Down The Fence with Richard Winters
Article VII

Four Part Harmony

Rocky, our 2-year old Quarter Horse stallion, is being trained to be a performance horse.  A reined cow horse in particular.  I can’t just wish it to happen.  It’s my responsibility to properly prepare him to be able to perform.  Spins, sliding stops, and flying lead changes all require the simple prerequisite of “Body Control.”  You don’t have to do it my way, but you have to have some way to control and move your horse’s individual body parts.  We’ll call these series of exercises “Four Part Harmony.”  These parts consist of my horse’s head and neck, shoulders, rib cage, and hind quarters.

In a quartet, it’s important that each member knows their specific part.  If the song sounds bad, a good director will recognize which part is incorrect and practice with that individual until they learn their part.  The group can then be brought back together and sound harmonious.  It’s the same way with your horse.  If they don’t execute a correct flying lead change, you need to figure out which body part is in need of help.  If you can get that body part more maneuverable and shaped up, then you can come back and execute the maneuver correctly. Let’s practice!

Part One: Head and Neck

I’ve already addressed the need for softness in your colt’s head and neck in a previous article.  Remember, if they don’t feel good in the face you’re not going to like anything else they do.  Here is an additional exercise to help with head and neck control:  When walking in a circle, ask your colt to follow your direct rein and wrap around your inside leg.  I call this a train track circle.  You want his body arced in the direction in which you’re going.  Rather than just pulling him around, you need to take and give with your inside rein.  See if he can keep stepping in this circle even when the rein is not tight.  Watch your rein.  Are you able to draw his nose into the circle and have him maintain that position for a couple steps with float in the rein?  You’re asking him to start the circle and then follow the “feel” of your rein and hand rather than you just “dragging” him around.

This circle will be important as we progress to the next exercise.

Part 2: Shoulders

The lack of shoulder control will haunt you in almost every performance maneuver you attempt.  Whether it’s loping a circle, spinning, stopping, or changing leads you have to be able to lift and move your horse’s shoulders for them to stay balanced and athletic.  Start with a train track circle (we’ll go to the left.) You can see his left eye and he is wrapping around your left leg.  Now pick up your right rein and draw it towards your left shoulder.  Move your left leg away and press with your right leg forward, near the cinch.

Keep your circle and maintain your forward momentum.  Your horse is now in a counter bend.  He is leading with his shoulders and his nose is tipped slightly to the outside of the cinch.  Start off with just a few steps and then let him back into a train track circle.  You will probably need to counter balance your horse with the left rein as well.  We begin this at the walk.  Down the road Rocky will be comfortable doing this “shoulders-over” exercise at the trot and lope as well.  This is one of the few exercises that I do in a counter bent position where I actually want to see my horse’s outside eye.

Part 3: Rib Cage

What I am referring to in essence is a side pass.  Add enough forward momentum and you can call it a half pass.  Side passing denotes straightness.  That means no counter bending in this exercise.  In kindergarten, Rocky learned how to leg yield.  He moved off my leg with his nose tipped away from the direction he was going.  Now I’m going to ask him to side pass with straightness.  If I can see his outside eye, then it is not correct.  You can start this maneuver while walking forward.  Draw your left rein toward your right shoulder (we’ll be side passing to the left.)  Open your left leg and press your right leg directly in the middle of his barrel.  Counter balance with your right rein if necessary, but don’t tip his nose to the outside.  You want to feel his front and hind legs cross over simultaneously.  If you aren’t getting good grades in a simple leg yield and you don’t have good head and neck control, this is probably going to fall apart.  That’s okay.  Go back to the basics and strengthen your foundation.

Side passing with straightness is probably the hardest of the exercises to master.  Yet rib cage control is essential for performance horses.  Don’t be concerned with forward drift in this maneuver.  If he is rocked back, he will not cross over correctly.  If you can side pass to the left, can see his left eye, and have forward momentum, you’re performing a half pass.  Your dressage friends will be impressed!

Part 4: Hind Quarters

Part four is your horse’s hind end.  We often bend our colts and disengage their hindquarters to help supple them and control their feet.  Now I’m going to ask Rocky to yield his hindquarters around while keeping his head, neck, and shoulders straight.  Start at a standstill.  Pick up on your reins and ask your horse to get soft in the bridle.  Now open your left leg (we’re yielding the hindquarters to the left) and press with your right leg closer to your back cinch.  It’s easy if we let them bend, but you need to keep them straight.  This maneuver could correctly be called a “turn on the forehand.”  If you ever hope to do a flying lead change, you must be able to move the hip over when you ask.

When you can move each of these body parts independent of each other, then you have the foundation to execute high level maneuvers.  Next time you ask your horse to perform and it doesn’t feel quite right, analyze what part is not working right.  Is he bracey in the face?  Has he dropped his shoulder?  Did he miss his hind lead because we couldn’t move his hip over?  90% of your problems will be a result of poor body control in one of these four areas.  Get all the parts working well and it will come together in “Four Part Harmony!”