"PHYSIOTHERAPY RIDING"

Whenever I train a horse I am constantly comparing myself to a physiotherapist. I ride with the intention of using physical exercises as a form of therapy to improve the way the horse feels throughout his whole body and therefore his mind. Relaxed body, relaxed mind, and vice versa.

I work the horse in such a way using techniques and exercises to help improve his overall physical well-being. There are many times when I will work a horse (always with the classical approach in my mind) but not necessarily drilling the horse through classical exercises such as shoulder-in, travers (quarters-in/haunches-in), or half pass. I believe that there are some show jumping horses that can definitely benefit from more of the classical dressage style, and others that actually do not need it or that it can be negative for them. Most dressage horses are chosen because they have a physique which is correct for dressage, the conformation is suitable. However, there are many show jumping horses who do not have the ideal "dressage physique" but they are incredible jumpers, who love to jump. These sort of horses usually benefit more from the "physiotherapy riding" than the drilling of classical dressage movements. Plus, with these types of horses I will often start this work without riding in a round outline and only slowly incorporating that into the work as the horse warms up. At the end however, the horse should be completely "through".

The physiotherapy style of riding includes circles of different sizes, many changes of rein, serpentines (sometimes pear-shaped), both deep loops and shallow loops, including sometimes changing the bend of the neck to the outside in a very subtle and gentle way on curved lines or straight lines. If the horse is very stiff I will even do all of this work without any round outline for a few days, only later asking for a degree of roundness. Before roundness I want to feel that the horse is freely moving forwards and his shoulders are "lifting". During these exercises I also want to make sure that the horse really understands my weight aids. If the horse already has a certain degree of suppleness then I will ride him a little deeper in the outline than the classical dressage outline, but he must always be light in the hand. I constantly feel the degree of straightness whether on a straight line or a curved line, always making sure that the back legs follow on the same tracks as the forelegs. Any crookedness should always be carefully and gently corrected over a period of time. The shoulders should feel free and turn on the exact line requested with no falling in or drifting out on turns. With a horse who tends to drift out on turns a small outside bend of the neck can be used to help the shoulders "free up" and turn more. I always want to feel that the shoulders are lifting even if the horse is ridden in a round or even slightly deeper outline, never heavy down on the bit. I am always aware if the horse's back is coming up and there is free forwards movement with the horse using his body to the maximum. This sort of work is done in trot and canter, with good walk breaks in between when the horse is encouraged to walk with a longer and lower neck with as much overtrack in the steps as possible ("walk like a cat"!). The trot must be a clear working trot and the canter a clear working canter, no lack of impulsion from the hind legs.

One exercise I always use which is beneficial for all horses is leg-yielding, done on straight lines and also on circles (in walk, trot and canter). The leg-yielding exercise is extremely useful for increasing flexibility, especially loosening up the shoulders and hips of the horse. I use this exercise as soon as I feel the horse is ready for it, both in walk, trot and canter. When done on a circle it is extremely beneficial for improving the bend of the horse at the ribcage and encouraging more weight to be taken under the horse's body with the inside hind leg. When done in canter on a circle it improves the "jump" of the canter stride, adding more strength to the inside hind leg and therefore improving the overall quality of the canter.

At the end of this work a good few minutes of stretching should be done, with a long and low neck and with bend, sometimes on a smaller circle to not only stretch the topline of the horse but also the muscles on the outside of his body, especially over the outside shoulder. It is extremely important to stretch and relax the back muscles of the horse at the end of each training session.