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I think that what it will give you is greater
access to your horse’s body parts. You will learn how to
connect the rein (and your body) to your horse’s feet,
shoulders, hips, poll etc…You will develop a better feel for
where your horse is out of alignment and how to correct it.
And you will learn what it feels like to ride on a release
and to ride a horse that is relaxed and soft and working in
self carriage.
KB/tctt
You have brought up a good question about the
WWYLM game. It is very common for horses to slow down as
they learn about softening and giving to the pickup of the
rein. In the beginning this is ok as in-hand work is meant
to be slow and precise. I remember reading years ago that
“speed is your enemy” when working horses in hand (Col.
Carde).
So I keep that in mind when I start horses in
hand and they are learning to organize their bodies. I will
allow the horse to move at its own pace when first doing
this work, but if the horse seems to get slow or stuck, then
I will walk them briskly along in between efforts. So
I might ask for a give and softening and allow the horse to
deviate slightly from the circle. But then the next time I
pick up the rein, I will either use the rein as a leading
rein to walk them forward in front of me, or I will tap with
the whip. When I first learned this work, Alex was insistent
that I work with a whip. Sending a horse forward from behind
with the whip is not the same as pulling the horse forward
with the reins. You want the horse coming up from behind
into the lateral work.
With this in mind, I do usually do in-hand
work with a dressage whip and will use the whip as a go
forward cue to keep the energy up. However, I do also use a
leading rein to bring the horse back on to the circle. I
have found that unless the horse is so sluggish that I have
to pull (which I don’t want to do), I can use my leading
hand to open the horse’s throatlatch and straighten the
neck. If I straighten the horse’s neck as I send him
forward and then ask for a give, it is allowing the horse to
learn how to use his neck correctly and he has to keep
practicing how to find the correct alignment of his neck as
he goes into lateral work. This is much more productive
because my goal is not to have the horse become fixed in his
front end.
It also shows the horse that not every pickup
of the rein means slow down. Sometimes the pickup of the
rein will end up meaning release forward into the rein if I
use the rein in conjunction with my legs or forward intent.
My goal is to teach the horse to be infinitely adjustable
between my hands and legs so that he finds balance through
movement and not by trying to hold a fixed position.
If the horse has gotten in the habit of
curling up behind me, then I will go back to my first
version of WWYLM which is when I just march along the circle
and ask the horse to stay with me by matching my energy, and
allowing me to draw him back on to the circle with my inside
rein. I think it is helpful to remember that all this
lateral work and in-hand work works on many levels. Some of
it is to educate the horse about the aids, and improve
strength and flexibility. But for a dressage rider, it is
ultimately about preparing the front end for the energy of
the hind end so that the horse learns to balance and carry
himself with energy and lightness.
Well, that was the long answer. The short
answer to your question is “add energy.”
KB/tctt
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