What the toss? 8 Reasons Why Your Horse May Be Head Tossing

We all see beautiful images of horses working in a self-carriage frame, and then come across a horse that tosses his head or needs to hold it high. It can be frightening, frustrating and unbalancing when we ride these horses.

Understanding why this might be happening can improve our chances of correcting this unwanted behaviour.

Dental and bit issues

Mouth pain created by an incorrectly worn bit or dental issues can lead to head tossing, particularly when you put the bridle on or apply a reign aid – strong or soft. The best way to see if this is the cause of your horse’s head tossing is to have a discussion and examination with your dentist.

Development Issues

A horse that is working hollow is generally going to carry his or her head higher (unless being forced into a frame, which will be uncomfortable and limit the development of your horse). A horse that has poor strength and elasticity through their top-line will also need to use their shoulders and neck to lift, which will bring their head high. Ensure to work through the training scale to maximise your horse’s capability for self-carriage is the only way to fix this, and it will take time.

Anxiety

Horses that are anxious are naturally inclined to have their heads held high on the lookout for danger. Some horses may have anxiety related to one particular issue, and others may be living in a chronic state of anxiety. The best way to deal with an anxious horse is to help them get past the ‘fight or flight’ stage of the anxiety to where they can begin to mentally process their decisions, while at the same time encouraging them to follow you as their calm leader – if you are not anxious, they shouldn’t be either. This may require professional assistance.

Training Issues

A horse that doesn’t understand or becomes frustrated may toss his head to communicate his confusion. They will usually attempt to do what you ask but become repeatedly confused as we continue to not give the release they were expecting. You may have to work with your trainer to ensure the aids you are applying have been developed from the very basic to the more advanced (as they learn).

Conversely, a horse that knows the training but is trying to avoid putting his head down will react opposite of your aid and lift his head. This may be because the head in frame is too hard to maintain too long, or because he is testing us. Use the pressure/release method to encourage and reward the correct behaviour, and gradually increase the number of strides he has to maintain this.

Saddle Fit

Sometimes, an incorrectly fitting saddle that pinches or rubs may create a number of ‘naughty’ habits, including head tossing. A poorly fitted saddle would be like wearing a bra that is 3 sizes too small in one cup and 2 sizes too big in the other. These naughty behaviours are your horse’s way of telling you they are uncomfortable.

Poll Pressure

Some horses, particularly as they develop, or if they have dental issues, may have a sensitive poll. This is usually due to a tightening of the neck and/or the jaw muscles. Ear twitched horses may also be extra sensitive to this area, as ear twitching creates pain and can damage the muscles in and around the ear. Some great stretches to release poll pressure include low carrots stretches and between the knees carrot stretches. It’s also not a bad idea to review this at your horse’s next chiro visit.

Insects

If you are in a particularly high insect area or time, you may notice your horse tossing his head a lot more. Use some insect repellent on a grooming mitt to gently apply to the areas of the face, ears and neck to help reduce this.

Learned Behaviour

Unfortunately, some horses may have figured out that when they toss their head high, they can scare their rider or owner out of doing what they are asking for, and therefore it has become a learned response to get out of something they deem unpleasant. It takes some time, patience and consistency to break this behaviour, and a lot of pressure/release practice. But persevere – I promise that with the right approach it can be overcome!

overcome problem behaviours with our easy to follow method

Click here to access a free training on the Holistic Horse Handling Methodology

Is Your Horse a Master "Self-Carriage Evading" Artist?

Horses evade being in a working brain and working in self carriage like I avoid my computer before I have my morning coffee. "Oh look the dishes need washing, hmm maybe I should sweep that way I will concentrate better, and my working space is messy better find a home for everything. Oh the place I was going to put what was messing up my desk is messy; I should clean that as well!"

Before you know it, its 3 hrs later, I haven't opened the computer yet but at least my house is clean, right? I bet you can relate and so can your horse. I don't know what it is about getting into a working brain but some days it's so damn hard! Taking inspired action is the easiest way to get into work mode but that is a discussion for another day. Today we are talking about the art of evasion and I'm going to put it to you straight, our horses are pros at it and we rarely even notice.

What is self carriage?

Self carriage is:

• When a horse transfers its weight off the forehand onto the hindquarters and drives from its hindquarters instead of pulling with its chest and shoulders.

• When a horse engages its balances points and holds itself from its core allowing for suppleness of its extremities.

• When a horse stops bracing through its joints for balance because it has engaged its core and is able to swing over its back and through its neck and shoulders.

For self carriage horses require:

• Discipline

• Sensitivity to the connecting aids

• Purpose and drive

• Balance

When a horse comes into self carriage it can squat through the hindquarters without losing forwardness, flex over the topline without dumping its weight onto the forehand and be extremely manoeuvrable and versatile in its movement without sucking behind the bit. This is actually really hard to achieve, not only in how to communicate to our horse this is what we want but also once they understand to convince them to do it. Even if you have flexed your horses head into a "frame" it doesn't mean they are in self carriage and you are potentially doing more damage to their musculoskeletal system than good. These horses will have a tight, strong underneck from balancing on their forehand, issues with their back (behavioural issues at the extreme with bucking, rearing and bolting) or physical issues with their croup protruding, sway backed and irregular in their stride to name a few problems. They may be pretending that they are engaged but have just hyper flexed through their pelvis and as a result won't work straight and can't pick up off the forehand or they will be strung out dragging the hindquarters. 

As our horses motivator, exercise physiologist and trainer it is our responsibility to ensure they are working correctly, because it is us that then want to go and sit on the weakest part of their body and expect them to perform athletically. If I went to a PT that didn't understand correct technique I would be at a high risk of injury because I do not know how to use my body safely and correctly in exercises I haven't done before. It is the same for your horse; you have to show them good technique to avoid short term damage and long term wear and tear and early retirement due to unsoundness. 

If it’s not good for the horse to evade, why are they so good at it!?

Well this comes back to me needing a coffee to get motivated. I know I should be working and future me will appreciate the past me for the work but right now.... bleh ... except for oooh coffee!! Ok now I can work. What coffee is doing is evoking some of the feel good hormone dopamine and dopamine particularly likes goals achieved. I have a very vivid memory as a child at school doing school work and I was particularly good at "evading" work. To be honest I suck at getting myself into a working brain, once I'm there all good but getting stuck in, nope that's not for me. My grandma always used to say Katie you need to "apply yourself". At the time I would do the annoying kid "I am!!!" but secretly I was thinking I don't even understand what you mean. I get it now though, "applying yourself" to a task means committing yourself 110% to getting the task at hand done. Without procrastination and excuses. Get stuck in, get it done and get it done well. And it requires determination, dedication and practise but it also requires rest. "Applying yourself" is harnessing your will power, exerting maximum effort and normally requires your adrenals tapping into your energy reserve. Your will power and adrenals become exhausted when in constant use. We want our day to day function to be at about 50 - 60% of our capabilities. So that when we go in to dig deeper for more and during periods of stress we have energy reserves to access. Adequate nutrition, vitamins and minerals and healthy happy hormone production are all integral to this but again this is a story for another day. 

So getting back on track your horses evasion is a complex biochemical pathway protecting it from depleting its energy reserves that it needs to stay safe. After millennia of evolution the horses’ body only exerts 100% effort when needed during periods of stress and to stay safe when their life is threatened. So you can get this effort required by stressing them mentally and physically and threatening their safety (both not particularly good methods for training practices and safety when riding) ... OR ... you can inspire your horse to dance with you using happy hormone motivators and establish a training process so that they actually enjoy and like spending time with you. 

How does your horse evade self carriage?

When establishing self carriage we are trying to stack the horses’ body compartments on top of each other. So it makes sense that the way the horse evades is to create misalignment of these body compartments.

• Dumping their weight onto the inside or the outside shoulder

• Twisting their hindquarters in or out

• Running through the contact, grabbing the bit and pulling

• Sucking behind the aids, either going too slow sucking off the go aid, or rounding too deep and sucking behind the contact

• Leaning on the reins and yanking the reins

Developing self carriage

Developing self carriage is simultaneously incredibly easy and a lifetime's art form. This is because movement is dynamic and changes with environmental stress. Once a horse has conditioned and adapted to a new exercise they will then adapt to be able to do it with the least possible effort, so we need to make the exercises harder and more intricate to keep those core muscles and nerves to those muscles firing (also known as the period of plateau). 

During these periods of plateau we need to maintain consistency with our training and wait for our horses’ body to catch up. It is important not to stress the horses’ body to heavily during this period. You want to give the horse at least 6 months of the same exercises to truly consolidate it as part of their conformation before pushing for more. Stress should be applied intermittently so that you can trigger healthy adaptations to exercise and not run the horse health down.

Enrol as a student and be guided down the path of development (or correction) to true Self Carriage here!

 

6 Reason You May Be Stumbling Through Your Ride (And What You Can Do About It)

A horse that stumbles can give us quite a momentary shock, but when your horse stumbles regularly, we need to start looking into the root of the issue. Here are a few reasons why your horse might stumble and what you can do to help.

Training

A horse that is riding hollow with his head high is unbalanced and on the forehand, and may stumble more frequently. Same can be said for a horse that is leaning on the bit like a fifth leg, as soon as the pressure on the bit is released they may stumble, which is their attempt to avoid faceplanting in the dirt.

The fix

Ensure you use the correct exercises for true self-carriage. If you horse is unable to engage his core, go back down the training scale and start again.

Conformation

Some horses are born with abnormal conformations, especially in the legs, may be more prone to stumbling than others.

The fix

There may not actually be a fix for this, but ensure you horse has the best self-carriage training to minimise the issues. It is also worth consulting with your chiropractor to see if there are any physio exercises to improve the issue.

Injuries

Current injuries may create pain and result in limping and stumbling as a result. Also, past injuries, particularly long-recovering ones to the hips, shoulders, legs or feet, may have put the horse off balance as they favoured the injured side.

The fix

For current injuries, rest, recovery and possible farrier/veterinary attention are recommended. For previous injuries, have a chat to your chiropractor.

Fitness

A horse that is not fit will tire quickly and stumble. A horse that is also pushed to his fitness limit will tire and stumble.

The fix

Recognise the level of fitness of your horse. Identify when you start to feel him tire and allow him to rest. Gradually increase his fitness by extending his training to the point where he is just starting to tire then allow rest again.

Arthritis

Horses with arthritis will tend to be less able to move the joints fluidly or less comfortable fully weight-bearing on one limb over others, and can lead to stumbling.

The fix

Unfortunately arthritis cannot be cured, but we can alleviate the pain with good supplementation or under veterinary advice. Also ensure you use gentle warm up exercise (this may take longer than other horses) and train for self-carriage. Regular gentle exercise is a must as is regular rest. You can read our article on how to manage arthritis here.

Hoof Maintenance

Hooves that are poorly maintained or too long can create stumbling issues.

The fix

Maintain regular farrier visits. Ensure the farrier is cutting to the right length and angle. If you are unsure or unhappy with your farrier, seek a second opinion.

Is Walking Boring? (7 Reasons To Reconsider)

When did riding at a walking become boring?

Many non-equestrians imagine horse riding to be all about chasing cows, jumping logs and galloping up gloriously green hills towards the sunset. Many equestrians love the idea also, whether they are ready to ride at that level or just dream of the day. It’s the thrilling of the horse exerting powerful bouts of energy under you, the feel of the wind across your face, the sensation of working together.

Considering that, it can be easy to see why riding at a walking pace is less ‘fun’ in some peoples eyes. Here are 7 reasons why walking is better than galloping:

1. Your horse can maintain a walk for longer

Imagine you have to carry a 15kg brick strapped to your back. Now imagine running with it for 20 minutes. If you are anything like me, you would have dropped that brick or dropped the run within 2 minutes.

This is exactly what our horses face. It takes more energy to run, so our horses can maintain more exercise at a walking pace, and this will help build their fitness and tolerance to exercise.

2. It is easier to learn at a walk

Funny story: I discovered I could write on a clipboard while walking around. So I immediately assumed I could do some work on the treadmill. Three almost-falls later, I decided it was one of the stupidest ideas I’d had - ever.

It is harder to do ANYTHING at a faster pace, until you have it well established at the walk. This goes for our horses and ourselves. As a rider is developing new skills, it is next to impossible to start that skill at a trot, canter or gallop, and much easier in a walk (unless we have an amazing horse that has been schooled to know which buttons we are trying to push, has enough insight to guess what we are trying to tell them, and is enthusiastic enough about work not to try to pull one over us - and how many of us can say we have that horse?).

3. Walking is safer to ride in mixed groups

It is a great lot of fun to spend time riding with other equine enthusiasts. But not all riders, nor or horses, develop equally.

In any group ride that I have ever been in, there always seems to be a mix of green riders, green horses, experienced riders, experienced horses, nervous riders, nervous horses, riders that have never left the arena, horses that are on their first trial ride, horses dealing with herd bonding issues, or people that have never ridden.

It literally meant that some horses and some riders where not suited to going faster than a walk, and the more experienced horses and riders are better suited to be in charge - which means not galloping off into the sunset.

4. We can begin redeveloping our horse at a walking pace

The training scale, and the way our horses learn and develop, insists that we spend more time learning and strengthening exercises in a walk. A green horse, or a horse that is being redeveloped, will find all the aids applied confusing or frustrating if they are not first well established at lower paces. It is why the training scale spends so much time on groundwork, then walk, then trot, before canter.

Interested in learning how to use the training scale to develop your horse? Register for our online training course Green to Self Carriage here.

5. More leisure time with your horse

I don’t know about you, but if I can personally spend more time on a ride with more horse, the more I love it!

Simply put, a bit of walking, which can be intermittently broken up with a few trots and canters, is a much more leisurely way to ride than a ride that is full of a faster pace - which will only get me to my end destination much quicker anyway!

6. We can help avoid soundness issues

When our horses lack development at any stage in the walk, they cannot progress with it in the trot or canter. If we try to push it, we can end up damaging our horses, either physically, mentally or emotionally.

7. Our horses will thank us for it

When we give our horses a chance to learn, let them spend some more relaxing time with them, not force them to always work harder and avoid injuring them, I can guarantee your horse will love you more.

What do you say? Comment below if you have another reason that walking is better than galloping!

The Independent Seat (part 2)

Using your seat as a tool for communication

This article is best to read after you have done our course “3 weeks to improving your riding”. In this course we go into depth about the angles and lines we need in our posture that allows for maximum range of movement in both ourselves and our horses and also how to move and follow our horse. It includes 3 weeks of exercises designed by a personal trainer to help you hold this posture easier. This will also only work if your horse is working correctly in self carriage and connection. --Katie

Everything we are trying to do with our horses is to create more engagement, more self carriage, to create a stronger, more elastic top line so that our horse can move more freely, move with more power and agility, to reduce the concussion of the movement on their body and develop their core strength and soundness for a long and healthy riding career. The tighter we are through our thigh and the more we pivot at our knee and our hip in our dressage seat, even if we are trying to lean back to keep our upright, the more we are putting our horse onto the forehand. This is why all the angles and lines we discuss in “3 weeks to improving your riding” is so important. When we break these lines and angles we distribute our weight away from our centre of balance and then try to counter balance ourselves. Our horse then tries to counter balance our imbalance and both ours and our horses posture “shrinks and curls” to try and protect our balance. If we start with our center of gravity and work out, engaging the same balance points as we do on the ground we have the best opportunity of maintaining our posture and guiding our horse to maintain their balance, posture and center of gravity.

Once we understand how to do this and our connection is established we can then start to use our seat to communicate. This is our ultimate goal. The more we can communicate from our seat, the less we interrupt our horses flow and balance with our hands. If we do this exercise describe below without having established connection our horse will “jack up” and potentially also rear. Our horse needs to know how to sit into its haunches and lift through its tummy so that it is shortening its body in a way that lengthens the crest. Which is why we have our foundation exercises of self carriage that ensure our horse can first do all these things and that we also have an adequate feel of how to distribute the horses weight and balance effectively. Once these skills are established this is very easy. If these skills aren’t established your horse will let you know if you try this exercise. Make sure you listen to your horse and get help by someone who understands these principles if you are unsure.

Establishing a half halt with our seat.

Katie demonstrating the correct position in the saddle to improve your independent seat

First have all the prerequisites of self carriage established. Tempo changes, bend and changes of bend, transitions within the pace and pace to pace, shortening and lengthening the frame, rein back over a pole, trot poles and canter poles, introducing leg yield and shoulder fore.

Have the angles and lines of an independent seat as described in “3 weeks to improving your riding”.

At the halt:

• Cuddle your calves

• Squeeze your butt checks together like you are trying to hold a poo in

• Lift through and rotate through your pelvis like your practised on the fit ball in “3 weeks to improving your riding”

• Draw your shoulder blades together and open your chest

• Increase the angle through your elbows, taking your hands towards your hips gently, keeping a straight line elbow hands reins to bit.

The end goal is that the horse squeezes together and their head comes onto the vertical. Release the pressure for this.

To get this right you want to balance the amount of energy you are creating with your legs to the amount of wait you’re are creating with your hands.

Think about driving a manual car if you have the clutch out of gear it doesn’t matter how much you put your foot down on the accelerator the car won’t go. In a horse that understand self carriage and connection the contact is like your clutch you are balance the revs (forwardness from your legs) with the amount of clutch that is engaged (contact). If you don’t engage the clutch (contact) as you rev (legs) the car won’t accelerate with power (your horse will be strong out on the forehand). If you have to much revs (legs) to clutch (contact) your car will accelerate uncontrollable and do a burn out (your horse will take the bolt and spit you out the side). We are trying to find the balance between just enough rein add to say wait without stopping and just enough leg aid to say stay moving powerfully forward without rushing and this creates impulsion. When we go into this level of detail you can see why our foundations need to be so clearly established for both ourselves and our horses.

What we are trying to do here is establish this aid above which is our half halt by tightening and lifting through our seat to squeeze our horse together and lift the forehand.

We are not going to be riding like this all the time it is an add. We cuddle, squeeze, lift and draw our horse up and to us and then relax and allow our horse to move. We are creating a controlled tension which shortens, bounces and re-energises the stride and riding forward out of it.

As we ride forward our horse will going onto the forehead and we also have an opportunity here to create acceptance of the bit. As we relax and allow our hands forehand we are asking the horse to follow our hands forward out of the frame, to poke its nose out. Just before it gets to strung out, we cuddle, squeeze, lift and draw our horse in and up to us and then relax and slowly inch our hands forward encouraging our horse to poke its nose out seeking the contact. Rinse and repeat. This is your new half halt. The more often you ride this aid combination the stronger your horse will get through the chest and the shoulders and the more impulsion you will create.

This ability to shorten and lift into you is also your prerequisite to collection and why the transition from novice to elementary is so hard for some. If you have learnt how to get your horse into a frame by grounding them and putting them more onto the forehand you have to go back to scratch and relearn how to work your horse uphill into the frame if you are to achieve collection. The impulsion is a natural progression of self carriage that becomes collection.

Activating this seat aid is part of the puzzle. Your horse can only come uphill if you do first.

Can’t Teach an Older Horse New Tricks? Watch me!

It is an unending fact of life – we all get older. Unfortunately so many older horses become abandoned or given away as paddock buddies when their owners no longer see any use for them.

And while I understand the desire for progression, or the desire to see your horse ‘in a loving home, getting the attention he/she deserves’, I also know there are many of us out there who will continue to provide a home for that horse that saw us through so much, even if they are no longer suitable to our needs. So how can we continue to give our older horses a valuable life when they no longer suit our purposes?

My Older Horse

I recently adopted a 21 year old gelding. Little is known about this horses’ history apart from that he was used for cattle work, and he has had many owners, and working with him has indicated that he has had at least basic western training – totally not my forte! He had been rescued by some friends after being offered as a ‘free to good home paddock buddy’ and placed into semi-retirement, and when I was in need of a horse, they offered him as a potential project, as he really needed his own human.

With time and effort, this boy now bends instead of pivoting - and is a much more confident partner.

Katie and I assessed him for soundness and to identify some potential issues. We noted:

• His back was sound and could safely hold a rider

• He had mild arthritis

• He has had some injury in the past that had created some tightness particularly through the left haunch

• He was significantly out of work (no surprises there!)

• He was experiencing some anxiety issues, both with riders and leaving his paddock buddy

• He had no idea how to talk to his rider (hence the anxiety with riders)

We began training him English style under the principles of the Foundation of Equine Development – we took it right back to the starting basics. Groundwork, bonding work, emotional management and letting him talk to us on the ground and in the saddle. This boy has gone from Western trained, out of work paddock, rarely active ornament to a happy, confident, calm horse that now plays and runs in the paddock and wants human interaction. His progression is slower than it might be for a younger horse, and we are forever mindful not to create injury, but his development has been beneficial both for myself and him.

Being an older, relatively unknown horse, neither of us has any idea of how far he will go. But he keeps taking each new challenge we present him (even being proud to ‘show off’), so who knows – you might see us out at a pony club dressage event soon!

Your Older Horse

Do you have an older horse that still wants to work/play? Outside of basic care and maintenance, you could increase their workload in many different ways - for many key benefits.

Benefits of Working Your Older Horse

• When done correctly it can improve their muscular tone, reducing the pains that develop with old age (think of it as physio rather than gym!)

• Improve their mood and temperment

• Improve their quality of life and may even increase their life expectancy!

Before you do, assess your horse for the following:

• Check for soundness in the back, legs and mouth

• Ensure they have not lost too much muscle mass, as this will make any type of riding work impossible

• How much working condition have they lost/still retained?

• Look for any signs of arthritis, or skeletal misalignment, and supplement/treat accordingly

• Does your horse want to engage in these activities?

Then encourage your horse to participate in:

• Basic groundwork or riding training – take it as far back to the basics as your horse needs to be able to redevelop lost condition. Equestrian Movements’ Foundation of Equine Development Course will be available soon for you to try out!

• Fun days out – a short trail ride or bringing them out to pony club for a potter (not competing, or lightly competing if your horse can handle it)

• Lead line walks for small children – especially for older horses that can no longer maintain adult weight

• Fun games - or even train for new tricks on the ground, such as touch the button or foot on the log.

• Be prepared to go slow, and be prepared to listen when your horse tells you he or she has reached their limit.

And of course, lots of love, cuddles, grooming and general contact are also strongly indicated!

Regular human interaction is very important to many of these older horses, as they received so much attention during their prime it becomes an ingrained habit and desire that is hard to break. Anything we can do to show them we love them still, as well as improve their quality of life, we should.