Re: Muscles

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>Try lateral work for the inner thigh.  Some of the dressage crosstrainers 
>could probably tell you the best exercises.  I'm thinking half pass, which
is 
>a very elementary exercise.  Start with a little, 2-3 steps, work your way 
>up.  The point is to get the hind leg moving toward/across the horse's
center 
>while bearing weight.  Have to do it equally in both directions.

Actually, you wouldn't want to start with a half pass since, during that
movement, the horse is bent *into* the direction he is moving.  You would
want to start with a "leg yield" on a forward diagonal movement.  The bend
of the horse is away from the direction of movement during the leg yield
and is easier on the horse in the beginning.  The way to do this is as
follows:

Warm the horse up thoroughly, stretch him out (on the ground as well as in
the saddle), and have him nice and relaxed before going further (head down,
slobbering, you get the idea. ;-))  Establish a good position (for you and
the horse) in a fairly decent sized (10-15m) circle, do the circles for a
few rounds, and then, without losing your bend from the circle, send him
forward in a diagonal direction.  If you are circling to the right, you
will head forward and to the left when you come out of the circling.  It
helps if you are in an area that has a fence or wall since they tend to
gravitate that direction normally.  

Start your forward direction about 5m from the wall and only go as far as
you can without the horse actually turning his body and heading towards the
wall.  He should still look as if he is pointed to go parallel with the
wall as he progressively gets closer to the wall.  Go slowly at a walk at
first and pay attention to where his legs are going.  The legs on the
inside of the bend should be moving *under* his body and eventually
crossing the line of the legs on the outside of the bend.  As the horse
gets more proficient with bringing his legs under himself, gradually do
this exercise with him in a straighter and straighter position.  (A note
here: the bend to the inside should be very slight...the amount of bend
that you would get by doing a 10m circle -- DO NOT just bend the neck and
shove his shoulder over.)  

If he turns (heads the shoulders in and lets the rear end lag so that he is
traveling on a straight two-track) and heads towards the wall with his body
in a straight, diagonal position, push him forward, *parallel* to the wall
and start over.  You don't want him to think that this is an exercise in
crossing the diagonal (which is done with the horse's body straight on a
diagonal track.)  A dressage whip tapping him behind your inside leg will
help to move the haunches in the lateral movement...the tendency of the
horse will be to cross his front leg over, swing his front end in and rear
end out, and head straight to the wall on the diagonal.  The message *must*
be received that the haunches are to move in the same manner keeping the
body parallel with the wall -- which is much more difficult and, horses
being who they are, will opt for the easier movement. ;-)  Go slowly until
he understands what you are trying to get him to do.  **When you start
this, you should already have established the "go away from pressure or the
tap of the whip" part of his education -- no matter where you tap the
whip.**  If you have established the respect for the cue, the cue can be
given with lighter and lighter impact!  He has to understand the meaning of
the tap and apply it's message to the area that you tapped.

Sue




sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.