Curly Zeke, Part II Questions on Lateral Flexion

Just a couple days after I published the article on working on lateral flexion on starting Curly Zeke, my coming 4 year old QH gelding, I received a call from Laura who asked me some great questions concerning Zeke and my improvement/non-improvement and issues with him understanding a soft ask for lateral flexion. These question made me think on how I was approaching the whole thing as I had to explain it. While I really don't care what other people think of me,......wait,.....the FBI. I do care what the FBI thinks of me. Or the IRS for that matter. Anyway, I do care what my horses think of me and if I can do something better for them, I need to find that way. Here are her questions, my thoughts and answers to her, and some self reflection on what I could have done different.

How much do you accept? Meaning when I am asking a horse, in this case Zeke, for a soft give to an ask for lateral flexion, how much bend in his head and neck, giving to the ask, do I need from him before I stop that lesson to resume another day, and how much lateral flexion do I need before I can ride him?

I should only ask what he can give at the moment. Going into working with him, I should not have precoceived ideas on how much I watn that day from him. But I'm guilty on not following that. I went back to just asking for a few degrees or inches of flexion, then buildig on that, slowly. Its actually a faster way, but more importantly its more accepting to the horse. WHat also is so important, is the pause givbene between asks. Again guilty of getting in a hurry, so I have to cognizantly recognize that trait in myself.

Laura said she understood the idea of letting the horse find the release when giving to the rider asking for lateral flexion, meaning waiting on the horse to give and find the release, but is there a point when you demand a give such as with bumping?

Demand is a big word. Not really a good word or thought to use with horses. Maybe insisting on a try, but even the thought to try is sufficient. I think poor or fristrated horsemen have an instinct to pull hard. Evne worsea a jerk. While bumping has it's place it's best used sparlingly and differenty on horse to horse. When Zeke braces for an ask for lateral flexion to the left, he like other horses has a tendancy to fade to the right. Sometimes I'll switch to an ask for right flexion and use my right leg to get him back on his line. Sometimes, I'll bump just a bit on that left rein and sometimes I change the angle of the rein slighlty higher as to lift his shoulder and ask for the left leg to step out and forward and use my right leg to reinforce the ask for flexion. You'll just have to experiment with your horse, and even on another horse, do something different. Helping the horse untrack in his hind end as shown in the video below is good for both getting a horse to follow a feel for lateral flexion and to help him untrack his hand end.

Curly Zeke Part II, Getting Lateral Flexion

Continuing with starting Curly Zeke, I have been working on him understanding and following the feel on the lead rope or reins when I ask for lateral flexion. He definitely has a weak side giving to the left with a brace, and on both sides he is tipping his nose and keeping his head low so his ears are not level. Obviously we would all like and need lateral bend of the head and neck in a horse where he keeps his ears mostly level, especially during forward momentum if we want a balanced horse.

I'll work him in halter and lead asking for lateral flexion but not more than he is ready to give. I think there is a tendency to get a horse bending his head and neck round way past 90 degrees, in effect touching his nose to his shoulder or to the stirrup, and that is more lateral flexion than I need or can use. I may change my opinion on that down the road as the horse gets more handy and soft. One of my other horses, a 13 years old gelding, is very responsive and soft when I ask and always gives me more than 90 degrees. I do not intentionally ask him for that much flexion, he just gives it to me. But again, 90 degrees is more than I need to turn or position up a horse, especially starting to ride a green horse.

The videos below of working Curly Zeke in a round pen asking for lateral flexion for circles and 180 degree turns at the walk and trot are pretty much what I have to have going on with him before the first ride out of the round pen, as well as being able to untrack his back end. So the same with any horse, being able to direct him or turn him and untrack his hand end. The four videos go from on the ground with Zeke in a snaffle bit, from the saddle, then at a walk and trot.

I try not to just drill, drill, drill on lateral flexion. I'm hoping the videos and description of starting Zeke will give people a basis for comparison so if there is any frustration people can see the issues and progression of Zeke and we begin to work through them. While I'm putting a ride on Zeke, first in the round pen, then later outside, I'll also work on the beginnings of good stop, backing up (but just a couple steps), and, bringing a front foot out to the side as in the beginnings of a turn on the hind end. And lastly before I've done really any of the above, I've got Zeke responsive and soft at untracking his back end while I'm in the saddle. He's doing very well with moving his back end that we could move to asking for the untracking and expecting him to pivoting with a front foot instead of taking a step or two forward.

Question on Lateral Flexion and Reset

Cathy sent in a question on lateral flexion. "Hello, I wonder if you could write about some tips for lateral flexion issues in my 4 year old Morgan gelding. The woman who I bought him from tried to start him several times, but had to quit each time due to reoccurring health issues. So I am restarting him from scratch. He is saddle broke so I can ride him around in a arena without any trouble except he is not very responsive when I ask for lateral flexion. After working on this, several days a week over the last 2 months, he still is (most of the time) stiff when I pull on a direct rein to get his head to one side or the other. I understand and use the pressure release concept but as I reach a point where he is stiff I don't feel like I can release because he is not giving. And then very oddly enough, once in a while, or actually more often than not, he will keep his head turned when I release the direct rein and I want to go to the other side. Trying to pull him in the other direction is difficult and I usually have to wait until he brings his head back straight to try again which seems to take a while. Is there anything you can say or suggest that may help?"

I might try starting back on the ground in a halter again as it may help to remove any distractors to your gelding such as you in the saddle. Standing to one side, by the front cinch, or his shoulder if he is not saddled, and try not to ask for a lot at once, but pick up the lead rope, take up the slack and hold just to get a inch or two of lateral flexion. Be aware of your timing. Just as soon as he begins to give lateral flexion, maybe not even giving you anything but just before he does, give him a release. Pet on him, wait 6 or 8 seconds and begin again. This seems like it will take forever, but it will get you to where you want to be faster with the horse understanding how to get the release. You build on how much he gives you.

I think everyone has had these lateral flexion issues. I know I certainly have. Sometimes I have went to bumping a little on the reins for lateral flexion. And bumping is really not the best description, more like a small shake to bring his mind back to the taunt rein asking for that lateral give. If I would get it (the horse giving me lateral flexion) but it wasn't soft, meaning when he does give but remains tense, I would hold and await on him following what I wrote above and it payed off.

What you are describing when your gelding does give you lateral flexion, but still has the brace in there, is like a grudging concession rather than a willing give, if that makes sense. And what you describe being on your horse, once giving to an ask for lateral flexion and him keeping his head turned (basically his nose to your stirrup) after releasing contact of the rein...I have experienced that many times as well. What I used to do is put a little bump or feel in the other rein to the side to direct him back towards the center line. Sometimes I use would put a little bump upwards in the opposite rein to do the same. Neither with good consistent results. But, what works for me these days, and is less confusing to my horses, is that when his head is off to one side and he seems content to keep it there, I'll touch him on the opposite side, usually just behind the front cinch with my spur or inside heel of my boot. And I'm talking about a touch. I am not applying pressure. This will direct his mind to the other side and he will bring his head back to the center. This same thing or concept is also useful during forward momentum when your horse bends his head to the side by moving forward to perhaps look at something. I think most of us want our horses looking where we are going and not to the side. But I am not unrelenting on this. I'll allow a horse to look briefly to one side or another, but it has to be brief and not much of a over bending of his head and neck.

The short video above is my three year old gelding Curly Zeke who is just not that interested in lateral flexion, but what is interesting is that he is good on one side, but less so on the other. I can direct, changing directons, in him moving out, on soft direct rein, its just the standing still lateral flexion asks are not where I would like him to be. In the video I ask him for lateral flexion to the left. His head stays there after the release, so I use my right spur to touch him on the right side, like described in the above paragraph. It serves to bring his mind back to the right with his head and neck moving to the center. I would suggest you play around with this, just remember it's a touch and not a lingering feel on his barrel.

Restarting Monte, Part 4

Once in the saddle, beginning on Day Two of Monte's restart, I worked on lateral flexion and untracking his hind end using as minimal leg pressure as I could because he was , at first, very reactive to it. I need the lateral flexion to control direction and the hind end untracking (often also referred to disengaging the hind end) to do so many things from stopping him to turn arounds.

In the beginning Monte would jump sideways from any pressure with my leg to untracking his hind end, but from Day Two to Day Three he made good progress responding softly to my ask for his hind end to untrack....again something we could build on. As for lateral flexion, Monte would give me his head and neck pretty softly, but would also untracking his hind end without me asking for that, which is real common.


I think there are two basic things to remember here, 1 - when you ask for lateral flexion as soon as he gives you that and is soft, meaning no brace or pushing on you, then the release have to be immediate (the all important timing and recognition of softness) and the pause, before asking, again is sufficient. I have seen some riders ask for lateral flexion, left then right, then left then right, without any pause whatsoever, so the pressure just runs into each other becoming one long pressure where the slight and short releases and non existent pauses don't mean anything to the horse. 2 - when you ask for lateral flexion, if the horse untracks his hind end, wait for him to stop, then when he is not moving nor leaning, give him the release. With Monte he was not 100% consistent with always giving lateral flexion on the ask, but he understood enough to be able to build on that. I did not expect anything different, but he was better than I was expecting.

So now we are moving onto directional control with forward momentum. Since nothing I had done with Monte so far involved using both my legs at the same time, it was easy for him to quickly understand that slight pressure with both legs, using my calves, was asking him to transition from the walk to the trot. He is a naturally forward horse, unlike some, so it was really easy to get him to move out. In the beginning he would jump out being reactive to pressure, but I minimized that concentrating on as light as pressure as possible on his barrel and giving him a loose rein. What is not shown in any video is earlier is when I was sending Monte around from the ground I would pickup the stirrup with my free hand and touch him on his barrel preparing him for the cue to go forward from the walk to the trot. This is good to do on young horses as the first time they experience pressure on their barrel from the stirrup or your calf/heel on the ground they will better be able to handle that from the saddle....normally.

For directional control at the trot, I was first using a direct rein, then the inside leg to untrack in a turn, then I added a neck rein or using the outside rein first before the other two cues. Later on he could turn with just a neck rein. What we did not video was Monte's trot to canter transitions which were pretty smooth. Not flawless, but something to build on after just 10-12 rides.

Lateral Flexion in a Colt's first few rides

I picked up a 2 year old sorrel gelding last year at a sale. I was really happy to have the winning bid on him, kind of surprised that he was overlooked by other bidders on the other two year olds, who all had smaller heads, small bones and feet, and narrow chests. I chose him for his wide chest, thick bone structure and big feet.

He is highly bred and I was just as happy a kid in a candy factory. Thats him at the top right photo. I was really anxious to get him going. I tried to start him a couple times but to due to more important things involving my late wife this past summer, fall and even winter, he sat neglected until recently. So now he is coming three in May and I have done a decent ground work and put a few rides on him.



Before I swung a leg over, I had him following a soft feel on a lead rope in backing, coming forward, disengaging his back end, moving his front end over, coming to the fence to pick me up, going quietly through gates, untracking him with the lead around his outside rump and asking him to follow that feel through the bend. I got him pretty soft in the face, to drop his head and started him on lateral flexion which I needed for direction when I put the first ride on him and certainly for rides outside the round corral. He was fairly bracey on one side, going to his left. I thought that I would help him get a better understanding on lateral flexion once I had the first ride on him. So, I swung a leg over and moved out. 

Well, everybody has heard that horses are going to be better on one side than the other. But I have never had a horse with the difference in one side to the other, than this horse, who I named Zeke. While just sitting in the saddle and asking for him to follow a feel for lateral flexion, to his right he willingly tipped his nose then head when I asked for lateral flexion, but to the left he still had a brace and a pretty stubborn brace at that.

I was pretty surprised and his reluctance to give him his head and spent a lot of time trying to figure out the why and the how to get him better. He easily went into a nice trot and really didn't have a problem keeping the trot unlike some other young horses. When I ask a young horse to give me a trot and if he wants to stop, I don't nit pick at him, instead letting I let him settle down then asking again for the trot but Zeke was pretty good from the get go. One key is that I always asked him for wide turns in changing direction and he was good at that which did not require a lot of lateral flexion. I was riding him in snaffle bit with big slobber straps and mecate reins. All in all, I am pleased with him. Smart horse (aren't they all?), but yet the brace continued.

- click on the photo above to enlarge - 

Knowing that I couldn't just work on lateral flexion all day - it would lead to frustration for both of us - I was riding just letting him get more comfortable in what he could already do without trouble. What I found that in the trot when I ask for softness tipping his nose and head to the left, he was better and go even better. Still some brace, but again getting better. So, it kind of goes back to the old adage that you need forward momentum out of a horse in order to build an understanding. He's no exception. And he is gaining confidence with carrying me around and responding as long as I don't overload him. I make sure I quit him on something he does well and is quiet and soft about. There is SO much joy in starting a young green horse. I hope many of you get that chance.  

Lateral Flexion - How Much is Enough?

I gave a client a series of things to do with her horse as a warm up or pre-ride check, not only to check to see if her horse with her before she rides but to continue getting her horse softer and more responsive. One of the things was to ask her horse for lateral flexion. I showed her how to ask it for it during ground training while her horse is in a halter, and when that gets good it transfers to when in the saddle, however from horseback she'll have to ask for lateral flexion with the reins, whether she is riding in a bit or a hackamore.

After working with her horse she got back to me with some questions which are likely pretty common so I am including them in this article.

"Why does my horse do well (giving softer to the feel on the rein asking for lateral flexion) for a couple times, then start to be harder to pull around?"   While you want to get to the point that you can barely pickup the rein to get your horse to give laterally (or vertically when asking for that), sometimes in the beginning when you pickup the rein, if he doesn't bend, you will have to bump him (short tugs)  as a stronger suggestion to get him to give. As soon as he gives and is not pulling on the rein then release, but you need to hold until he does give - meaning no tension on the rein.

I like to wait a few seconds before asking again even if asking on the other side. This gives him time to absorb the lesson about giving and getting a release. If you rapidly ask and release, ask and release, ask and release, then there may as well be no release because that's likely the way he see's it.

"How far should I bend him (how much lateral flexion is enough?)"   I know some people want the horse to give all the way so his nose is touching your stirrup or leg. All horse's are different so there are some that this would be physically hard to do. I don't see the point in it anyway. I can't think of anything I do with my horse where I need this over extended flexion. If a horse gives you, say around 100-110 degrees each and every time you ask, then how much more do you need?  In the photo at right, my horse is giving me well over 90 degrees. I can use that much lateral flexion.  In the photo at the top right of this article, the horse is giving me somewhat less than 90 degrees - I need a little bit more than that. 

I know some people are going to write me and say horse's should be able to give all the way so their nose is touching their barrel.  Yep, I see horses bite their sides and do other feats of equine gymnastics all the time, but that doesn't mean I need for them to do that when I'm in the saddle. 

In the diagram below,  I tried to draw a horse display straightness and then lateral flexion - BTW I'm not artist and I know that surprises few people, but if we can't agree that the picture below looks like a horse from above, then we simply can't be friends - anyway in Figure 2 below, it's supposed to show the horse giving to around 90-100 degrees of lateral flexion. Figure 3 shows a horse gives much more than that, somewhere around 150-160 degrees lateral flexion and again, some people actually want their horse's to touch their nose to the rider's boot or the horse's shoulder. While I'll admit I don't ride high end performance horses, I can't see any point to asking for such lateral flexion.  Let me re-phrase that,......I see some trainers really cranking on a rein to get the horse to give laterally as much as physically possible.... I while I can see asking for as much as the horse can give, I just don't see the point in demanding it.