Too much, too soon

Rachel Murray explains the importance of correct muscle development.

“The issue we have is that some four-yearold horses are very mature and their balance is good,” says Rachel. “Others are immature and still very croup high because they haven’t grown physically, or haven’t yet developed the muscle to lift up their ribcage.

“We’re looking for the horse to have strength around the whole ribcage and for the front legs to be able to lift up his forehand. If he’s still growing, this is very difficult. Often a bigger horse isn’t mature enough to do what we think a four-year-old should be able to do. “It’s crucial to look at what your horse is capable of and not say that he should be doing such-and-such because he’s four.”

Core strength

“During this early training it’s all about developing the horse’s core (the muscle under the tummy) to bring the ribcage up with the shoulder,” explains Paul Hayler. “This allows the hindleg to step under the body and develop that uphill way of going and strength behind. This is a slow development, but an important one. If you force your horse, he will tense the wrong muscles, which will impede his movement, balance and basic development.”

Build the right muscles

Rachel explains that if you ask your horse to do exercises before he is physically capable, he’ll end up using the wrong muscles to do so. “Once you’ve fixed this wrong muscle pattern,” says Rachel, “it becomes much more difficult in the long term to get your horse to move correctly, and therefore be able to go on to the higher levels.

“Some horses can have very extravagant movement in their legs, but they don’t move through their body because instead of using their core, they use the muscles on the underside of their neck, rather than the muscles along the top of the neck. This results in tension along the topline and under the saddle, and tight muscles along the back.”

“In this situation,” continues Paul Hayler, “the end result is that all the horse’s balance goes into your hand, and your horse goes on his forehand. He’s then completely dependent on you to hold him together.”