A Horse’s Headset Comes From Her Heels
January 14, 2008
One thing I’ve never been properly trained in is how to teach a headset for hunters and jumpers–that nice, round neck with head vertical to the ground that is so pretty (it’s not just pretty, though, it’s functional!). I know how to ask a horse for it who already knows how, but I’ve been at a loss with horses who don’t.
I’ve been picking up bits and pieces of theory lately that have helped me to address the issue with Marahute, the Appy/Arab trail pony I’ve been riding and training to go properly in a ring. She’s a bit resistant and loves to stick her nose straight out in the air. She’s pretty energetic, and it takes a good half hour at least to get her to settle in and go quietly, and quite frequently when that happens she’ll start to bring her nose in.
I haven’t really focused on the headset thing much with her because she’s so green in the arena. Instead, she’s been learning immediate transitions, to collect herself and to bend properly and to listen to leg and seat aids and to go at medium gaits (instead of strung-out, fast ones). And I want her to come into her headset naturally without using training toys like side reins.
Yesterday afternoon it finally clicked in my head … proper headset is the result of proper impulsion. After doing some exercises that encouraged Marahute to reach under with her hind end and legs and round through her back, she started rounding through her neck too! I wasn’t even going for that! She did it naturally once she started to use her whole body correctly. It was the absolute best trot we’d ever had … she was stretching under with her back legs and using her hind end, her movement was round and fluid, she was tracking up nicely, and her neck was round and her nose was in. She had also stopped fighting me and was moving in a straight, balanced line down the long side of the ring.
As I drove home, I pictured Marahute with an electrical bolt of energy originating at her back heels, traveling up through her hind legs to her hindquarters, up her back, through her withers, up her neck and down to her nose. It was a great in-my-head visualization of how her flow of movement should be when everything is working together properly.
I realized that I could picture horses who don’t have a good headset, or who you really have to force to do it. They are all flat movers who don’t use their hind ends properly. Their movement is front to back and none of it is up and down.
Later this week I’ll share the exercises I was doing with Marahute to work on her impulsion. They’re relatively easy and insanely effective tools I learned from a top dressage trainer at Equine Affaire last spring.
Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Riding and showing, Training
January 15th, 2008 at 3:25 am
There’s not much difference between asking for it on a horse that knows and one that doesn’t. When you are asking the horse to work correctly, you always essentially do the same things, it just takes a little more patience with an inexperienced horse. What’s really important is just to make sure that you make it really obvious to the horse when they’ve got it right. Yes the impulsion creates the basis of it, then the hand asks for the position of the head. When the horse responds, it’s vital that you praise him by giving a little. They soon realise that it’s much more comfortable to go correctly.
I love those ‘revelation’ moments where it all suddenly makes sense!
January 15th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
That’s true. I hadn’t really thought about it that way until this week. Asking a horse who knows how to move properly and one who doesn’t in the same manner makes a whole lot of sense. I guess it’s all part of them figuring out what you are asking for, and like you said, and rewarding them when they give you what you want. Thanks for the insight!