Work in hand
Work in hand
It is through the work in hand that we teach the horse to stretch and work over its back / with a lifted back.
To get the horse to work over its back, it requires that the horse is moving forward, stepping under itself and is stretching. When that happens, it will tighten the abdominals and this is what makes the horse lift his back just behind the wither.
Gitse is stepping deeply under herself and begins to lift her back behind the Wither.
When we talk about the horse lifting its back, it does not mean that it uses the back muscles to lift. It lifts the back by tensioning the abdominal muscles.
The horse is trained to extend the muscles in the top line and shorten the muscles in the under line. As a result, the top line appears to look longer than the under line.
It is also through work in hand that we teach the horse to accept the contact on the bit. That's where we explain the things for the horse. It's easier to teach the horse these things without the extra strain that a rider is.
How do you do
Reins and whip are kept pretty much like this.
The hand that controls the outer rein stays close to the horse's wither. The hand that controls the inside rein stays in front of you and in the beginning, close to the bit. When the horse begins to stretch, you let the reins get longer.
The whip is held with the same hand that controls the outer rein.
You ask the horse to step over and move forward using the whip.
What do you start with
Here you can see how to keep the rein and whip.
To start with, you lead the horse around on a large circular vault. Here you try to get the horse to step over, about 50% forward and 50% to the side. I usually keep an eye on where the horse puts the inside hind leg. I would like the horse to place inner hind hooves between the grooves' tracks. It is this violation that must cause the horse to stretch. Some horses will start to stretch quickly, while others take a little longer.
The horse pushes you with the shoulder
Stacia is so big, so you can get a little tired in the shoulder
Some horses will try to push you with their shoulder instead of stepping over. This has to be corrected before you can get the horse to work properly. Often it happens when the horse begins to stretch but at the same time tries to avoid stepping under itself.
I teach Noller to work over his back by using the work in hand.
The easiest way to fix it is to get the horse to lift his head again. Then you ask it once more to step under itself. Once you have taken some steps or a circle, you try again to let the horse stretch. If it still tries to push you with its shoulder, you just start over. They usually understand it in a short period of time.
Here Amaze begins to stretch so little. But I want
Want her to stretch even deeper.
The horse has understood it
Once the horse has found out what it is about, it can be lead out to the fence. And you can now try to work the horse all over the arena while it stretches. If it stops stretching, you will ask for a few steps of yielding or you go back on a circle.
The horse is stable in the work in hand
When the horse has started to stretch stably and works well under him, you can start working with shin flexions and versades. These are performed in the same way as one would do if one rode the horse. This is a good way to prepare the horse for having to do these exercises under rider. It also helps to strengthen and loosen the horse and you have the opportunity to see if the horse stretches correctly and steps properly under him. Many horses will lift their heads slightly or will walk behind weights when trying. Here it is important to perform the exercises while the horse stretches head and neck down and out.
We do not do half pass when we work the horse in hand. It's too easy to get to shorten the horses gaits to much and that's not what we want. We do not do this exercise until the horse is ready to perform it under rider.
Work in hand or lunging
Whether you start the horse in the lunge line, work in hand or a combination of both depends on the horse.
In most cases, you will do both, depending on what you want to train. For example, it can be easier to learn the horse to stretch deep by doing work in hand. It will also be easier to teach the horse to yield its hind by explaining it through the work in hand instead of trying in the lunge line.
If the horse has been injured and is not allowed to trot, it may be safer to use work in hand.
All horses must be able to do work in hand before starting on the piaffe work. Piaffe work in hand is started before we begin the ridden collected work. This is because it is the best gymnastics exercise we have to teach the horse to bend the joints in the hindlegs, take more weight on the hind, lift the back and engage the back and the abdominal muscles. Which is the same thing we are asking for when we want the horse to collect, to a lesser degree though.
The work in hand is therefore an important part of the horse's training and is thus used throughout the horse's education.
How old would you say the horse should be before starting to train this? I have an 2 year as I am interested in starting up correctly from the start. He has had a tough start to life so he has gone and enjoyed himself and not been exposed to a whole lot of training. But my plan is to slowly start to learn to have bites in his mouth over the fall and winter (he is used to headwear) and then I thought it was obvious to teach him this. What do you think?
Hey Mette
Normally, I wouldn't do much else with an 2 year than teach it to be handled, groomed, small haul trips, etc. As 3 years, they get used to the bite and at the end of the year we get used to the saddle. Usually (when they are 3 years) I start working them a bit off the ground on the track, however, it initially takes place with kapsun (grime). They are learning this year to be lunged and they are learning to walk by their shoulder. I usually train them no more than 3 times a week and no more than 10 for 15 minutes. I do not focus on whether they step below the center of gravity or the like. I just want them to teach my commanders for the voice. Typically, these young unspoiled horses will extend to the ground when they have just realized that they are lunging. Our horses have usually seemed very immature at this time and only when they have reached the age of 4 have we started more serious training from the ground up and have ended the year with getting them used to riders. Hope this helps and otherwise you have to write again 🙂
Hi I have a question I have a mare that simply download is so hard to get to use herself right has struggled with her for almost 8 years and something has worked for periods but nothing that has worked and stayed with it, you have some extra good advice. Sincerely
Hi Petricia
When I started making this website, I focused a lot on describing the stretch and getting the horse to step under the center of gravity with the inner hind leg. I now know that not everyone gets into “goals” through this approach. Not all horses are equally easy !! What you need to focus on is whether your horse is walking straight. The neck and head should point in a direction between the grooves of the forelegs also on a volt. Look at where your horse puts his hooves. What you want in the first place is for the horse to step on its hind hooves in the footsteps. If your horse bends at the neck, then do not just hold on to the reins. Initially, you need to correct by taking and giving. In this way, you can often align the front part with the back part so that your horse starts to walk straight. When your horse straightens up in this way, it will start to relax and you will find that it feels like stretching its head and neck down and forward.
Hope this can help you along the way.
Many greetings
Linda
Would it be ok in the work by hand to brake the horse a little in the reins? I have an injured mare who can only walk, but she simply walks so fast that I can not keep up.
But I'm also thinking about whether it will be disruptive in relation to the afalappeness. She will automatically stretch a little less when I pull a little on the reins.
Hi Louise
You are right that it will probably disturb the relaxation and stretch if you use the reins to slow down. Depending on the horse, there are several different things you can try your hand at.
You can make it go into a circle when the pace gets too high. Let the reins be as long as possible and only use the inner rein in case she does not automatically follow you (leave the outer rein loose). You can now choose to go straight on track when the pace has slowed down. Or you can choose to get it so far down that she stops. If you choose to stop, let her stand and relax for a moment before starting again. It is a huge help if we can teach the horses to stand still and be relaxed.
You can also try working her in a longer line / rope / lunge. It can be easier to keep up if you can get a little more distance.
A third possibility is that you praise and then stop her (and possibly give a treat) before she has time to speed up. So you do this when you feel she is doing well and before the pace gets too high. This will probably mean that you have to start and stop many times in the beginning, but the horse quickly learns to focus on you and will then work much more relaxed and concentrated.
Hope this can help you along the way.
Many greetings
Linda
Hi Linda
Do you need to have a permanent contact to the bidet when working by hand? Mine comes down and stretches but at times it can start pulling the bidet out of the hand and going towards it. That's probably not correct. What should I do to stop this behavior.
Hi Johanna
No in the beginning I work with a completely loose rein. What we want to achieve is that the reins should only be used as the last fine communication with the horse. Roughly speaking, this means that the reins should only be used to make the horse keep his attention directed towards us. Therefore, before the "right" work by hand begins, you must work to get the horse's attention. You do this by walking with the outer hand at the withers and holding with this hand the rein (at the buckle). You must now keep an eye on the horse's inner ear (and possibly the eye). If it points forward, then gently lift the inner rein with the inner hand and wait until the horse turns its ear back towards you. At that moment, you release the rein again. There is no need for contact on the rein, the horse can feel that you lift it.
The horse will react in a short time just by touching the rein and it will keep its attention directed towards you for a longer time at a time. When this happens you will be able to see that you get a rounding all the way through the horse's body. You get this rounding when the horse feels comfortable / relaxed and it will lead to the horse starting to stretch.
Now you can then shorten the reins and walk with your hands placed more "normally". But do not shorten the reins so much that YOU make the contact. You must reach a point where, through the rein, you can feel the horse moving its tongue / jaws. If you look at the reins, in the eyes of many they will look loose. (If you have too much grip, or if the reins hang in an arc, you will not be able to feel the horse moving the tongue / jaws).
When you find this kind of contact, you will slowly get moments where you feel a kind of suction on the bite, an elastic feeling in the reins. It is the horse that has now made the contact !! It is not something we can get the horse to do, it is something the horse itself offers. But you must be happy and satisfied if only you can find the "contact" where you can feel the tongue / jaw movement. It is difficult enough in itself.
If you do the above, the horse has no reason to pull the reins. Therefore, if the horse pulls on the reins, then go back to the work of getting its attention, for you have most likely lost it before it happens. After some time, it will not be necessary to go back to the completely loose reins. You will instead just be able to close the inside hand if you lose the horse's attention.
One last thing is that with many horses, I introduce this contact when walking in a deep stretch. Here the horse can choose to take its head up, but it cannot pull the reins because it wants its head further down.
Hope it gives you answers 🙂