Cueing a horse at the walk

If you want to do advanced moves with a horse, it is important to cue him at the right time. Most people cue a movement arbitrarily, with no thought to whether or not the horse will be able to execute the move when they are asked. When you repeatedly cue a horse at the wrong time, a few things start to happen: You will get a movement other than something that you asked for. You will have to give an inordinate amount of rein support (tugging on your horse) and/or the horse will become hardened to the leg, the rein or both.

Let's say you are walking along and your left foot is on the ground and your right foot is in the air. Your friend asks you to move your left foot one step to the side, "NOW." You couldn't do it uness you hopped or put the right foot down first. Either way your movement will be slow, awkward or late. Your friend isn't happy with
your lack of compliance, so the next time he asks, he gives you a shove on the right side to "help" you get your left foot to the left. The shove puts you off balance or worse.
You get the picture. Horse's are no different except that they have 4 feet to deal with instead of 2.
Here is the key:
If your friend asked you for the step to the side just before your left foot leaves the ground, your step to the side would be smooth and immediate.

Thus, in order for a horse to respond to you "asking" for a movement, you must cue the foot just before it leaves the ground. It is the only way he can move smoothly and lightly. In the previous blog entry, I showed you how the horse moves at the walk. Your job is to figure out not only when the horse's foot strikes the ground, but when it leaves. Cue him then.

Cueing a horses foot at a walk: the listening.

The walk is the most important, most difficult to understand and most under-utilized of all the gaits. The walk sets things up for everything that is to follow. This next exercise is is going to take a bit of patience on the part of the rider. The first part is about listening with all of your senses. Later we will talk about the doing.

Exercise:
Get on your horse and just walk. Allow him to move the way nature intended. There is no point in putting him in a frame or kicking or pulling to get the kind of walk YOU might want. Let him decide for a moment. Now isolate each sense one at a time. What do you see, smell, hear, feel etc.? Really focus on the rythym of the horses footfalls and how it effects him and then how it effects you. You can learn a lot about a horse and yourself by just allowing both of you to relax and walk. Notice everything and do nothing. Are you breathing? Is your shoulder locked? Are you nervous or relaxed? Is his gait smooth in cadence or not?...make up your own list. Ride this way for no less than 20 minutes. Hint: If you start getting bored, you aren't paying attention.

Phases of the Walk

How can anyone expect to get anything done on a horse if you don't know where the feet are?

The walk is a 4 beat movement. As the right hind foot wrapped in purple steps forward and strikes the ground it pushes the right front foot wrapped in pink forward (photo 1). The right front foot strikes the ground and pulls the left hind foot wrapped in blue forward (photo 2). The left hind foot strikes the ground and pushes the left front foot wrapped in red forward (photo 3). The left front foot strikes the ground and pulls the right hind foot wrapped in purple forward and the cycle repeats (photo 4).

Exercise: See if you can find the moment where each foot strikes the ground. This is the strike phase. The front feet are the easiest to find so we can start there. Count 1..2..1..2..as the feet strike. Feel what your body is doing when this happens. No cheating! Yes, you can stare at the shoulder to find it at first, but don't get into the bad habit of using that technique to find the motion. Staring at a horses shoulder will just serve to put your horse further on his front end. Listen for the thump as the foot strikes. However, Seeing and hearing is helpful, but feeling is the key.

Hint: What is your body doing as the front feet strike? Pay attention to your hips and breathe. Sitting pretty won't help you much here. Loosen up and allow your body to follow the horse's movement.

Next do the same thing with the hind. 1..2..1..2. If you can't get this one, as you count out loud, have a friend validate that you have it right. Listen for the thump as the foot strikes. Again, the object is to feel it so pay attention to what your body does as the horse moves. Allow yourself to relax and move with your horse. Don't do or force anything. Grinding your seat into the horse's back to move him forward ruins the cadence, tightens your body and makes for a resentful horse.

Next, find the moment just prior to when the horse's feet leave the ground. This is the push-off phase. First concentrate on the front, then the rear. Count it out: 1..2..1..2..

Hint: The horses front feet leave the ground at a place under the belly or saddle and strike in front toward the nose. The hind feet strike the ground under the belly or the saddle and leave the ground behind the tail. You aren't going to have much luck seeing this one. This is one you are going to have to feel. Use what you have learned about the strike phase of the walk to aid you in this part of the exercise. Practice until you can call out any foot at random in the strike or push phase of the walk. Once you can do that, you are ready for the next step.

Next: How to move a horse's foot at a walk.

Listen and Feel for the Horse

I have chosen to use this well known but little understood quote by the late Tom Dorrance as the introduction to my blog. Many careers have risen and fallen and countless dollars spent trying to interpret and understand these 6 little words. What Tom said almost a century ago exemplifies my goal in helping to create and forwarding a new era in Horsemanship, based on increasing awareness and consciousness. Humans need to re-examine who and what they have become around horses.

I believe that all horses really want from us is to remember who and what we truly are as humans. With that in mind and heart our horse's can continue their work for us, but they can also know that we are willing to listen to what they need to make it easier for them to do so.

A horse has a lot to say if you are willing to open yourself up to hear. It isn't difficult or reserved for psychics and communicators. In fact what I have to share really doesn't have much to do with any of that. What I hope to share with you is how to pay attention and what to pay attention to. Consciousness and awareness shows no prejudice for training method or discipline. However, in the process you might just learn how your horse sees what you do and in turn how you view what your horse does in response.
Tomorrow: Tips and an exercise in feel