55 Corrective Exercises for Horses. Jec Aristotle Ballou
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While the basic mechanics may seem similar, backing down rather than up a hill targets different muscle systems. Most importantly, it improves stability of the horse’s hindquarter joints—hip, stifle, hock. They must keep from wobbling while being in an extended position. Of the larger locomotion muscles, this exercise targets the extensor chain. It is contraindicated in the presence of sacral ligament injuries.
1 Locate a gentle slope as described in Exercise 7 (see p. 23).
2 Begin at the top of the hill and slowly ask your horse to walk backward in a very straight line to the bottom of the slope (fig. 1.10 A).1.10 A: Siobhan is careful not to rush Star backward. You can see that Star is not taking an equal length of stride with her front and hind legs, which we want her to learn to do.
3 Be sure to keep his steps measured so that each is the same length. To catch their balance, many horses will take a larger step with one of their forelegs compared to the other. This creates imbalance (fig. 1.10 B).1.10 B: Star’s posture improves in the second photo but Siobhan has to work to keep her moving in a straight line.
4 As with previous backing-up exercises, keep the horse in a correct topline posture throughout.
I always begin this exercise from the ground without a rider until the horse is rhythmic and balanced. There is quite a difference in just “getting through” the exercise versus performing it well. As with all exercises involving slopes, remember that steeper and longer gradients are not necessarily better. All you need in order to be effective is a short, gradual slope that allows you to perform about 20 steps from bottom to top. Most barns have a driveway that will suffice.
EXERCISE 9: Long-and-Low Transitions
| PURPOSE: | Promotes healthy use of the back musculature. |
Trotting the horse in a long-and-low neck posture is a widely used rehab strategy for the back. It opens the spacing between vertebrae, relieves pressure in the lower lumbar region, and ensures the horse is carrying his rider on the passively engaged spinal ligament system rather than the locomotion muscles that run along his topline and are designed only for moving, not carrying.
Transitions between gaits in this long-and-low position refine recruitment of this ligament system in addition to the spinal stabilizing muscles. Classical dressage training books often prescribed these transitions toward the end of the warm-up phase.
1 Begin in an energetic posting trot riding the horse in a long-and-low position (fig. 1.11 A).1.11 A: I begin by getting Diamante connected to my rein contact in a long and low posture. He reaches his topline outward nicely to my elastic contact.
2 Slow down for four strides and then make a gradual transition to the walk so the horse continues to reach out and down with his neck (figs. 1.11 B & C).1.11 B & C: I apply a half-halt and ask him to walk. He responds by stepping a bit farther under himself with his inside hind leg, while continuing to reach his neck outward and downward (B). We complete the transition to walk and Diamante maintains the same posture and connection to my contact (C).
3 After 10 walk strides, keeping the neck down, transition back up to trot.
4 Repeat these transitions. If they are happening without the horse bobbling with his head/ neck carriage, then proceed to some canter transitions as well.
Most horses perform these transitions better with the rider sitting lightly atop them, thus the reason for posting trot. A few, however, will prefer the support of the rider’s seat and legs in sitting trot to prevent them from wobbling around and losing balance. If your horse feels like a wet noodle, try sitting the trot to see if things go better.
EXERCISE 10: Changing Angles, Leg-Yield
| PURPOSE: | Encourages use of the oblique and intercostal muscles, improving balance and body control. |
By adjusting his body position while stepping sideways, the horse continues to recruit his oblique and intercostal muscles, which allow him to carry his barrel in a lifted and swinging manner—a requisite for movement to flow through his back. Asking him to make little shifts in his alignment helps him develop greater control over the slow twitch muscle fibers that create finely controlled foot placement and maneuvers of balance.
1 Riding your horse at a walk, turn him slightly toward your arena fence so that he is now in a head-to-fence leg-yield position—his haunches will be pointed inside the arena (fig. 1.12 A).1.12 A & B: I begin by asking Diamante to leg-yield along the rail in a marching walk (A). After several steps of leg-yield, I ask Diamante to move his haunches more away from my left leg and change his angle to the fence (B)…
2 His spine should make a 45-degree angle in relation to your fence.
3 Take several strides with exactly this angle.
4 Now, ask him to bring his haunches more to the inside of the arena, creating a 90-degree angle of his spine relative to the fence (fig. 1.12 B).
5 Side-pass (leg-yield) four or five strides with this angle (fig. 1.12 C).1.12 C: …and we arrive at a 90-degree angle to the fence, where we proceed in a few steps of side-pass.
6 Then return to the 45-degree angle for several strides.
7 Continue riding around your arena alternating between these two angles.
fit tip
Leg-yield and turn-on-the-forehand exercises mobilize the horse’s rib cage and activate the deep vertebral muscles. One of the prime benefits of lateral movements is the stretching effect of the middle gluteal muscle, encouraging relaxation of the extensor chain, and in turn, improving posture and promoting system-wide relaxation.
Be sure that you are riding only the two prescribed angles. The goal is to be very precise in these two angles and move swiftly from one to the other. You do not want the horse throwing himself around at random. Once you establish each angle, hold it very steady.
EXERCISE 11: Lateral Movements on the Circle
| PURPOSE: | Develops stability in the trunk and pelvis. |
Beyond being an elegant dressage movement, the shoulder-in is commonly referred to as “abdominal therapy” because of its deep engagement of the shoulder girdle, obliques, and rectus abdominus. It also gives a controlled way of educating the horse to adduct his hind legs under his body mass. The following exercise assumes both horse and rider have a rudimentary understanding of how to cue for these movements.
1 Ride a 20-meter circle in posting trot; develop good energy and rein contact.
2 Now sit the trot and, remaining on the circle, ask the horse to ride shoulder-in for four strides (fig. 1.13).1.13: When riding this advanced exercise in trot, it helps to envision keeping the horse’s trunk on your line of travel while alternately moving his front end and hindquarters to an inside track. Keep asking yourself: Am I keeping his body on the line of travel?
3 Release him from shoulder-in, and then immediately ride haunches-in for four strides.
4 Now go back again to shoulder-in.
5 Repeat this several times in each direction.
This exercise will