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Topline Ink Equestrian Journal

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Why is straightness so important?  The reason is that for maximum power both hind legs need to be under the body mass of the horse. If the horse is not straight, one hind leg is off to the side, and power is cut drastically. The horse would have far less power over a jump, and would push rather than carry when asking for collection. Secondly, a crooked horse is like pushing a grocery cart with a bad wheel, or driving a car that is out of alignment.  If you aren’t constantly working to keep it going the direction you want, it will veer off to one side. In a crooked horse the leg that is off to the side not only pushes with less power, but it pushes sideways, so it is hard to keep the horse moving in the direction you want him to go. The even loading of the hind legs is achieved through straightness.

     In trying to get a correct bend, there are several traps that are easy to fall into. The most important concept of bend is that it is

even from poll to tail. The neck of the horse is much more flexible than the spine from the withers back, but what we see from the saddle is the neck. The idea is that we wrap the rib cage of the horse around the inside leg with the outside leg behind the girth and the outside rein. The inside rein asks for flexion in the poll and jaw. The outside rein is the turning rein, bringing the shoulders around the turn.

     Now horses, being the intelligent creatures that they are, will try to make their job as easy as possible. Wouldn’t you? So they will often try to avoid the hard work asked of the inside hind leg by swinging the haunches in, the neck in, and the shoulder out. This may feel like the horses “easier” direction, the one in which he bends most easily. Actually he is crooked, not correctly bent. IF the inside rein asks for the turn, it is that much easier for the horse to avoid the effort. A mental image I have found very useful is to imagine that the horse has two hinges – one at the girth, and other at the poll.  The outside rein makes sure that there is no hinge at the base of the neck. Riding with that image in mind usually results in an even bend. It will also help to get just enough poll flexion so you can see the back corner of the horse’s inside eye, or to see that his nose is in front of the point of his inside shoulder – no farther – but be certain the hinge is at the poll, not at the base of the neck.

     When the horse is going on his “stiff” side, he is probably falling on the same shoulder he was the other direction, only this time that shoulder is the inside rather than the outside. When this is the case, the horse seems unwilling to bend and your circles keep getting smaller or the corners too sharp. The horse can’t bring his neck to the inside because he is heavy on the shoulder. He is counter balancing with the neck, and if you ask him to bend to the inside he says, “Hey, I’m already heavy on that shoulder.  If I bring my neck to the inside I’ll tip over!” The solution is to ride straight forward, engage the inside hind leg with your inside leg to begin to lighten the shoulder, and then ask for inside flexion at the poll to complete the process of getting the shoulders upright. Another mental image I have found helpful to achieve straightness is to imagine that the horse ends at the shoulders. There is no head or neck. Then pick a spot to ride toward and aim the horse’s shoulders directly at it. Until you can do that, the horse is not straight.

     If you end up with body parts aimed in nearly every direction, straighten it all out and start over!

     Speaking of body parts, those of the rider have to be in the right place or the horse doesn’t stand a chance! Going straight, the rider’s shoulders and pelvis should aim straight forward. On a turn, the pelvis rotates slightly out bringing the inside seat bone forward and the outside leg back, and the ribcage rotates slightly toward the inside. Belly button toward the outside shoulder, chest toward the inside shoulder – slightly. Even a totally green young horse will respond to this change of rider position if he is going forward sufficiently. In fact, if you try walking in a small circle on the ground, you will find that you automatically position yourself this way. The horse responds to this change of position by changing his own position. You are a pair of ballroom dancers – the rider leads, the horse feels it and follows. I suspect some of us make better riders than dancers because we don’t follow well!

     Hopefully the concepts of bending and straightness seem a little less mysterious now. We spend our entire riding lives further understanding these concepts and developing our ability to execute them, but the challenge of learning to become more and more one with the horse is what keeps this such a fascinating sport!

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