Moving Your Horse’s Hips, An Introduction
- April 11, 2016
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- Jenn Zeller
Posted in: Featured, Horse Training, Video
There are a lot of little things you can do on your colts that will contribute to their success as a saddle horse in whatever field you choose for them. I will admit, that it has taken me many years to appreciate these “little” things and realize their importance. Please don’t be hard-headed like me. Let my experience help you get “there” sooner. Having a good foundation on which to build, your horse’s future is very important. One of the ways to build that foundation is to teach our horses to be very fluid in their body movements. One of the ways this happens is with teaching them to move their hips. A horse that is free through his hips is better able to drive from behind. And after all, behind is where the motor is at, so that’s where we should start.
It is equally important that we park or camp out on our colts (and even going horses – especially those competition horses that we ask so much from – such as dogging horses, barrel horses, roping horses), so that they can become just as confident being still, as they are in going forward. In my opinion that is one thing that is most overlooked by horse owners and many trainers alike — getting their horse to a place where they want to be still, and then making the most of that time. We should spend as much time asking for downward transitions as we do upward transitions and we should work on the gaits inside each gait, as well. But, I’ve digressed.
This post is about a couple things you can do if you’ve got a colt that would rather be still than move out, or for those times when your colt has moved out well, and it’s time for a breather. I only show you, briefly, the introduction to one way to move your horse’s hips in the video below, but there are actually four ways:
1. With rein and leg (this is what I teach first -video coming soon about breaking this down).
2. With a soft feel and leg (video coming soon).
3. With leg only (video coming soon).
4. With rein only (video coming soon).
In order to really have your horse softly moving his hips, he also needs to be able to bend around and be soft in his face — I like to say that they “reach” for me when I “reach” for them
Happy Trails!
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Posted in: Featured, Horse Training, Video
About Jenn Zeller
Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western. After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her...