36/ APRIL 2019 THE RIDER


Palm Partnership Training™ Get Results You Can Use


How to Put Your Horse in Balance Through Proper Bending Part 2


In our last Palm Part-


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nership Training Tips, “How to Put Your Horse in Bal- ance Through Proper Bend- ing – Part 1”, I described what a correct bend of your horse’s body is, and the aids sequence used to ask your horse to bend correctly. Hopefully this has helped explain how essential accu- rate bending is to your horse’s balance, and you have been able to ride with more control and enjoy- ment! In this article, I will re-


view the key points, contin- ued by an exercise to help train your horse to bend cor- rectly! You will find that I am reviewing a lot from Part 1; however, controlling your horse’s balance is a very im- portant step in your riding skills. With your horse’s performance, it is crucial that he is balanced in self- carriage while riding on a curve at any gait. This train- ing will help improve prob- lems you may encounter controlling your horse on any curve or turn.


Review of Bending When a horse has a


proper bend in his body, his entire body is bent from the poll to the dock, not just the head and neck. When a horse is balanced, he will have this proper bend and will be relaxed, easier to steer, and will maintain the same speed. Therefore, the relationship between bend- ing and balance is: No bend = No balance Bend=Balance


Bending Aids Sequence First, the active aids


are used to achieve the cor- rect bend and balance. The inside leg is used to bend the horse’s body; while an in- side open or INDIRECT (neck rein) is used to flex the horse’s head in the direc- tion of travel. Secondly, the support-


ing aids are applied. The outside leg keeps the horse’s hips from swinging out, and


the outside rein against the neck (INDIRECT OR NECK REIN) keeps the shoulder from going out. This indirect rein prevents the head from flexing too far inward and also keeps the neck from bending. Remember, as you are


bending your horse, you have to ask him to turn! Your outside, supporting aids are always your TURN- ING aids as your horse moves away from the pres- sure of your outside leg and rein aid. Don’t forget to support your horse’s bend with your inside leg and rein as you turn with your out- side aids. This is how you will achieve correct riding on a curve. Your horse will respond with lightness and smoothness while turning and he will be more willing to turn because he is bal- anced.


Exercise #1 This first exercise is an


excellent one to practice on your own at home. You will need eight pairs of cones to use as a visual for a circle. The cones in each pair should be set 6’ apart, with one cone placed in the mid- dle of the circle. The diam- eter of the circle should be 70’ maximum. Here’s any easy tip to measure the cir- cle without a tape measure: Start at the middle


cone and walk large steps. Go 12 large steps and place a cone (approximately 36’) then walk two large steps and place a second cone (ap- proximately 6’). This is your first quarter of the cir- cle. Continue with the other three quarters of the circle. Finally, make sure your quarter lines up with the quarter on the opposing side of the circle. The goal of this exer-


cise is to ride the curve of the circle consistently while maintaining the proper bend as described above. Keep your horse on the track of the circle. You must keep looking ahead and staying


directly in the middle of each pair of cones. Let’s begin to the right at the walk to first get the feel of what you are asking for from your horse. At the walk, you have time to feel what you are doing, but make sure your horse stays forward at this gait. I suggest working at an extended walk, which al- ways helps controlling your horse’s body position. Also, let the cones be a great guideline to keep your eyes looking ahead to the next quarter of the circle. You will learn to feel more clearly how you are execut- ing your aids and how your horse is responding to them.


Using Your Aids Use your active, inside


aids to bend the body. The right leg behind the girth will curve the body slightly in a right bend, while the open rein will flex the head inward. If your horse wants to move or turn inward with the open rein, then use an in- direct or neck rein to ask the horse to flex the head in- ward, just enough so you see the right eye. The indi- rect rein against the neck of your horse will naturally en- courage your horse to yield to the pressure and move outward with the assistance of your right leg aid. If you pull back with your rein in- stead of the rein action mov- ing sideways, you will feel tension in your inside rein. Because of this, there will not be a bend of the neck; thus, your horse will resist and not stay on the center track.


Using your active aids


will be followed by using your outside aids to support the bend. Your left leg will be slightly further back than your right, to keep the hips slightly inward and create a bend from the withers to the tail, and your left rein will prevent the shoulders from going out or the head from turning too much to the in- side.


Once the correct bend


and balance is achieved at the walk, move to the trot. If your horse is wiggly on the circle, go to the trot and then back to the walk. Control the bend through the upward or downward transitions. If you can stay on the middle track of this exercise, you are controlling the correct bend at all times! Your horse will be easy to steer, will be relaxed, and will be able to maintain a consistent speed through this exercise. When you are ready to change di- rections to the left, the same aids sequence will apply to the left. The inside (left) leg and rein aid are the bending aids, and the outside (right) leg and rein aids support the bend.


To change directions,


change through the middle of any quarter of the circle, and change to the opposite side of the circle. If you make sure you have time to get your horse straight and stay close to the center cone of the circle, your change of direction will be balanced! Continue this exercise to the left.


Helpful Hint Remember not to do


more than three circles in each direction because your horse can become bored with drilling circle work. After you complete two sets of circles in each direction, go practice something else and then return to the exer- cise, or leave it alone for the day’s training if you were pleased with the perform- ance. This particular exer- cise is very good to do three or four times a week until you condition your horse to be strong with his bending and balance in each direc- tion. Don’t forget that all horses have an easy side and a hard side. Work more on the hard side to get them as equal as possible. By sup- pling and strengthening muscle, you will achieve evenness and a strong bal- ance for your horse!


Key Point from these Ex- ercises Remember


that to


achieve a proper bend and balance from your horse in figures like these on a curve, both legs and both hands must be active every stride! Your horse will truly love these consistent guidelines to stay balanced! Have fun!


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