When horses go âinvertedâ, it means that they raise their heads in front of their withers, which âhollowsâ their backs, and riders employ all manner of strategies to persuade them to soften in the jaw, drop their heads, without coming behind the vertical, and to âliftâ their backs.
Years ago, I would struggle with horses about this. I didn`t understand the process of gentle, persistent negotiating, so instead I`d try to lever the head down, brace my arms, sometimes use draw reins, or use fixed side reins for lunging, all methods calculated to win âPyrrhic Victoriesâ, though I didn`t have enough knowledge to comprehend that. (Nor did I know what Pyrric Victory meant!)
No classic work on riding that I`ve read uses the term âgently pesterâ or âmildly annoyâ, yet, realistically, that`s what we do. Face it, we âmildly annoyâ them by taking them away from their grass and their friends, so let`s be real here.
We want the head down, not up, so we use ânegotiated driving aidsâ into ânegotiated restraining aidsâ, to help induce that rounder, less upside down frame. But when we do this, we also get the horse to engage, and step under from behind, which âloadsâ the hocks, and this creates âweight liftingâ.
And if YOU have ever weight lifted you know that it causes discomfort. Yes, done correctly, it will make you a stronger athlete, but it sure as hell isn`t âfunâ.
So we have to ask the horse so very gradually, and we need to go a little forward, back off, ask some more, back off, not get fierce and relentless.
âGently pester, mildly annoyâ, tinker, tinker, tinker, the emphasis on gently and mildly.
And little by little, the horse should engage more, drop its head more, gradually start to lift more, carry himself more, approach some degree of self carriage, but here`s the dealâ-
IT IS SO SLOW A PROCESS. âBuild a horse like an onion, one small layer at a time.â
No anger, no frustration, no blunt force, no time frameââHard to keep our emotions this much in check? You bet, but that`s the goal nonetheless, to become real horsemen and horsewomen. Nobody said it would be easy.
Or, if they did, they lied!