As with every part of the body when we’re riding, our aim is to have our head and neck in a balanced position. Sometimes the head is being held in a forward and down position (goose neck). The average human head weighs around 5kg which is approximately 8% of the total human body weight! This amount of weight hanging off the spine may negatively impact our spine and neck, plus it can throw our balance off. At times this head position is accompanied by a collapsed or concave chest and a rounding of the upper back, again not a desirable posture both for riding and life in general.
By far the most common cause of this poor posture is the rider looking at the horse while riding. We may need to glance at our horse occasionally, but most of the time when we’re riding it’s best to look upwards and between the horses ears. If we have soft eyes, instead of focused, then our peripheral vision comes into play. If we look ahead with soft eyes we will still be able to see our horse, plus the way ahead, plus what’s at either side. This gives us much greater awareness of our entire environment which is helpful as it puts us more in sync with our horse, who is doing this all the time.
Carrying the head lightly and directly on top of the spine while looking up and ahead will also help direct our horse. A horse will follow the direction the rider is looking, so it helps enormously with our steering, allowing us to use ligher aids. Also, if we are looking downwards it is not as easy for our horse to step out strongly, as the energy is moving down into the ground, not ahead. An old trick to achieve this posture is to imagine a small cloud attached to a string which is coming from the middle of the top of our helmet. Then we imagine this string gently puffing upwards to softly lift our spine and head upwards.
Boring our eyes into the back of the horses head creates pressure for the horse. I’ve always asked students to lift their eyes to improve their posture and give direction to the horse, but recently I discovered another reason. I was riding my brumby in the bush when I glanced down, and immediately, he hesitated in his gait. It was a small but noticeable hesitation so I repeated it, making sure I didn’t shift the position of my head or my body balance. Every time I glanced down he hesitated. I remembered then how I can look out the window at a horse in the paddock a long way away and they will twitch an ear or look towards me, somehow they know I’m looking. Prey animals have a sixth sense for when a pair of eyes fixes on them. By looking down at the back of the horses head while riding we are applying a pressure. While it’s not as easy to see this with a domestic horse it is still affecting them, and making it harder for them to move forward freely and in a relaxed manner.
Once the head is in a balanced position we can soften to allow the shoulders to sink downwards and backward. It can be helpful to gently lay the head towards one shoulder and then the other. Then rotating the shoulders to help with relaxation and position and relax the lower neck muscles. Small rotations of the head in either direction will also help relax the neck and release tension (a good massage will help too!). Another place where tension is held is in the jaw. It can help to open and close the jaw a few times, even rotating the lower jaw or yawning to release tension.
Now that we have the head balanced on the neck and relaxed it’s time to look at how it can be used in riding. We can turn the head to look where we’re going, allowing our shoulders to gently follow the movement of the head, rotating the entire upper body, thereby giving a number of turning aids all the way through the body including the seat and legs. It’s important when we do this to ensure we don’t lean the head to the side or look down at the ground. This movement is a pure rotation of the upper body with the head remaining upright on the neck and rotating in a relaxed manner to one side or the other much like an old fashioned barbers pole. This rotation will eventually be the turning cue for our horse, but when we first start using it we will have to follow it up with the reins while the horse is learning.
When teaching a new cue, we couple it up to an old one, with the old cue being phased out naturally once the horse learns the new one. In this case we would apply the body rotation first (new cue) and if the horse doesn’t respond immediately follow with the normal rein pressure (old cue). While our horse is learning, the rotation cue also lets our horse know the turning rein cue is coming, resulting in a smaller rein aid being necessary (this alone makes it worth doing). If we do this every time, after a while our horse will start turning from the rotation and we barely need to apply a rein aid at all.
As with everything when working with horses, it’s all about being present and relaxing through our whole body, which includes the head and neck, so we can feel the messages from our horse. Being aware our our head and neck position when riding horses will filter through to our whole posture. A balanced position throughout the entire body makes it easier for our horse to carry us, easier for us to communicate with them, easier on our body and safer to ride.
Happy Horses Bitless
Considerate Horsemanship
Ph: 0401 249 263
Email: suzy@happyhorsesbitless.com
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