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Pyramid of Training - Level II:

Last Modified: April 27, 2001

Alex J. Wortmann of British Columbia, Canada is a full-time trainer and clinician. He received both his Reitlehrer degree and a Trainer 'A' licence in Germany. He holds an international trainer's passport and has been teaching and presenting clinics around the world, including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and the United States, for over 35 years.

He will share his valuable training information with us in the second of a series of articles - Pyramid of Training - Level II: Suppleness

In the previous article, I talked about "Rhythm" as being the foundation for the "Pyramid of Training" -- a systematic, progressive development of six stages which has become the standard for equestrian training in Germany. Suppleness is the second level in the training phase of the Pyramid of Training. Keep in mind that it sometimes seems difficult to achieve rhythm without first having having a supple horse, however it is impossible to achieve true suppleness without first having achieved rhythm.

True suppleness is achieved when a horse, after having sufficiently warmed up his muscles, can "give" his back (swinging back) in the walk and trot. When a horse "gives" his back, he relaxes and brings up his back, while at the same time, bringing the hindlegs more toward the centre of gravity (activating the hindlegs). With a long forward and downward turned neck, in natural rhythmical movements, the supple horse should move forward with apparant ease under the rider. The horse allows the rider to sit and most importantly allows the rider to drive, while accepting the driving aids without any form of resistance or tension.

Suppleness will be lost instantaneously due to pain or loss of the rhythmical steps, regardless of whether the cause is rider induced or as a result of uneven terrain.

To achieve true suppleness, horses must be relaxed in both their mind and body.

The relaxation of the mind begins before tacking up the horse. It is important to keep the horse in a stress-free environment on a day to day basis. Spend time observing your horse:

how does he behave in the stall
how does he behave when handled by people
how does he act around other horses
how does he react when he sees you coming to his stall with tack equipment
is he fed the right kind of food frequently enough (keep in mind that your horse is a constant eater by nature)
is he confined to his stall all day
does he have soft, warm bedding
is he being bothered by flies and mosquitoes

Six Basic Qualities in the Training of the Horse (23Kb)
The first phase in training (as shown on the chart) is rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion and straightness. These four develop the horse's ability to push through the hindquarters. The third phase includes impulsion, straightness and collection. These three phases develop the forses's ability to carry more weight with the hindquarters. All of these phases are governed by throughness.

Signs of stress can include pinning back his ears, pawing, biting, and nervous shaking of his head or neck. As with humans, if horses are in a stressful environment, they will have tension. It will therefore be difficult to relax their bodies and their minds.

Other reasons for tension may also be that your horse has back problems (i.e. kissing spine), or joint problems and he is therefore in great pain when being ridden

Once you are comfortable that your horse is healthy and has a stress-free environment, suppling the horse in his body is easily achievable. Start your ride by mounting the horse from a mounting block, if available, so as not to put too much pressure on one side of your horse. This also avoids undue strain on the rider's body. As you start riding, try to feel your horse under the saddle. Is he tense? Does he swish his tail? Are the ears pinned back? Does he throw his neck or shake his mane? These may also be signs of wrongly fitted tack equipment, such as the saddle pinching at the withers, the saddle-flaps putting pressure on the shoulders, or the bridle mounted incorrectly or poorly fitted.

Start your ride with a minimum of 5-10 minutes of walk. For a young horse, the walk should be on a loose rein without contact, but for a more advanced horse, there should be light contact. Your hands are rhythmically moving with the motion of the horse's neck. The hands should be kept low, 2 finger-widths above the withers and separated by as much as the thickness of the horse's neck.

Exercises to supple your horse's body include:

big bend lines in rising trot
big bend lines in canter (2 -point seat if necessary)
lots of transitions (trot/canter, canter/trot; walk/trot, trot/walk)
turns on the forehand
frequent changes from circle to circle
trot and canter lengthening of stride
trot and canter in 15-20 meter circles
leg-yielding. Maintain a slight bend in the poll only (at the 2nd vertebrae pivot) towards the driving leg. Do not overbend.
simple serpentines along the wall and serpentines through the arena from wall to wall o ground poles or cavaletti work
correct lunging with side-reins

For more advanced horses, you may also include:

opening and closing of the square ridden in walk and trot
leg-yielding on the open circle side ridden in walk and trot
changing through the circle ridden in walk and trot
riding figure 8's in walk and trot
spiral in and out of the circle in trot and canter

Flexing through poll and jowls, either in true direction or counter direction may be appropriate as long as it does not result in see-sawing. Most horses will supple more readily in the canter, so get to know your horse. If he goes quieter after the first canter period, by all means, introduce the canter early on in your training session.

In all of these exercises, always take particular care not to hinder the horse in the mouth through harsh, unforgiving hands. Provide frequent walk periods on a totally loose rein, with your hands at the buckle.

As a self-check to see whether your horse has achieved suppleness, let the reins be chewed out of your hands, while maintaining a slight but steady soft contact between your hands and the horse's mouth. The horse should now move under the rider without any increase in speed or loss of rhythm. He will attempt to maintain the same contact with his mouth to the rider's hand, thereby lengthening his frame. The horse should demonstrate relaxed rhythmical movements in medium trot and canter as well as all upward and downward transitions without any signs of stress.

You can recognize if your horse is supple if:

his mouth is closed at all times while actively chewing on the bit. There is foam around his mouth.
his nostrils should not be excessively flaring with the rhythm of breathing ( a small amount of whitish liquid may appear in the nostrils)
periodic blowing of his nose
the line of his nose and forehead should steadily remain 1 - 2 fingerwidths in front of the vertical.
the horse's eyes are large, wet and dark (not much white showing)
ears should flap in a rhythmical relaxed fashion - not pinned back
the poll should be the highest point
the horse's back should swing in rhythm to his movement, there by allowing the rider to sit elastic and relaxed in the deepest point of the saddle. It is only then that the rider's legs can be held quietly and steady against the barrel of the horse without flapping. The rider is able to maintain a soft, steady and quiet rein contact to the horse's mouth.
the tail is carried slightly away from the body, falling loosely in the centre between the hind legs, rhythmically swinging from side to side
the horse moves unhurried with a consistent rhythm, showing no signs of unevenness

Only through correct training will the back of the horse swing and be able to carry the weight of the rider. The horse will achieve a willingness to stretch his frame. All suppling exercises must be individually tailored to each horse so that the horse's muscle tone can work without any tension. While riding suppling exercises, the rider will also supple his own body -- an essential part of a harmonious team.

It should never be a question of how much time it takes to supple a horse and suppling should never be meant to tire a horse out. But rather a correct and systematically executed loosening will heighten the horse's willingness to perform, heighten the horse's ability to carry out his job and achieve internal contentment.

Note: experience has shown that through improved suppleness, nervous horses will become quieter, and sluggish horses will show a greater willingness to work.

Horses are by nature not vindictive, but willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and start each day with a clean slate. When appraising your horse, you must look at your horse through his eyes. A content horse will give you his soul and be a good partner for life.

The above article and images were submitted by Alex J. Wortmann and are ©Alex J. Wortmann:
International Sales and Training
www.performancehorses.org
e-mail: alex@performancehorses.com
Do not duplicate without permission.