How we work with our horses is important. We want them relaxed when we work with them. We do not want to work with them with tension in their bodies. Tension over the long haul creates lameness issues.

It is natural for horses to counter balance to turn and stop, raise their heads up and hollow their backs to see the landscape better. If we are going to ride our horses then we need to teach them what is unnatural and that is to engage their abdominal muscles which lifts their backs to help
support the weight of the rider on his/her spine. This helps the spine to stay healthy and relaxed and the joints to stay soft. This up balance of the horse creates gaits that are heavenly to ride.

Using the marker signal (the unique distinctive sound of the click followed by the reinforcement of a treat) we can step by step teach the horse either at liberty and/or with the lead rope or reins how to engage their abdominal muscles to help the horse get ready for receiving a rider on their back.

There are many ways to teach this. And the more ways we teach the same thing the better the horse and human understands it. We can teach the horse at liberty through the shaping process, targeting, and/or with a slight pressure and release of pressure with the lead rope or reins using the single rein riding technique. The rein and rope mechanics matter. When I touch the lead rope or rein I am accessing the horse’s spinal column, pelvis and joints. So this work becomes chiropractic work allowing the horse to access the minute adjustments as he/she is ready. We only go to a point of contact and wait for a slight shift to occur and capture that moment with a click and treat. This way the horse is motivated step by step in the learning process on how round up and stay up through the corners and while they are carrying their human. They are happy, focused and relaxed for they are successful with each step.

In this brief Equine Pilate’s DVD, I am teaching my horse Magic front and hind leg flexions coupled with the abdominal crunches, using the click and treat to tell him when he is getting closer or when he has done well in that stage of the exercise. This is not a training DVD, but a brief glimpse into how we teach the horse correct usage of their bodies on the ground. You will see a few times when Magic has communicated to me he needs a break and so we run around together. These Pilate’s Exercises are strengthening exercises and so I let Magic tell me when to move on to something else and when to come back to the stationary work.

As many of you know Magic came to me with lameness issues. When I stay current on these exercises plus the PEMF and Biofeedback I am able to get him pretty darn sound.

We can do all the massage work, have perfectly balanced feet, do tons of Biofeedback and PEMF, but if we ride our horses with tension and inversion we will cripple them over time. I believe it is a huge responsibility if we love our horses, to learn how to ride them so they stay healthy and sound in their bodies. And the easiest way for the horse and human to learn this is to work in hand first. How long does it take? Each horse is different. It took Magic a chunk of time because he had a locked up atlas joint. This work helped to teach him how to unlock his own body one step one click at a time. Very cool.