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  Discussion on Bending 101
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 17, 2000 - 9:16 am:

I've got a young horse off the track and am having problems getting him to bend consistently. Originally, I'm sure a lot of the problem was physical for him, especially since he had the worst time bending to the right (ie racers go left, left, left!). However, at the walk and trot, he does listen to my leg fairly well. At the canter, it is another story. On a circle, he goes around with an opposite bend and no matter what I do he won't respond. I've put on spurs (only tom thumb ones - and I use them carefully) and nicely (and not so nicely) asked him to move over with no response. I've given a good tug on the inside rein to get him off of it, but that doesn't really work either. I know I don't have the strongest leg or the best position, but I have the basics down and I don't understand why this is becoming a problem. As I said, the canter is the worst. He's not really going fast (although he often does!), but when I ask him to bend he gets agitated and speeds up. Any advice would be welcome.

Posted on Thursday, Aug 17, 2000 - 3:26 pm:

A young horse off the track should spend from 3 to 6 months in walk and trot only, doing serpentines, 20 metre circles [never smaller than 15 metres], figures of eight, walk to trot, walk to halt, trot to walk transitions, etc. etc. You can then gradually introduce some lateral work at a walk, say shoulder in just for a few strides, both reins, maybe a little leg yielding, so that he continually gently stretches, supples and softens. All of this work would be on a long rein, of course, with the lightest of hands, encouraging him to flex and carry himself, but never demanding that he do so, always letting him go long and low to stretch his back when he needs to.

Then, and only then, when he is really supple and balanced, should you ask him to canter. And he should only be asked to canter for perhaps ten strides to begin, asking him on the short side of the arena, in the bend, cantering him down the long side of the arena, and bringing him back to a balanced trot on the next short side. Doing this twice in your work session is quite sufficient.

Your work sessions should never be more than 30 minutes, preferably 20 minutes on a horse that has been well-warmed up by walking him on a totally loose rein.

Your horse is not bending because he WON’T, but because he CAN’T. He is not sufficiently supple nor balanced enough, so you need a lot more work at the walk and trot, on both reins. He will be agitated and speeding up because he won’t be able to understand the “good tug on the inside rein” and the use of spurs [“not so nicely”]. And it is probably hurting him. Even if he does understand what you want, it is evident that he can’t do it because he can’t bend correctly yet, so you really have to go back to square one and start again, slowly, gently, with lots of patience. And take off the spurs.

A good instructor will help, as will a therapist who does Tteam, for example, and can show you exercises to do with him.

Posted on Friday, Aug 18, 2000 - 8:34 pm:

Well, after reading your post I actually feel like I'm on the right track for the most part (except for the spurs). I've had him 2 years and for the first 1.5 years all I did with him was trot work. I've only started him jumping small jumps 6 months or so ago (which is going quite well). I'm not sure I agree totally with you on the "can't" bend at the canter because I've had a stronger rider ride him and he bends for her. I talked with her about a plan of action and we decided it would probably be best for me to work on walk-trot-canter transitions. So instead of me trying to work on cantering around, trying to get him bending, I should polish up his balance at the canter, cantering only a few strides. Hopefully this will help strengthen my position as well and then the bending will come. Thanks for your post - it reminded me that my guy has come as far as he has because I've been patient and rewarding with him and that I need to continue with that approach and not get too worried about progress. (And I'll put away my spurs!)

Posted on Sunday, Aug 20, 2000 - 2:02 pm:

Your post was interesting. If he bends correctly to the right for your friend, I wonder if the reason why he doesn't bend to the right for you is something to do with the way you sit. This happens more frequently than we realise. Did you ever break an ankle? Or hurt your right knee? Or have any problem with a hip, etc. etc.? In other words, is your right side perhaps weaker? If we don't sit absolutely straight, and if we favour one side of our body over the other, the horse picks up on that. Perhaps when you are cantering him on the right rein, you are actually weighting your left stirrup, or putting more weight on your left buttock.

When no-one else is in the arena, so it is safe for you to try this, try walking him on a long rein, not using the rein at all, and see if you can get him to do 20 metre circles with your weight aids only. This means looking in the direction you wish to go, and making sure your shoulders and hips are turned slightly in that direction, with your inside leg on the girth and your outside leg slightly behind the girth. There should be slightly more weight on the inside stirrup. Your horse should follow your aids, and you shouldn't have to touch the rein. Do this on both reins, and see if he responds the same way on each side.

Once he is doing this calmly, you can try it at a nice slow trot, and eventually you can do it at a canter. This soon shows you if your aids, weight distribution and body position are correct.

I'd be interested to know if he reacts differently to the left and right reins.

Posted on Monday, Aug 21, 2000 - 9:31 pm:

Hi Jennifer,

I like Alexa's suggestions to check your seat and weight. A good instructr should be able to help you there. That said, here are some things you could try:

1.get him bending nicely on a 20m circle on the trot. When he's going well, canter for one circle then back to trot to fix the bend, then canter, etc.,.
2. don't spend all your time working on only his 'bad' way as you need to work both sides equally.
3. do a 20m circle at the trot, then do a smaller circle (10m) off that circle and when you return to the larger circle ask for a canter depart. Hold for a few strides and then return to the exercise.
4. practise bending lines at the walk and trot so he learns to listen to leg cues for both bends.
5. check out the strength of his right hind leg to make sure he's not trying to compensate for a weaker right leg. in that case you need to work on strenghtening the leg before you can expect him to bend.
6. make sure that you don't have too much weight on the outside stirrup on the canter.
7. double check that he is actually bending on the walk and trot and not just turning his neck and popping out his outside shoulder.

good luck and have patience


Teresa

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 22, 2000 - 8:46 am:

Thanks Teresa. Just curious about #6 - I think I have a tendency to do that. What does too much weight in the outside stirrup actually do? My guess is that the horse will try to lean the opposite way in order to compensate and feel balanced. Yes? I will try your exercise as well.

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 22, 2000 - 11:41 am:

Hi Jennifer,

putting too much weight on the outside stirrup will cause your hore to move his body that way in an attempt to keep you centred. The result is that he can't bend around your inside leg because his balance is thrown off. YOu need to sit centred over his spine with equal weight in both stirrups. the only time you might change it is to move your horse over but I'd only do it for one to two strides if my horse isn't paying attention to my other cues. A way to tell if you are not sitting equally in both stirrups is to visualize it while riding. I will close my eyes (not everyone is comfortable with this) and ask myself "what would happen if I took my feet out of the stirrups right now". If the answer is "I'd fall off and hit the wall" then you've too much weight in that stirrup. Practise with no stirrups at the walk and trot to get the feel, and when you're confident try a short canter.

good luck.

Teresa
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