoas major.

To see the videos of this in action check it out on our patreon (this one is from todays live feed dissection).

https://www.patreon.com/bonesbrainsbodiesbehaviours/

27/10/2022

22/10/2022

I regularly spend time focusing on stillness with my horses. A peaceful state of mind at standstill allows the horse to release lots of lingering body tensions which can be seen during body shaking, chewing, yawning, adjustments of the jaw/ posture etc.

Relaxation in stillness opens up new pathways of thinking, re-wires the brain and shifts the nervous system, which is extremely important when training or rehabilitating horses.

Relaxed movement stems from a mind free from tension. If horses are given the opportunity to find the value in feelings connected to relaxation, those emotions become available to the body in movement 💫

A relaxed mindset eliminates tension in training. Open up a searching for relaxation with your horse and get that body relaxed! 🐴

Is your horse tense?
Can your horse access relaxation at standstill and in motion?

www.learnyourhorse.com.au

11/10/2022

THE EXPERIENCE | THE EMOTION | THE MEMORY

A peaceful training environment opens a space of vulnerability with horses. Opening this space not only allows them to relax in the present moment, but release negative emotions connected to past experiences.

This video is of an OTT racehorse. A whip was introduced into his relaxation sessions to help open and shift emotions associated to a history of whip abuse (in his past life racing).

During previous sessions, both horse and rider where taught to consciously search for a quieter mind and slow down their thinking levels.

By the end of this session he was completely “knocked out” by the experience of shifting emotions. As you can see, there was a huge amount of processing happening in his world.

This deep state of relaxation was created purely from “experiencing new emotions”, in which the gelding started to feel safety and support, instead of threat from the touch of the whip (The whip being used as a tool of relaxation and no longer as a “whip”).

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Think of the horses experiences being stored in their body like data. Everyday we create memories for our horses through the experiences we share with them. Good or bad, these emotional experiences take up space in the bodies memory.

The more emotions are practiced, the stronger those emotions become and the quicker those emotions trigger in day to day life.

This gelding at one stage was defensive when a whip touched, stroked or gestured towards his body - not because we had personally done anything nasty to him, but because of the strong memories the whip triggered from his past life as a race horse.

This video shows the moment all those emotions started to release from his body. New emotions started to override traumatic past memories and for the first time in this gelding’s life, he experienced genuine feelings of safety with humans holding a whip. This allowed him to not only start to access the space of relaxation we had previously practiced, but go DEEPER into that space (captured here on video).

We stepped back to allow him to process further as he was in this wobbly state for around 10 minutes.
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Our horses experiences store with them for life. This is a great example of how much emotional experiences impact their life when frightened by the ideas and tools we use. This post is not just about whips, it’s about the way we manage ourselves around our horses, how we think and feel towards them and treat them with the tools we use. It’s about how deep emotional experiences store in the body and how horses have to carry their experiences for the entirety of their life.

How much our beliefs, attitudes and actions impact our horses lives long-term, even when we retire them.

Don’t take it personal when your new horse has a go at you, or disconnects from you. There is always something triggering their behaviours. Instead of punishing them, we need to help them move forward from the blockages of their past.

There are kinder ways to learn and train with our horses. Not only from a biomechanical or material point of view, but a psychological and spiritual one.

To learn more or inquire about lessons please visit www.learnyourhorse.com.au