By Theresa Denham
Imagine water flowing down a creek. The force is gravity, pulling it down. The balance allows the flow to continue, however if it gets to spots that are too high in, the water begins to pool, spilling out the side. If it is too steep or too narrow, the water zooms down, rushing out of control, until it hits a flat point, where it splashes or droplets explode. A rock midstream, may force the water either to the right, the left, or worse yet, to divide around the obstacle.
Now, imagine this water is not water, but your horse. He is being asked by one force to move right; one force is asking him to move left. The horse now has to decide which is the stronger cue and makes a decision to follow it. He may be correct in which case he is rewarded, however, the next time he guesses it may be wrong, leading to further confusion.
Now originally he may also choose wrong from what you are asking in your mind, but probably very correctly as your body asked. Your effort to get him to do “the right thing”, compounds the issue, now not only is he confused, but doesn’t understand why you are unhappy with him.
Description of your action:
You the rider clearly pulled the right rein, so the horse should have gone to the right, however his head turned right and he bulged out of his left shoulder and moved diagonally to the left. The force was moving through the shoulder, instead of forward through the head. So you pull the right rein harder to correct his movement but to no avail, he continued to get worse You become tense, because you know you are losing control, you feel like the horse could explode or bolt, but you are not even sure what direction he is going to go. Will he go up, right or left, spin or rear?? Who knows, because your horse is too disengaged to even know himself!
Now the term biomechanical is a big mouthful, however the theories are sound and much simpler than the word itself. When you understand the rules you can play the game. It becomes a dance, which is not frustrating, but enables you to increase communication with your horse because you understand your horse better, and he understands you.
What are biomechanics? And why should they matter?
Biomechanics study the force of living things. In our application, the force of the horse and of the rider, as a unit, make up the living focus of how we will apply biomechanics. Many people use biomechanics in their every day riding without realizing it. Some however try to ride or train the horse in a method which is the polar opposite to what is biomechanically correct. This leads to problems and they wonder why their horse is unable to accept their cues and blows up. They desire their horse to move forward in a natural and comfortable way but he seems to argue with them at what they believe are simple requests. Simple? Yes. Conflicting? Probably, and this is where the problems escalate. He makes a choice, it is wrong and he is punished (sometimes without you even knowing you punished him). This leads to further behavioral issues.
Breaking down the pieces we need to understand where the force comes from, where the force goes to, and then understand how balance, symmetry, efficiency, and coordination play into this and identify things that get in the way of those.
Understand what you are asking the horse to do, based on his natural skeletal and connective tissue system, will allow you to ask correctly. When you can set a clear request, you will be able to create peace and harmony with your horse while attempting new and difficult obstacles on the trail.
We will be teaching two full day classes one on May 10th and one on May 16th on the understanding, development and application of biomechanics with you and your horse. Bring your horse, play on the course.
Instructor: Theresa Denham
Location: Rolling M Ranch, 69516 Hinkle Butte Drive, Sisters
(behind Aspen Lakes Golf Course, off Camp Polk Rd, at the corner of Panoramic and Hinkle Butte)
Fee: $80.00 per class. Come to both and receive a discount.
For more information contact Theresa Denham at theresa@junipermeadow.com
