My horse is stiff on one rein; what exercises will help?
Show rider and producer Justine Armstrong-Small discusses how to improve a horse’s self-carriage and flexion
THIS is a common problem because many horses are not always started off correctly with proper mouthing and long reining. Most riders will have a stronger or weaker side that can transmit to the horse, and they often lack the experience to know how to maintain suppleness on both reins, too. I find most horses who come in for schooling are stiffer on one rein and are not in self-carriage or going forward from behind. Although this can be solved with a few sessions of correct schooling, it can take longer if the horse has been ridden this way for some time.
SOLViNG tHE PROBLEM
1If your horse isn’t asked to bend through his neck and ribcage, he will never be supple or balanced. An effective exercise to practise this is riding small figures-of-eight, made up of two 10m circles on each rein. This loosens off the front legs.
Begin the exercise in walk and proceed to trot as he becomes more balanced.
This exercise encourages the hindlimbs to become more active as your hands and legs are asking your horse to bend through his whole body, using lots of inside leg into the outside rein. This creates more self-carriage, enabling him to loosen his hold on the inside rein.
2Introduce some leg-yield to encourage your horse to take the weight onto his hocks to lighten his forehand.
It’s important for you to have feeling down the reins and to give and retake when your horse softens. Your horse’s neck needs to feel like an elastic band rather than a stiff rod.
‘Your horse’s neck needs to feel like an
elastic band rather than a stiff rod’