Developing Natural Balance In Your Horse, Part 5

PALM PARTNERSHIP TRAINING™
Building a Partnership with Your Horse
“Developing Natural Balance in Your Horse, Part 5”
By Lynn Palm

In this article we will start learning what are called “maneuvers” that will help develop natural balance in your horse. The first maneuver we will learn is the turn on the forehand. Olympic dressage rider Jane Savoie, in her book Cross Train Your Horse, defines the forehand turn as follows: “At a standstill, the horse yields or moves away from the rider’s leg. His front legs remain more or less on the same spot while his hind legs make a turn around the forehand. When completed, the horse is facing in the opposite direction.”

Turn on the Forehand, Part 1, Ground Training
I start teaching maneuvers with the forehand turn because it teaches the horse to move away from pressure on his side which will be the rider’s leg aids when under saddle. Although this series concerns developing natural balance under saddle, it is best to start maneuver exercises on the ground. The horse will be less confused when you teach this under saddle if he already accepts it on the ground. It also is easier for you to see if the horse is responding correctly if you start the exercise in hand; and, giving the proper cue for this maneuver on the ground, will translate into the ability to do it under saddle.

When doing the turn on the forehand on the ground, the cue must be given by using a fisted hand in the same position where you would give this cue with your leg when asking for it under saddle. The cue is given in a “target area” located on the lower half of the horse’s barrel from his heartgrith to ten inches toward his hips. This is the area where your lower leg contacts his lower barrel when your foot is in the stirrup. Be consistent where you apply the cue! Apply the cue using a fisted hand with a pulsating pressure, rather than poking the horse with your knuckles or fingers.

When you begin teaching this maneuver, start by standing your horse “square” next to a fence line. This will help the horse stay straight, and it will give you a guide line for the turn. Position yourself close to him on his left side to move his hips to the right. When you do the maneuver, your left hand and right hand aids must be given simultaneously. I will start with your left hand. It should lightly grasp the chin piece of the halter and slightly move the horse’s head towards you; and, to keep him forward and straight in the turn, your left hand has to keep a slight pressure toward the front of the horse’s head. This positions him to move his hindquarters to the right when you apply the aids with your right hand on his barrel. To do this maneuver correctly, the horse’s body must be straight!

While your left hand is slightly turning the horse’s head, you should gently stroke him with your right arm on his topline and gradually work your hand down to the target area. An abrupt cue may cause him to just swing his hips away from you or to resist and push towards you rather than moving away. Use a pulsating pressure on the target area to move his hindquarters away from you. “Cluck” as you use the pulsating pressure to help teach the horse to respond to a light aid. Use more clucking rather than stronger hand pressure. When he is first learning this maneuver, the horse may take a few steps with his forelegs. This is okay as long as he never steps backwards.

A horse learns this exercise more easily if it is always done at the same spot on the fence line. Now that you have done a turn on the forehand and your horse is facing in the opposite direction, ask him to do a turn in the other direction. After he completes the maneuver, keep the touch and lightly stroke him in the target area so he learns to accept contact on this sensitive spot. Praise him when he does it correctly, and then leave him alone and go on to something else.

Turn on the Forehand, Part 2, Under Saddle
It is now time to do the turn on the forehand maneuver under saddle. Ride your horse to the same spot on the fence where you taught him the forehand turn on the ground. Stop him square with his left side along the fence. When you do this maneuver under saddle, your hand and leg aids must be given nearly simultaneously with the leg aids barely preceding the hand aids. Give your horse the cue to move his haunches to the right with a pulsating left leg in the target area located on the lower half of his barrel from his heartgirth to ten inches toward his hips. At the same time, turn his head slightly left with the left rein while placing the right rein against his neck so that his forehand remains still. The right leg keeps the horse’s body straight and prevents him from moving backwards.

When the horse has completed the turn, ask him to walk forward a few steps. Stop him, and then ask him for a turn to the left. As the horse advances in this maneuver, he will become straighter while doing it, but his head always should be slightly bent in the opposite direction from the way his hindquarters are moving. When the horse improves his responses to your aids, reward him for that and go on to something else.

Common Problems Encountered in Doing Turn on the Forehand Under Saddle:
The most common error riders make when learning this maneuver is pulling--for example, pulling on the left rein in an attempt to move the hindquarters to the right. This bends the horse’s head and neck too far; and, although this will move the hindquarters, it also will move the front legs and that is not a true pivot on the forehand.

Pulling with both reins is also a common fault, and the result, of course, will be that the horse backs up. To avoid this, it is important that the leg aids be first in the aid sequence and that that opposite leg from the one asking to ‘move away’ be used to support the horse and keep him forward and straight.

Another common error is the rider using too much inside rein. To correct this use more leg aid so the horse yields and moves away at the same time you use an indirect rein against the horse’s neck. If moving hindquarters to the right, the left leg needs to be more active with the right rein against the neck which keeps the forehand straight and still and does not allow neck to bend too far left.

Go out and practice this important maneuver. In the next article, we will learn how to do yielding maneuvers. In the meantime, my video and DVD series, Dressage Principles, will enhance this discussion. You can order it and other fine training products and find out about our courses by calling 800-503-2824 or by visiting www.lynnpalm.com.