Understanding Your Horse's Road Map

Have you ever wondered, "What should I work on with my horse today?"

How about, "Why is my horse having a hard time doing something one direction and not the other?"

What about, "Why is my horse heavier on one rein and not the other? Why is it always the inside rein?"

I use to ask myself and others, "How do I know if my horse being naughty or if he or she just can't do what I'm  asking?"

Well... I FINALLY HAVE THE ANSWER!

The answer is they are never naughty.  They are either :
       1.   Not able to do the exercise we are asking them because we have not  prepared them properly.
                                                                                                               OR
       2.  We are interfering with them while asking them to do a movement.

There is a lot to understand regarding the way a horse needs to go with a rider on their backs.  We first need to understand that a horse was never meant to be ridden.  This is something that WE decided.  In fact, where we choose to sit on our horses is actually the weakest part of their body. If we were to sit on the horses withers or even their hips, they would be able to support us better. But as you know,  this is not where we sit.  On top of that, we are taught to sit with a light seat. (Do we really know what that means?  Stay tuned as I will be explaining this in future posts).

Learning and understanding the bio-mechanics of the horse  can answer any and all training problems and questions that you have.    I will be doing blogs and video blogs to help you understand all of these things, so that you and your horse can have a better understanding as you ride and enjoy whatever discipline it is you do with your horse.

So we are going to start out simple - What is the mane telling us?

THE MANE
Realistically, every problem that you have with your horse, he or she has already shown you the answer to just by which way their mane falls (along with understanding what they do on their right and left side of their bodies).  Just as people are right and left handed, horses also have a preference to a right or left side.  The mane always falls away from their stronger side.

Yes, this is true!

Below are some pictures of horse's manes going all different directions. Can you tell which side of their body is their  ' stronger' or more braced side?

The next time you ride, take a look down at your horse's mane and decide which side of the body is stronger/more braced.  Remember, the answer to your training problems begin with the mane.  Feel free to send pictures of your horse's mane if you are having trouble figuring out which way it is laying!

I pray that every ride brings you and your horse closer to understanding each other.
Monet

In the Pictures: Both of  the horses' strong / braced side is their left side.  Look at the section above their shoulder. See how there is no mane? That tells you that this would be their  Stronger / Braced side.  If you have a horse with a long mane you will have to lift up their mane and look to see which side of their neck has more muscle. The side with more muscle would be their stronger side.