Why is Your Horse 'Falling In'?

More importantly, how do you know if your horse is falling in? The quickest and easiest way I can explain this is to imagine you are riding a circle which you have planned out beautifully in your head; but as your horse travels around it you seem to be getting more and more off track with each passing stride; in fact what started out as a 20m circle is soon resembling a 10m triangle, drawn by a three year old...

Or another area this where problem can tend to rear its ugly head is when traveling around corner, where again, just like before you have set the course, you half halt, but your horses actual path and the one you envisioned in your head are worlds apart. The initial problem is then compounded by the frustration that it is happening so regularly, there being 4 corners in ever arena and all...

Welcome to the world of falling in... Which is almost exactly what it sounds like. You set a course, and instead of following it, your horse 'falls in' on the shape.

Now while we may initially blame ourselves for bad planning or awful usage of basic shapes and, very often, after we reach for our markers to help guide us along, we begin to realize that far from this being our inability to correctly execute a circle, this issue stems more from our horses inability to balance himself while being ridden on the said circle.

But can also happen on a straight line... There you are, merrily trotting down the center line, when you quite suddenly find yourself 3 or 4 meters off center!

This is a frustrating and annoying problem that may represent a fundamental flaw in a horses basic training and what is actually happening is your horse cannot balance himself correctly.

Now, most riders first reactions are to pull the 'outside rein' and try get back on track. This causes horses to flex incorrectly to outside and often has effect of body continuing to fall in while head and next are poking out having a good look at everything outside the arena or circle... Why is Your Horse Falling ? When this happens, riders will turn to the next tool in their box; coupling their outside rein with a few well placed 'kicks' of the inside leg and often this is enough get the horse back to the original track, except instead of it being an enjoyable circle, you are now having to use every ounce of strength and concentration to keep him there...

You begin to literally hold him up with your legs and reins and you become his stabilizers or support for when he is not feeling balanced.

In doing this 'quick fix' the problem has just been made worse by training your horse to balance on your hands / reins and not becoming strong pr correctly muscled enough to rely on himself for balance... and, as we mentioned, this is usually the core of the issue to begin with.

So how can be we begin rectifying the problem in a way that will build a solid foundation for you to build on in the future?

By learning to go 'straight' on a circle, back feet tracking corresponding front feet, not inside back foot slightly more to the outside (hind end swinging out), your horse will begin to work correctly and use himself for balance. Only by consistently maintaining this 'straightness' on a circle, will the necessary muscles develop to balance and carry you both in more complicated work and movements

The first thing I would suggest is becoming very clear in your head about what you should be doing on the circle, and being consistent in not straying from that path, no matter what! This can be difficult, as it is so tempting to 'fix' your horse back onto the correct circle, but your horse must learn to 'fix' himself!

Make sure you keep a correct position on the circle, you are asking the correct questions and then keep persevering by riding from your inside leg to your outside rein. Your inside leg is not a prop for your horse, so don't allow it to become one.

The same applies for your outside rein. Try keep your leg and hand position as close to where they should be as possible, however initially, you may have to open your outside hand or rein to encourage your horse back out to it.

The horse must develop equal muscles on both sides of body in order to carry himself and the rider. This will take time and consistent correct action, so don't expect it all to happen in one day. Rather spend a few minutes each day working correctly on both reins; slow and steady will win the race.

Initially, you may just end up going on smaller circles, but if you remain calm and true to your correct position, all the while keeping a sharp focus on not allowing him to 'run' forward and continuously speed up, you horse will soon begin to realize that the bigger circle, ridden correctly, is generally the easier way to go... Small circles are hard work, especially when your rider is no longer propping you up with reins and legs!

When you are riding correctly, you are not supporting the horse with your reins. This means no neck reining or crossing your hands over (your right hand must stay on the right hand side, and vice versa!)... Rather guiding or indicating when necessary, but then allowing him to figure it out for himself. Maintaining your correct position and consistent use of correct aids at the appropriate times will soon nullify this bad habit that may develop.

Finally, make sure you are using your outside leg in a correct manner to prevent his hind quarters falling out , which is often what will happen if you manage to 'fix' the front end. Your horse must learn to be truly straight on the circle, inside back leg on the same track as inside front leg and same for the outside leg. If your horses inside back leg is following his outside front leg, he is falling out through his hind quarters.

If you find this all overwhelming, try braking things down into steps, and be persistent in working through them, step by step, until it becomes second nature. Just, again, make sure you are correct in your riding and position before ingraining a habit in yourself!

Final piece of advise I can offer is to regularly, or as much as you can, jump onto a horse that is well schooled so you can feel what it is like and how your body is perhaps compensating for your horses lack of balance, without you even being aware of it.

Often we can become the 'enabler' to our horses bad habits... Make sure you are not falling into this trap.

This week on Daily Strides, we are going step by step through the above movements. We begin on Tuesday by getting out seat correct and allowing our horses to fall in (if they are so inclined) without our 'propping' them up anymore. We then work through asking them and encouraging them to correctly move back out and begin to balance themselves.

On Wednesday we look at different ways we can 'test' our progress, particularly using the inside rein as a guide. We are also looking for improvements and also noticing differences between both reins (if any) and working through them, both on circles and on the straight.

And on Thursday, we begin to put some exercises together where we can work on different aspects of muscling our horses correctly to balance themselves.