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.

Restarting Monte, Part 2

Continuing with Monte, I worked with him to understand the slight differences in asking for a front foot to step out and being sent following a loose lead rope. This was really just checking in on him as I had been leading him to turnout almost on a daily basis and he was good about following a soft ask to step out past me and walk off. However, I did spend that time going back and forth being asking for a front foot to step out and being sent so those slight changes in the feel of a lead rope were very evident to him. In clinics I often ask riders on the ground to send their horses past them and continue at a walk a fairly small circle. Many people will step out of the way of their horses and abruptly take up the slack in the lead never giving their horse a chance to follow a soft feel on a loose lead. And in annual Arena Challenges I ran, I sometimes had a final a task where the rider dismounted and sent their horse past them between two barrels. Often, the vast majority of riders could not do this simple task as they always led their horses someplace as opposed to getting them good as being sent. Being able to send your horses is a valid deal as you may have a gate or a trailer where can't go first and lead your horse through or into. So the short video below was just a reminder to checkin with Monte from time to time on being sent, and untracking him as if you send a horse through a gate, I want a horse to be able to untrack and face up as I latch or close the gate.

Being able to get forward momentum is very necessary to make progress with a horse. They need to be able to trot and lope and to do so without the rider constantly pulling on the horse's mouth. I want to be able to make subtle cues to go from the walk to the trot and want the horse to softly, but responsively go into that gait. I would think everyone wants that. In the beginning Monte, being very reactive, would be troubled when asked for the trot he would jump into a stilted, choppy anxious trot. Not what I wanted but I would let him continue until I saw the slightest sign of anxiety reducing then ask him to face up. Then ask again. Also in he beginning I would give him a good pause before asking his front to step over and go the other direction. His head going up and bracing, soon gave way to a much softer head and neck, something we could build on both on the ground and in the saddle.