WHEN: Saturday, May 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

An old cowboy saying is “You ride the horse you lead.” What that means is an attentive horse on the ground is a well-trusted partner in the saddle.

People tend to forget this is a two-way street. Many programs over-focus on respect, without teaching you how to spot the subtle clues your horse is communicating BEFORE trouble brews. As Tom Dorrance would say, the thing that troubles a horse most is when he thinks his concerns are not considered.

Is there a trouble spot with your horse? Chances are he’s saying loud and clear what he needs from you. Learn how to listen at our first building block clinic of the season, Saturday, May 22. We’ll address many topics, including:

IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT: Due to construction of the new indoor arena, our next home clinic will be held late summer. Please watch this web site for details. It will be more advanced, but we do tend to cover many of the same topics by popular request.

Have you ever had a horse run away with you? It’s a horrible feeling—the animal has taken control, and he’s running wild-eyed at high speed for fences, trees or traffic.

You’re pulling back, you’ve turned his head, but nothing works. In fact, he’s actually running with his neck bent.

If so, you’ve experienced one symptom of what I call “rubber-necking.”

When neck flexations and disengaging the hindquarters are done incorrectly, what you have actually taught your horse is how to move with his neck bent. Bucking, rearing, and runaway rides can be a result.

Any control you’ve EVER enjoyed has been an illusion.

Improper neck flexations also cause chronic muscle spasms. Many owners look to chiropractic care to cure their horses, and this is a good thing. But what may be actually putting spasm and soreness in your horse’s muscles is YOU.

Here’s why:

Over-extending (again, that incorrect nose-to-stirrup exercise) in time develops chronic muscle spasms in the base of the neck, as well as wrenches the poll joint in a way it was never meant to move.

A horse with muscle spasms has a stiff, sore neck. We call it “bracey,” but the result is there is no soft “feel.” Just as you couldn’t perform with a stiff neck, neither can your horse. Spasms and joint damage affect the entire body.

Proper neck flexation is done through correct use of the poll joint. Where’s the joint? You can easily find it on your horse. It sits at the top of the head, right behind the horse’s ears.

The poll joint moves in one of two ways: Up and down (tucking the head), or side-to-side swiveling (note this is NOT the same as the rotating movement when shaking off flies).

It is the side-to-side movement that is critical to building softness.

With a finished horse, a slight up-and-to-the-midline rein movement with a pinky-finger “release” is all that’s required. The weight of the reins does the work. There is no tuck of the nose or tilt to the head. The jowl is tucked under the throat, and the eyes and ears stay level (like headlights on a car) as the head turns.

When you achieve true flexation, any brace evaporates. 

The neck muscles relax instead of tighten. Because the movement feels good to the horse (it stimulates certain nerves)—and you are working WITH his joints, not against them—he doesn’t mind doing it. It helps set him up mentally as well as physically for learning.

Because this one movement is so critical to building a soft feel, I spend a lot of time in my Confidence Clinics on how to flex correctly. It’s not difficult to do. And you don’t need to do a lot of it—just work to maintain it, once you get it.

If you and your horse have not yet “gotten it,” be sure to attend my next Confidence Clinic.

You’ll learn how to use this technique to build true feel and softness. This is the foundation of beautiful turns, circles and spins … movements that you’ll use every day for the rest of your horse’s life.

Cathy Larsson

NEXT CLINIC: Saturday, May 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.