April 09 midwest horse digest Page 35
To initiate the transition,put more weight in reward him. Also remember to practice these eliminate the voice. By starting with simple,
your seat and be ready to move your hips to exercises in both directions. easy-to-understand voice aids, you will build a
support his forward movement. Avoid exces- Continue working this exercise using your foundation for him to want to learn more in the
sive squeezing or kicking to get a reaction. voice aids, reinforced with your seat, until you future.
Instead, use a “cluck” to ask him to move for- get good responses. When your horse shows Learn more about Palm Partnership
ward. When he does, move your hips with his that he understands what you are asking him
Training™ by going to www.lynnpalm.com or
movement. Open the fingers to allow him to go to do, gradually add the leg and hand aids and
calling 800-503-2824.
forward. If he gives you a few steps at the walk
before trotting, do not make a big deal about it.
Use the pattern I have given you to improve
the transitions until your horse understands
what you are trying to communicate to him with
your aids.
If the Horse is Unschooled to the Natural Aids
What if your horse does not have any
knowledge of how to respond to the rider’s
natural aids? In that case, you should use your
voice as an aid instead of the seat, legs, and
hands.
I always start my horses with ground train-
ing. I incorporate voice aids into this training so
that my horses have a basic knowledge of the
commands I will give them under saddle.
Horses do not understand words, but they
recognize tones. A deep tone means “respect
me” or “respond to me.” A mellow tone of voice
is a reward or it will relax the horse. If a horse
has no knowledge of the natural aids, I will use
voice instead to help the horse achieve an
understanding of them.
Here is an exercise I use to help young or
inexperienced horses understand my aids. It is
done on a medium-sized circle with the horse
standing on the circle. To teach him the
concept of walking forward in response to my
aids, I give him a command in a deep voice to
“walk” or “walk on,” and I reinforce it with a
“cluck,” if needed. I do not use any leg aids,
but I do support his willingness to obey my
request by following his motion with my seat
and hips and allowing him the freedom to
move forward with my hands. I use very little to
no rein aids to slow him and only use them to
guide him on the circle.
After he walks on for a few steps, I ask him
to slow down. To do this, I use a lighter, sooth-
ing voice command of “easy.” I reinforce my
request by stopping the movement of my seat
and hips. As he slows and shows me he
understands, I once again give him the
command to “walk on” and increase move-
ment in my seat and hips to follow his forward
movement on the larger circle.
To ask the horse for an upward transition
from walk to trot, I follow the same procedure.
I ask him to “walk on” in response to my voice
command, reinforced with my seat aids. When
I am ready to trot, I use a deep tone of voice to
say “trot,” use my seat to support his forward
motion, and use very little rein aid except to
keep him on the circle. I trot around the circle
several times, and then I prepare for a down-
ward transition to the walk. I do this without
pulling back on the reins, but by using a deep
voice to say “walk” while I sit deeper in the
saddle and stop following his motion with my
hips. When he makes the downward transition
to the walk, I allow him a few steps at the walk
and then ask him to jog/trot again. I bring him
onto the smaller circle and ask him to halt
using the voice command “whoa.” I praise him
when he does. Whenever you get a good
response from your horse, remember to
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