Winter Fitness For Your Horse

Keeping a horse fit in the winter can be a tough prospect for all of us. Many horse people do not have the luxury of an indoor arena and are discouraged by the thought of having to venture out, working on frozen footing, to exercise their horses. Take heart, it is possible to keep your horse going while braving the elements! I can’t help with the outside temperatures, but I can give you a lesson plan to follow that will have your horse fit and ready for spring

.Fitness involves more than just physical training; it brings in mental and emotional training as well. Keeping that in mind, we can do exercises with our horses on the ground that will tone them physically, mentally and emotionally. Groundwork is a reflection of the respect your horse has for you, if he doesn’t respect you on the ground, he certainly won’t respect you in the saddle - you ride the horse you lead! What most people forget is that every time you handle a horse you are training him, whether you intend to or not. Look at winter as a training opportunity to fine-tune your horse’s ground manners.

That said, let’s get to work. As my students all know, I am a stickler for a horse who leads politely. I really hate to see a horse that leads his owner, who is disrespectful or pushy, or who invades his owner’s space. One of the first lessons I teach is polite leading. The first thing I do is put a bridle on the horse with a full-cheek snaffle and a lead rope hooked to left side of the bit. You are probably asking, “Why a bridle?”. If the horse goes to run you over or drag you off, you have better control of the horse, and you are better able to keep yourself safe, all without adding pain to the horse. The only other piece of equipment that you need is a dressage whip.

The first thing I teach the horse is to go back from a cue without pushing the horse back with the lead rope. I stand on the left side of the horse with my left hand on the lead rope (thumb pointing toward the ground) just below the clip, my body facing the horse’s shoulder. The hand on the lead rope is not there to push the horse back or pull him forward, it is there for my safety to help control the horse and guide him away from me should he try to push into me with his shoulder, or get upset and "blow". The dressage whip is in my right hand and I use the whip to teach the cue. I ask the horse to back in degrees of politeness. I first point the whip at the ground in front of the front feet giving the horse the option to step back. If the horse does not respond, I then tap the ground a couple of times again giving him a chance to step back. If the horse has still not taken a step back, I begin tapping the front leg below the knee (tapping above the knee sometimes causes a horse to rear)…not hard enough to hurt the horse, just hard enough to be an annoyance to encourage a response. As soon as the horse takes a step backwards, reward him by stopping the tapping, relaxing the whip at your side, and rubbing his neck to say "thank you". Removing the whip when the horse steps back lets the horse know that the tapping was a cue, not abuse. Continue with this cue until the horse steps back when you point the whip at the ground at his front feet.

Now it’s time to teach the go forward cue. Your body position is the same as it was when you taught the go back cue: standing on the left side of the horse facing the shoulder, left hand on the lead rope for safety, not to pull the horse forward. You will use the dressage whip to teach the cue. First, point the whip at the horse’s left hip giving the horse the opportunity to step forward. The horse likely has no idea what you want so you begin tapping the hip…not hard enough to hurt but enough to be an annoyance to encourage a response. It is very important to tap on the hip and not the hind leg (tapping on the hind leg often causes the horse to kick out and you don’t want to create a problem that you will have to correct). Once the horse takes a step forward, reward him by stopping the tapping, relaxing the whip at your side, and rubbing his neck to say "thank you". The horse has learned the cue when you can point the whip at his hip and he steps forward.

At no time is the horse allowed to run you over, to rear or to kick out. The correction for all of these behaviors is to smack the horse with the whip pretty hard, once, below the knees, to let the horse know that these are unacceptable behaviors. The goal of the leading lesson is to not touch the horse. When you have both cues really solid (the horse steps back when you point the whip at the ground and forward when you point at his hip) mix up the cues and really fine tune your horse’s leading. Never let your horse’s head pass your shoulder when you are leading him. If he gets ahead of you, immediately stop and make him back up. When you stop your feet, make your horse take two steps back. If your horse takes two steps back every time you stop, he will be out of your space and won’t be tempted to nuzzle, nip or nudge. Set boundaries for your horse and always be firm and consistent in the way that you reinforce them.

You can also work on an exercise that teaches give and softness to the bit, bending at the poll, stopping the front foot and moving the haunches over 2 steps - the start of turn on the forehand - and backing, all from one rein. This exercise is done on both sides of the horse keeping him soft and balanced. Your body position in this exercise (from start to finish) is at the horse’s shoulder with your chest facing the horse...your feet should pivot around a point while the horse works in a circle around you, your hand is on the rein just below the bit, thumb pointing toward the ground. The first step is to ask your horse to walk around you without pulling. If the horse pulls, pull him in then soften your hand and ask him to continue moving around you. You should see the inside hind leg step under, in and across as the horse is moving around you. The next step is to ask the horse to give to the bit and bend at the poll by taking the hand on the rein toward the point of the horse’s shoulder asking him to soften his jaw. When the horse is soft and light, stop the inside front foot and take the haunches two steps to the outside. Take the hand on the rein and pull up or point towards the horse’s withers. The timing of the request is important. Watch the inside front foot, just before the horse steps with that foot, ask the haunches to move over. The horse will plant that foot and pivot on it as his haunches move to the outside. You want that foot to stay planted until you ask the horse to move again and your feet should be even with the horse’s inside front foot (his foot between your two feet, your body facing the horse’s inside shoulder). Next you can add stop the front foot, take the haunches two steps to the outside, THEN two steps back. The most important thing to remember when asking the horse to back is keeping the horse’s chin in. You want the horse to go back with his head down and soft and the chin tucked slightly in toward the chest. To ask the horse to go back, take your hand on the rein toward the center of the horse’s chest, stepping with the horse as he backs.