The Ultimate Guide To Horse
Training
Gentle
Natural Horsemanship
by Eric Bravo
Horse Training Videos
Horse Body Zones
The body of a horse can be divided up
into different areas or zones. By putting pressure in a given zone, or
opening the door in a given zone, we can get the horse to move in
different ways by the method we use to apply energy. In this article we
discuss what the zones of the horse are and how to use them on the
ground and when horseback riding.
A simple approach which is very practical and easy to understand is to divide up a horse into just three zones. Lets start by looking at the whole horse.
Now lets divide up his body. In the image below, we see him split up into three different zones. We call these the forehand, the mid-section, and the hindquarters (or hind for short).
What we are going to do with our horses is ask him to move in different ways by directing energy towards each of the three zones. You can call this "applying pressure" or "directing energy", think of these phrases as interchangable when it comes to horses.
When applying energy, think of a horse as a dart board. You direct darts at the horse to move him in different ways-but these are dars of energy. Let's start with the forehand. As youc an see in the figure, what we are calling the forehand extends from the nose to just past the withers and includes the front legs.
Now lets consider working with the horse on the ground and using the forehand to move the horse. When working with your horse on the ground, place an imaginary "X" or "bullseye" of our dart board right at the withers. We can move the forehand over by focusing on this region and using two basic steps.
First, we want to "open the door" which means to communicate to the horse that it is OK to move in a given direction. On the ground, your vantage point is standing directly in front of the horse. As an example, lets say that you are going ask your horse to the left (which is to his right). The first step is to open the door to your left by lifting up the lead rope and pointing out with your finger, as illustrated in this figure.
Now we need to close the door on the right side. We do this by applying pressure (or directing energy) to that imaginary "X" on the withers we talked about earlier. You can do this by using the end of the lead rope in your right hand. Just lift it up and swing it, so that the end is swinging across the withers of your horse. It is not necessary to hit the horse with your lead rope. We are swinging it to direct energy, which closes the door to movement towards your right. This shown below.
Opening and closing the door this way will cause the horse to shift over to your left. The first time you do this, you may find your horse walking backwards, until he learns what you are asking. But chances are he will pick it up quickly. If he does walk backwards, don't let up the pressure. Walk towards him while maintaining your open/closed doors. Keep your left hand raised and pointed and continuously apply that pressure with our right hand by continuously swinging the rope. Do this until the horse shifts to your left by taking a single step in that direction. When he does take that step, take the pressure off. That is, stop swinging the rope, and drop your left hand. Then praise the horse for doing what you asked.
Next, repeat for the other side. Every exercise you to with your horse should be done on both sides. Lift and point with your right hand, and swing the end of the rope with your left hand. Look for the horse to take a step to your right.
This exercise should be performed with your horse every time you do groundwork. Make sure you and he can do it together like a well oiled machine, because this will really help him become more light and responsive when riding. What we are doing here is opening up a line of communication between you and your horse.
In the saddle, the exercise described in the previous section is analogous to using your reins to communicate with your horse. If you want to turn your horse to the right, you can pull and lift out the right rein to open the door to the right. The door is closed on the left side in two ways, first the bit and bridle apply pressure to the left side of the face when you pull the right rein out. This is the same as closing the door by swinging the rope. We also apply pressure with your leg or foot on the left side to get the horse to move right, something we will mention below when we discuss the mid-section.
Now lets talk about applying pressure to the hind end. On the ground, putting pressure on the hind will cause the horse to swing around and bring his face toward you. You can apply pressure to the hind using the following steps. Let's assume you are going to put pressure on the left side of the horse. Once again, start directly facing the horse.
First, step to your right and lean in toward his hip. Look directly at his hind end.
Next, swing the rope towards his hind end. Start by moving the rope gently. If he does not respond, swing it more vigorously. You want to increase your energy level and give your horse a chance to react. If he does not, you need to keep increasing the pressure. If you need to, you can swing the rope and let the end of it tap his hind end. This should get the horse to move.
When the horse swings his hind end around, the horse will move his nose toward you. In other words, note how your position is changed since you leaned in from facing him so that now you're looking at his hip. Putting pressure will get him to swing around so that you're facing him again. Remember, do every ground work exercise on both sides of the horse, so repeat with the other side. After doing this a few times, you will find that your horse gets so responsive as to swing his hip just by you looking at it. That is because you direct energy by looking at his hip. In the early stages, the rope is nothing more than a tool to help us direct energy.
Now lets talk about swinging the horse around like this when you are sitting in the saddle. This involves four steps: Flex, Apply pressure to the hind, ask for movement, and stop the horse. First flex the head of the horse toward you by pulling back on the rein. If we want to apply pressure to the left hip, we start by pulling the left rein so that the head of the horse is flexed all the way to your stirrup. If you don't have flexing down, this is something you really need to practice with your horse until its automatic.
Once he is flexed, turn and look back at his left hip. This step directs energy to the hip to ask him to swing it around. Next, apply pressure to the mid-section with your left foot. If your horse does not respond, ask louder by tapping him with your foot.
The horse will start swigning around. To ask him to stop, we first stop directing the energy we have applied. Start releasing the energy by turning your face forward and redirecting your gaze outward past the nose of the horse. Then stop applying pressure with your foot. Finally, lift the opposite rein (the right rein in this case) straight up and exhale. If done properly, the horse will square up and come to a stop.
We'll conclude this article with a brief mention of that third zone we picked out in the beginning, the mid-section. The mid-section is often used for more advanced movements like side-passing that we'll talk about in a future article. One area where the mid-section is utilized is when riding your horse. This is the zone where you apply pressure with your feet when riding. In the previous exercise, we noted how we could apply pressure with the foot to get the horse to swing around. This act directs energy to the mid-section.
We also do this when riding the horse out. By kicking the horse or applying pressure with your legs in the mid-section, you can get the horse to move out forward. When turning, to turn right you lift and point the right rein and apply pressure with your left foot or calf. So we see how the mid-section is utilized in the saddle.
Learn more about horse training videosA simple approach which is very practical and easy to understand is to divide up a horse into just three zones. Lets start by looking at the whole horse.
Now lets divide up his body. In the image below, we see him split up into three different zones. We call these the forehand, the mid-section, and the hindquarters (or hind for short).
What we are going to do with our horses is ask him to move in different ways by directing energy towards each of the three zones. You can call this "applying pressure" or "directing energy", think of these phrases as interchangable when it comes to horses.
When applying energy, think of a horse as a dart board. You direct darts at the horse to move him in different ways-but these are dars of energy. Let's start with the forehand. As youc an see in the figure, what we are calling the forehand extends from the nose to just past the withers and includes the front legs.
Now lets consider working with the horse on the ground and using the forehand to move the horse. When working with your horse on the ground, place an imaginary "X" or "bullseye" of our dart board right at the withers. We can move the forehand over by focusing on this region and using two basic steps.
First, we want to "open the door" which means to communicate to the horse that it is OK to move in a given direction. On the ground, your vantage point is standing directly in front of the horse. As an example, lets say that you are going ask your horse to the left (which is to his right). The first step is to open the door to your left by lifting up the lead rope and pointing out with your finger, as illustrated in this figure.
Now we need to close the door on the right side. We do this by applying pressure (or directing energy) to that imaginary "X" on the withers we talked about earlier. You can do this by using the end of the lead rope in your right hand. Just lift it up and swing it, so that the end is swinging across the withers of your horse. It is not necessary to hit the horse with your lead rope. We are swinging it to direct energy, which closes the door to movement towards your right. This shown below.
Opening and closing the door this way will cause the horse to shift over to your left. The first time you do this, you may find your horse walking backwards, until he learns what you are asking. But chances are he will pick it up quickly. If he does walk backwards, don't let up the pressure. Walk towards him while maintaining your open/closed doors. Keep your left hand raised and pointed and continuously apply that pressure with our right hand by continuously swinging the rope. Do this until the horse shifts to your left by taking a single step in that direction. When he does take that step, take the pressure off. That is, stop swinging the rope, and drop your left hand. Then praise the horse for doing what you asked.
Next, repeat for the other side. Every exercise you to with your horse should be done on both sides. Lift and point with your right hand, and swing the end of the rope with your left hand. Look for the horse to take a step to your right.
This exercise should be performed with your horse every time you do groundwork. Make sure you and he can do it together like a well oiled machine, because this will really help him become more light and responsive when riding. What we are doing here is opening up a line of communication between you and your horse.
Moving the Forehand in the Saddle
In the saddle, the exercise described in the previous section is analogous to using your reins to communicate with your horse. If you want to turn your horse to the right, you can pull and lift out the right rein to open the door to the right. The door is closed on the left side in two ways, first the bit and bridle apply pressure to the left side of the face when you pull the right rein out. This is the same as closing the door by swinging the rope. We also apply pressure with your leg or foot on the left side to get the horse to move right, something we will mention below when we discuss the mid-section.
Moving the Hind
Now lets talk about applying pressure to the hind end. On the ground, putting pressure on the hind will cause the horse to swing around and bring his face toward you. You can apply pressure to the hind using the following steps. Let's assume you are going to put pressure on the left side of the horse. Once again, start directly facing the horse.
First, step to your right and lean in toward his hip. Look directly at his hind end.
Next, swing the rope towards his hind end. Start by moving the rope gently. If he does not respond, swing it more vigorously. You want to increase your energy level and give your horse a chance to react. If he does not, you need to keep increasing the pressure. If you need to, you can swing the rope and let the end of it tap his hind end. This should get the horse to move.
When the horse swings his hind end around, the horse will move his nose toward you. In other words, note how your position is changed since you leaned in from facing him so that now you're looking at his hip. Putting pressure will get him to swing around so that you're facing him again. Remember, do every ground work exercise on both sides of the horse, so repeat with the other side. After doing this a few times, you will find that your horse gets so responsive as to swing his hip just by you looking at it. That is because you direct energy by looking at his hip. In the early stages, the rope is nothing more than a tool to help us direct energy.
Now lets talk about swinging the horse around like this when you are sitting in the saddle. This involves four steps: Flex, Apply pressure to the hind, ask for movement, and stop the horse. First flex the head of the horse toward you by pulling back on the rein. If we want to apply pressure to the left hip, we start by pulling the left rein so that the head of the horse is flexed all the way to your stirrup. If you don't have flexing down, this is something you really need to practice with your horse until its automatic.
Once he is flexed, turn and look back at his left hip. This step directs energy to the hip to ask him to swing it around. Next, apply pressure to the mid-section with your left foot. If your horse does not respond, ask louder by tapping him with your foot.
The horse will start swigning around. To ask him to stop, we first stop directing the energy we have applied. Start releasing the energy by turning your face forward and redirecting your gaze outward past the nose of the horse. Then stop applying pressure with your foot. Finally, lift the opposite rein (the right rein in this case) straight up and exhale. If done properly, the horse will square up and come to a stop.
The Mid-Section
We'll conclude this article with a brief mention of that third zone we picked out in the beginning, the mid-section. The mid-section is often used for more advanced movements like side-passing that we'll talk about in a future article. One area where the mid-section is utilized is when riding your horse. This is the zone where you apply pressure with your feet when riding. In the previous exercise, we noted how we could apply pressure with the foot to get the horse to swing around. This act directs energy to the mid-section.
We also do this when riding the horse out. By kicking the horse or applying pressure with your legs in the mid-section, you can get the horse to move out forward. When turning, to turn right you lift and point the right rein and apply pressure with your left foot or calf. So we see how the mid-section is utilized in the saddle.