The way your horse carries himself (his frame) while he is being ridden influences his mental and physical state. For him to be able to achieve at his finest usually requires that he is supple, well-balanced and has sturdy back muscles to comfortably hold the saddle and rider with no tension or strain. Your horse must work in the proper posture or “frame” to be prepared to perform at his best.
A wonderful riding frame begins with a good walk. A good walk is the most challenging gait to achieve, the easiest to ruin, has even, lively, rhythmical steps with impulsion, can only be achieved with supple muscles, a moving back and flexible joints. If your horse is exhausted or has tense muscles, he cannot attain a good walk. In order to come up with a good walk, you must entice your horse to push ahead energetically from his hindquarters in order that his hind legs step perfectly beneath him. It is necessary that you relieve any tension in your own body. Relax from your neck to your seat bones together with all your joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles & toes). Continue to keep your core involved. Your horse will replicate what he feels from you. Have a supple, subsequent contact on long reins.
Should your horse will not move forward into the contact, hollows his back, takes short “sewing machine” steps or rushes into trot, work him on a 20 metre circle. By doing this you can persuade him to flex more around your inside leg. Feel and continue with the natural swing of your horse’s barrel. Keep your legs lightly contacting the barrel and give a more powerful push with your inside leg as you feel his barrel swing outward.
Be sure that your outside leg is soft to ensure that it follows and does not block the movement. The bend helps your horse loosen up and lower his neck which helps lift his back to level. In addition, your seat requests your horse to step forward.As your horse develops a great, relaxed walk with impulsion, swing and suppleness on the circle in one particular direction then simply focus on the other direction. You could find your horse finds it easier heading one way than the other. This is common because horse’s are left or right sided the same as we are left or right handed. In case you or your horse get disappointed or anxious going one way, return to the direction where the work was less difficult until you get relaxed again.
Once you’ve established a good walk with a few uniformity on the circles then you can begin to do some work on the straight line coming back to the circle to re-establish relaxation anytime required.
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