To maintain our horses peak athleticism and soundness I like to cross train poles, grids and hacking out with their dressage. One important element we look for is relaxation, and a mind that can't relax cannot relax a body (if you have been following us for sometime, you would know this is the first pillar of the Holistic Horse Handling Method).

In this video I share a simple lunging exercise that incorporates multiple training elements to help the horse work with relaxation and swing and an elastic topline.

Lunging is a great opportunity when done well to allow the horse to open and move freely through their back because they don't have to balance us or weight bare out weight and that means that they can really reach, stretch and release over their back in a way that is a lot harder if they were having to carry us.

Creating dynamic movement by changing length of strides, frames, postures and sizes of circles can encourage our horses to between center their balance so that they can release their topline and get into more relaxation and swing. We are beginning to put this together into the next phase of the Holistic Horse Handling Program, which is the Holistic Horse RIDING Program.

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