Forward is a necessity
A horse must be educated in how to go forward from the driving aids. A horse that doesn’t understand how to go forward, and instead becomes completely locked up with an inability to be ridden forward are some of the most dangerous horses to ride.
Years ago I rode a mare who would become completely locked up when asked to move. What I felt was not just a resistance to go forward, but rather a bomb building underneath me. I was never sure how far to push, because the feeling of a back that tense leaves a lot of potential for what might be on the other side, and most of the options don’t look good. This mare scared me, bad. And, she gifted me the opportunity to dive headfirst into traditional horsemanship methods, because I had no other choice. This horse did a number on my confidence. I’ve ridden a lot of horses in my lifetime, many who buck and bolt…but a locked up horse takes the cake for horses I would prefer not to sit on.
I’ve recently had to revisit this lesson, and it’s been a tough pill to swallow. Now, it isn’t just about making a horse go without regard to the individual horse, your rapport with them, and an understanding of how to tactfully teach the horse to go forward and open. It’s also the responsibility of the human to address all aspects of husbandry that could be having an impact. Does the tack fit? Are the feet balanced, and have other physical issues including ulcers been ruled out? Does the horse have adequate turn out and nutritional needs met? I have meticulously crossed off every last thing, and still found myself sitting on a horse who met my ask to move forward with tense and irritable resistance. I found myself tightening too, and I knew that being tight would only further escalate the problem because I would just be driving the tense horse into more tension.
A horse that can go forward is one who can open their back and actually release tension. Because my horse was so tight, it further made it hard for her to move out and open - which is the posture she actually needed to relax. The medicine her body needed was the exact thing she thought would be impossible. Revisiting a lesson in moving out from the driving aids produced a supple and elastic back, and energy that flowed through her entire body. A forward horse who is balanced and supple is a safe horse, and I will forever die on that hill. Those who keep their horses forever “under threshold” because they see the slightest resistance when they ask their horse to go forward (or try anything), are potentially creating a pattern of tension in their horses body that will further restrict a supple and elastic ability to move out. Horses are designed to move, and a horse that is unable to due to tension is not a healthy horse. At the end of the day the person must learn to care for a horse in the way nature has intended, and the person has to learn to ride with good equitation so that the horse can open under a balanced and tactful rider. Then, the person must gain a skillset so that they can help their horse move beyond tension and come out much improved on the other side.
Thank you to my teacher Tressa for literally being in my ear and helping me through.
