We learn the horse is going correctly when there is even contact on both reins, the hind legs follow the forelegs in a straight line, and the horse allows the rider to sit squarely without hanging to one side.

by Ginny Creed

Another important consideration is the straightness of the horse's head and neck. If the flow of energy from the hind-quarters is interrupted somewhere along the length of the horse, the result is often a twisted neck and a tilting of the head.

From a judge's point of view, the muzzle of the horse is carried to one side or the other and, as a result, one ear will be carried lower than the other. From the saddle it is often difficult to tell whether your horse is tilting its head or not, so it helps if someone on the ground can tell you.

By standing directly in front of the horse as it is ridden forwards, the person on the ground can easily tell if the horse's head is straight or not. The ears must be parallel to the ground, as must be the eyes and the nostrils. Any deviation is called tilting.

The difficulty is in telling whether the horse's head is straight when you are in the saddle. If the horse has a thick neck it is impossible to see if the head is straight or not. This is also the case if the horse has one of those very thick, double-sided manes.

The only way to tell is to look at the base of the horse's ears. If they are perfectly level the horse's head will be straight. If one ear is lower than the other the head will be crooked. If the right ear is lower, the nose will tilt to the left, and if the left ear is lower, the nose will tilt to the right.

What is the cause?

First, rule out anything that may be causing the horse discomfort. Have its teeth checked. A sharp edge of tooth cutting into the horse's cheek may well cause it to carry its head to one side. So too would an abscess in the jaw or any other injury to the head or neck.

Also, make sure the bridle fits correctly. The bit must be neither too big or too small and must sit high enough to just wrinkle the corners of the lips and never so low that it comes near the canine teeth (tusks).

Make sure the bridle fits correctly as well. Often browbands are too small and cause pressure on the base of the horse's ears. This is a very sensitive part of the horse and discomfort here will not be appreciated. Check the throat latch is not too tight and the noseband is correctly fitted.

Now that any cause for discomfort has been ruled out, check any markings on the horse's face which might make it appear cooked. Don't laugh, the optical illusion caused by a crooked marking can lose marks. A white blaze running to the side, or a snip that drifts over one nostril can give the appearance of head tilting when in fact it is not.

A quick visit to the chemist for a bottle of the appropriate coloured hair dye is all that is required in this case.

A famous example of blaze straightening is the one done by our gold medal winning eventing Olympian Laurie Morgan. His horse Salad Days had a crooked blaze which was partially dyed out to straighten it when the pair competed at Rome.

The only problem occurred when the time came for the horse to return to Australia. Thanks to the hair dye, Salad Days did not match his passport.

The next thing to do is to check the rider. Many horses tilt their heads as a result of the rider hanging on to one rein more than the other.

We are all guilty of this at times. Most of us are more strongly right or left handed and either use too much hand on our favourite side or too much on the weaker side to compensate.

Most horses are stiff to the left, that is why they would rather travel with their head to the right and fall through the left shoulder. In order to create left flexion, many riders hang on to the left rein. This will often lead to the head tilting to the left.

The rider must be made aware of this and be encouraged to work the horse forward and evenly into both reins avoiding hanging on one rein or the other.

We now come back to the horse. As I have said before, crookedness results when the horse tries to avoid carrying itself or does not accept the bit.

Head tilting is the result of the horse not accepting the forward driving aids and therefore not accepting the bit evenly. It usually means the horse is trying to avoid the engagement and bending of the hindquarters.

The first thing to do is to activate the hindquarters. Most problems with training horses arise from riders who ride from the front to the back. By this, I mean riders often think of the head position first and the rest of the horse later.

In fact the opposite is true. If the hindquarters are activated and the horse is ridden forward into an even contact with the bit, most crookedness will be avoided. In fact simply by riding more strongly forward much crookedness can be fixed immediately.

If, however you have a confirmed head tilter, here's your plan of attack. Firstly, establish which way the head is tilting by looking at the ears. At the halt, take up contact with the rein, keeping the legs closed.

If the head is tilting to the right (its left ear is down) a gentle take and give on the left rein should straighten it. If the horse is 'leaning' on the right rein, a give and take on the right rein should stop it seeking so much support on this side.

By trial and error you should be able to work out which rein produces the required result. Make sure you never tug the rein too sharply, a vibration of the fingers is all that is required.

When the horse relaxes the neck and chomps on the bit he should take even contact on both reins and the head will be straight. When you have relaxation at the halt, keep your contact and ask the horse to move forward.

If the head twists again, repeat the gentle action of the rein to prevent the horse leaning on one side and bring the nose straight with the other while riding the horse strongly forward.

All this so far has been focused on the front end of the horse. We have already said that most crookedness comes from the back end so we must create activity from behind.

We will assume the horse is tilting its head to the left.

In order to make it travel correctly, put it on the circle to the left. Make sure you are holding the right rein to encourage it to carry the head straight.

The left, or inside rein, must be used sparingly so the horse does not lean on it and tilt the head. The inside leg and seat bone push the horse actively forward while the outside leg prevents the hindquarters from drifting out. The rider's weight should be to the inside to encourage the horse to bend around the inside leg.

Walk-trot-walk transitions on the circle can be performed, making sure the upward transitions are energetic and the downward transitions are performed forward from the seat, not back from the hands.

If the rider sits still in the trot and ceases the trotting movement with its body, a slight vibration of the outside rein should result in a smooth transition to walk without the head tilting. If the horse becomes sluggish or loses impulsion in the transitions, ride it vigorously forward in a straight line.

Remember that although you spend more time on the stiff side of the horse, you must change rein frequently so the muscles of the horse are worked evenly.

Remember most cases of head tilting result from the rider who hangs on to one rein more than the other, effectively preventing the horse from pushing through properly with the corresponding hind leg.