by Colleen Kelly

Manolo Mendez, Head Rider from the Royal Spanish School, Jerez, talks about training horses from the very first kindergarten days to Grand Prix. This is actually part two, and as part 1 was published in a magazine no longer in production, we can’t refer back to the points made then. It was VERY basic though, and this article stands on it’s own feet as words of wisdom from one of the finest trainers and riders in Australia. Here’s a short summary, however...

Previously, we talked about the preparation and "breaking" or "starting" phases of the young horse’s training..

Recognising that no two horses are the same, we discussed the necessity of taking how ever long it takes, on the ground, to win every particular horse’s trust and confidence.

Now we move on...once the young horse is able to walk, trot and canter around the arena on both reins in a nice, comfortable and steady rhythm with a light and even contact, you can move ahead to thinking of the next steps as the "balance building" and "muscle building" phases.

For the next few months we really just continue the light, soft work as the horse spends the months building muscles, strength, flexibility and balance. This is certainly one of the most important stages and it is here that the horse can be made..or soiled. Without the correct muscles, or worse, with muscles shorter or stiff on one side, the horse will never be able to go much further, never show his true brilliance.

Training Goals for the Young Horse

The horse should enjoy its training, and we must always remember to reward often. It is very important to vary the young horse’s routine. Every day I start out with a lovely quiet walk, but you also must remember never to stay in any one pace for too long, and we must be very careful not to get the young horse to tired, as it will quickly stale and flat.

Horses are athletes. Their muscles require warming up, stretching exercises, bending exercises, weight carrying exercises, balance exercises, and a cardiovascular fitness program.

One of our main jobs as riders is to concentrate on improving the horse’s muscle quality and in the business of building muscle, there are no shortcuts

The young horse must be free from mental and physical stress, which is why you must be prepared to take whatever time it takes for the muscles to grow and mature. Don’t let your own impatience make you rush your young horse into "fake" positions The results of this approach can be as disastrous as ruining the horse for life.

Head Posture and Carriage

In the paddock, the horse naturally moves with their head carried in front of the vertical, in a comfortable and natural posture. To build confidence, balance and self-carriage in the young horse, we much encourage this natural posture, rather than force the horse into any unnatural position.

If we allow the young horse a light contact and even, balanced reins, he will be confident to use all the muscles throughout the body, and consequently slowly strong, flexible muscles.

If the horse is allowed to travel behind the vertical, or with a tilted head or uneven rein contact, he will be developing and building those muscles that hold the head unnaturally in the incorrect position. In the long term building these "wrong" muscles results in a stiff body, a lowered and stiffened back, and shuffling short steps.

Allowing the Movement

You will also notice that when a horse moves naturally, the head "nods" up and down in time with his footfalls. The bigger the horse’s head nod, the longer his steps! Therefore, the challenge for the rider is to learn to allow their hands to follow the horse’s natural head nod, with a light contact so as not to hinder the movement in any degree.

The more the rider jams, bumps or blocks with the hand, the shorter the steps

Even Contact

The contact must be 100% even on both reins because the bit provides a frame for the horse to work onto.

The chest should be pushing through each of the horse’s the shoulder blades equally. If one side of the bit is more pulled back, or in any other way uneven, the horse will not carry his head in a good, balanced posture, and the chest will not "push through" the shoulder blades properly, which will shorten and/or stiffen the stride. To develop good hands that both follow the natural head movement, and are absolutely even in both reins is one of the greatest challenges for any rider. And the one, if mastered with patience and sensitivity, becomes a horseman’s greatest attribute.

Keeping it Simple

You need to make it very simple for the young horse, and it is vital not to confuse him but to carefully help him learn to stop softly to the bridle, and go softly to the leg. You can easily confuse your horse by using the leg and the hand or the "brake" and the "accelerator" at the same time. You can confuse a CAR doing this (a concept people grasp at once) so think what it does to a living creature!

At these early stages it is very important to be able to use the leg wisely, and separately from the hand, especially in downward transitions.

The rider should release the leg in downward transitions. To leave the leg "on" in halt just confuses the horse, and the prevalence of this practise is why we constantly see such poor downward transitions, halts that are crooked, behind the vertical, resisting or wanting to step back.

If the legs are still "on" in the downward transition, the rider is telling the horse to keep going, while at the same time using the bit telling the horse to stop. It just doesn’t make sense to give "stop" and "go" aids at the same time.

You would only ever use a touch of the leg, during a downward transition if something actually goes wrong. You must keep the leg very soft and be very careful to build the confidence of the horse so he trusts your aids.

The Importance of Walk

The main thing to remember with the walk of the young horse is to allow the head and neck carriage to be natural and not forced.

By keeping it simple, and not forcing the horse, the young horse quickly learns to find his own natural head carriage, and develop his natural balance.

Again, the challenge is to learn to follow the horse’s natural head nod in walk with our hands, and to always ensure we have absolutely even rein contact.

Remember not to stay in any one pace for too long. The horse will only become sour, bored and inattentive.

Early Trot Exercises

The young horse needs to find confidence in an easy, rhythmical trot. The first "trot exercises" are just to simply to ask the horse to trot around the arena in a nice, regular rhythm.

Do NO sitting trot at this very early stage - not even a few steps! Again, the whole point of daily training is to build correct muscles. If you impose sitting trot too early, the young horse will only hollow his back and stiffen and shorten the steps. I say again, this builds the "wrong" muscles (which is why sitting trot is not permitted in the earlier tests).

The tail should swing freely from side to side, and the horse should be able to turn left and right with even contact on each rein, not with one rein heavier with the rider "forcing" the horse to turn.

Early Canter Exercises

With the young horse we are careful to make the transition from trot to canter very simple. We can help the horse by building the trot a little and having the horse a little more forward to make it easier for the transition to canter.

The first "canter exercise" is to again simply to help the horse canter around the arena, in a nice, steady and comfortable rhythm. The rider again follows the horse’s natural head nod with their hands. Developing good contact is an even bigger challenge in canter!

Remember that the horse is virtually untrained in these early stages. If a young horse falls back from canter to trot, just help out the trot where you can, and allow him to relax again and fully settle down before retrying the canter.

If you punish the horse for making simple mistakes, they will soon become anxious and mistrusting. Remember to always encourage and help your young "primary school" student!

Make sure you ask only a little, helping the young horse where we can and accepting whatever the horse is able to offer us at this stage.

Starting With Loops

It is only once the horse is able to walk, trot and canter around the arena in a nice, comfortable rhythm with light and even contact that we start thinking of bending and flexion exercises.

We introduce the suppling movements simply, starting with the 5m loops. The loops are easy exercises where the horse leaves the long side, changes bend, and heads back to the long side, changing bend again before returning to the track. Such stretching exercises help soften and build correct muscles.

You might want to think of the horse as being like a train – with every single carriage able to bend evenly and equally. Problems arise when the horse is forced to have one "carriage" (or vertebrae) bent more than the other "carriages", or perhaps two "carriages" jammed together. Each "carriage" should be able to bend freely and equally to the left and right, without force.

If we were performing a loop on the right rein (clockwise), the horse is in right flexion and bend as we are in the corner. After the corner, instead of travelling straight down the long side, the horse then gently leaves the arena wall, heading towards an imaginary spot 5m in from the wall at "E" or "B" (hence the term 5m loop).

Then, as the horse passes the 2.5m line, the rider allows the horse to gradually and softly change bend, so that the horse is bent to the left as they pass "E" or "B".

Again as the horse crosses over the 2.5m line, the rider allows the horse to softly change bend back to the original right flexion again before returning to the track.

It is very important not to force the flexion to the left and right, but simply help the horse by keeping an even rein contact, and encouraging a comfortable and easy natural head carriage.

The loops are a major part of any training system, as they are the beginnings of all the suppling work, and are required to be performed in many dressage tests.

Building to the Serpentine

The 5m loop seems like a simple movement, but it must be performed softly and carefully, and we must take plenty of time.

The horse must be able to softly allow his body to bend between each vertebrae evenly, and remain regular with good tempo, not rushing and slowing, and definitely not forcing a young horse.

If the horse is happy, with an easy head carriage and nice contact, you can build the size of the loop to a 10m loop. Then, after some time, ensure that the horse still has a comfortable head carriage, and an easy rhythm, and only when the horse is showing no resistance and is coping easily, the horse is ready to try the 15m loops and then to the serpentines.

If we are careful to never force the horse, and to simply allow the horse to softly bend and flex left and right, then the horse will soon be performing circles with great ease and confidence.

Summary…

You are only just starting to build the horse’s muscles for the first time. We must be patient. The gymnastics coach has to take whatever time is necessary for that particular gymnast’s body to build the proper muscles, and is very aware of the huge range of problems created if the athlete is rushed.

The gymnast that truly enjoys their job, has good strong muscles – yet with superior flexibility, has developed good posture and good balance with correct technique developed over years of slow, soft and steady preparation will always be the one who shines through.