Better balance? (Horse not me!)

[BlueSky]

I'm riding a 5 yr old Highland for a friend a couple of times a week for a friend at the moment, to get him fitter as she doesn't have a lot of time. Anyway, we're having problems with balance. Out on hacks it doesn't feel so bad, although going downhill he does tend to slip and stumble a bit. In the school though, he feels terrible! He doesn't feel like he's in control of his feet at all, lol.

He's very willing, I just wondered if, apart from lots of transitions and circles, there's anything else to help him carry himself a bit better? Or will it improve as he gets older and grows out a little bit, in which case I shouldn't worry?

Thanks!

[galadriel]

It looks like you already know this, but I'll say it :) just for the record: it's much harder for a horse to turn than it is to walk in a straight line. It requires more energy and strength to balance during a turn.

Working in an arena is harder than work on the trail, then because the horse is constantly trying to figure out what he's going to be doing next.

A young horse who doesn't yet have much strength or balance is going to have an even harder time with someone riding him; the weight on his back will throw him further off balance unless you're a rider with total finesse. Even then he'll still be trying to account for your weight and balance shift.

Therefore, it can be much easier to work an unbalanced horse on the lunge to help him develop his balance while turning, and then add the rider to the equation. He'll develop more balance, more understanding of turns...and more of the correct muscles to help him carry himself. Once it's easier for him to carry himself, then he'll be so much more balanced with a rider, too.

I'm not trying to suggest that you need to change what you're doing, because it sounds pretty good to me. But you might want to consider some lunging, and possibly mostly doing straight-line stuff. Where he seems unbalanced, he might have an easier time of it figuring out how to do it on his own first.

[Tootsie4U]

ditto.

In chronological order:

Teach the horse how to carry himself first. (lunge / in hand work)

Then teach him how to carry his rider and still carry himself. (slow and steady)

Then start teaching him to to carry his rider and himself while doing more demanding things like circles and transitions.

[Kate F.]

A suggestion from the natural horsemanship perspective... not instead of - as well as the other suggestions!!

This sort of stumbling/awkwardness is sometimes due to lack of confidence in the horse. You say he's better hacking out - probably when you're more relaxed and worrying about it less.

One exercise that often helps dramatically is backing up. Back up straight, then back up into the blind spot - backing around a corner. This helps balance and confidence because a) The horse has to trust you that you're not backing him into anything and that builds the trust and confidence and b) in backing up the weight of the horse is automatically shifted towards the hindquarters, and thus helps the horse lift the forehand and rebalance itself.

You can start this on the ground, then move it up to the saddle. There are ideas on getting this going on my website at http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=9%2F4%2F2003+7%3A24%3A51+AM&direction=n&bflag=

(You need to scroll down the page a bit, to about a third of the way down, as this is an old entry!)

Hope it helps!

[Sooty]

Very interesting site, Kate :)

[Kate F.]

Thanks! :-)