28/ SEPTEMBER 2020 THE RIDER Palm Partnership Training™ Building A Partnership With Your Horse


“Aids Communication: Correcting Falling In”


By Lynn Palm.


Reflection… “Aids Com- municat ion-Cor rect ing Falling In” It is back to the circle


pattern we used in the last article about “Falling Out” to learn how to identify, an- ticipate, and correct the sec- ond of


two common


problems that can occur when turning —- when I ex- plained how to properly use the bending and turning aids to correct the problem know as falling out. This week I will explain the problem caused by loss of balance in the horse’s body position called falling in. When a horse is not bending through a turn, he could easily fall in.


It may be more of an


issue when turning in one direction than the other. Falling in is like a trip-


ping effect, much like if you were to stumble and almost fall. The horse quickens his steps to catch his balance as you would too if you tripped. Falling in may show up as the horse drop- ping the inside shoulder in a turn, cutting the corner or squaring the corner, or mak- ing a turn smaller as a result of not bending while turn- ing. It is the rider’s respon- sibility to recognize when the horse is falling and know how to correct it using the bending aids and make a wider turn. The goal for both the


bending and turning aids is to control the horse’s body


position and his balance. We will use a circle pattern to demonstrate how to cor- rect falling in while bending and turning through a turn. Start at the walk and


bring the horse on a large circle once again to the right. Remember to turn correctly the rider must get the horse bending correctly first. Let’s review those aids. Before the turn bend the horse using the bending aids, the inside leg and open inside rein. At the same, time support the bend with the outside leg applied slightly farther back on the horse’s barrel than the inside leg, and outside indirect rein against the neck to support the flexion of the head and curve of the neck and shoul- ders. Use the turning aids, the outside leg and outside indirect rein, to direct him through the turn and follow the circle. If he is straight, the


bend in his body from poll to tail (the horse’s spine) will conform to the same arc as that of the circle. The horse being straight while bending means the hind legs track directly into the same track as his front legs. His body alignment


stays


straight even while bending and turning, His head and neck stay in the middle of the shoulders while curving and his shoulders stay in line with the hips. The hind legs are directly under the hips and the front legs are directly under the shoulders.


The hind legs track directly in the same track where the front legs take off. This is called straight while bend- ing.


If a horse, while turn-


ing along the arc of a circle, travels too far off the curve and drifts to the inside we say he is falling in. He has lost the proper bend in his body. His head and neck are positioned too far to the out- side while his shoulders and hindquarters have left the arc of the circle to the in- side. The rider will notice quickness or increase of speed because of the trip- ping effect. Think about what happens when we lose our balance. Our legs don’t slow, but quicken to regain it. The same thing happens to the horse. A horse tends to fall in


when heading back to the gate or barn. To correct falling in


when on a circle to the right, use the inside leg slightly behind the girth to move the horse out toward to the left to make the circle bigger and bring his barrel (body) and hips back on the circle. Use the inside (right) rein, now an indirect against the neck, to bring his shoulders back to the left and on the circle. Note: the rein can- not be a stronger aid than the leg because it will bend the neck and bring the head flexed inward too much. This will cause more of the horse’s weight to be placed his right front leg, which


will swing the hips out— leading to another balance problem! The inside leg, in this


example the right leg, is the most prominent correction aid. Move the horse out with the inside leg and inside rein. Support the horse


bending right with the inside leg and indirect inside rein to move the shoulders to the left and also not allowing the neck to bend too much. Move the horse out with in- side rein and leg. The rider may also have to use an open left rein to encourage the horse to go wide to the left while not allowing the neck to bend too much. The outside (left) leg reminds the horse to stay forward at the walk, trot, or canter. The turning aids, the


outside rein and outside leg, are not as prominent when the horse is falling in. This is because he is already turning too fast. Use the in- side aids more and keep the horse wider on a curve so he does not turn so fast. When the rider can get the horse going wider while curving, the turning aids can be very minimal to get him to turn. Make sure you perfect


the walk, then go to the trot work and last to the canter.


If you have troubles with your aids coordination or your hands continue to take charge, go back to the slower gait and continue to perfect this. Here’s a tip for improving both the horse and rider. Always repeat the exercise on horse’s stiffer side at least one more time that direction than his better side. Repeat the direction and double the number of repetitions on the rider’s weaker side, too. By “dou- bling up” practice in the weaker direction of the horse and rider, both will have greater opportunity to improve.


Your Next Step… Once you have prac-


ticed controlling falling in on the circle at the walk, re- peat the exercise at the trot. All the aid sequences are the same. However, at the trot you will need to keep your eyes and vision ahead of the horse. Keep looking ahead


at each quarter of the circle, visually


remembering


where the horse fell in. Be- fore that quarter, use the in- side bending leg to move the horse out on the circle to make it bigger while lightly applying the inside indirect rein to move the shoulders out on the circle. Support him with the outside leg and rein to improve his balance and keep him from falling in. Your turning aids will be used again on the portion of the circle where he is not falling in. Remember: in last week’s lesson the turn- ing aids are important to help when the horse is falling out. The bending aids and making a curve bigger using the inside aids are the key to improving falling in.


Until then, follow your dreams…


Lynn


Equine Sector Economics


By Akaash Maharaj Canada’s public health


authorities are drawing up contingency plans for a po- tential winter resurgence of coronavirus.


Canada’s


horse community should do so as well. Operationally, equine


facilities might simply re- institute physical distancing measures from the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Eco- nomically, the situation is more complex. Throughout the pan-


demic, horse organisations have pleaded with govern- ments that the equine sector deserves support, because coronavirus has imposed catastrophic financial and animal welfare risks on equestrian facilities. This is necessary, but


insufficient argument. The hard truth is that


Canada’s


suffering in the equine sec- tor garners no more sympa- thy from government than suffering in all the other sectors crying out for help. The critical argument horsepeople


should convey is that our sector is responsible for an extraordinary proportion of our country’s GDP and em- ployment: nearly $20bn per annum and more than half a million full-time equivalent jobs (in 2010). Ensuring the equine


sector survives the pan- demic should be framed to government not just as a hu- manitarian gesture, but also as an economic imperative. All Canadians will benefit if the sector survives; all Canadians will suffer if it is allowed to fail.


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