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The Fourth & Fifth Easy Pieces

by Suzanne Drnec as told by Les Vogt

Please review the Introduction: The Five Easy Pieces, The First Easy Piece, Second Easy Piece, and Third Easy Piece, for best results, then read on about our current exercises...

The Fourth Easy Piece isolates and moves zone four, your horse's hips or hindquarters. Like the previous two exercises, you'll use hand and leg cues to generate and channel the horse's momentum so that his front end (zone two) remains stationary while his hips (zone four) pivot- it's a turn on the forehand. If you want to move your horse's hip to your left, or clockwise, you'll lift your left hand to restrain his left shoulder, then use your right leg back on his ribcage to create energy and channel it through the open doorway to the left that you've created by keeping your left leg completely away from his left side. If you move your horse's hips even one baby step to the left, then ask him to lope, I guarantee he's going to pick up his left lead, because you just made it physically inviting for him to do so.

If you've worked through the first four Easy Pieces, your horse should now be in frame: showing attractive, athletic horse posture. He should travel like a train on a track- straight forward with no tilting or misalignment. To test your progress, try Easy Piece Five, the circle backing exercise: walk forward in a small circle with his head and neck arcing gently in the shape of the circle, his shoulder upright, his ribcage continuing the arc, and his hips the final part of the continuum. Now, stop, and back in the exact same circle! It's pretty easy to go forward in frame, but putting it in reverse will show up your horse's weaknesses right away.

Here's some hints to help you and your horse get the most from this last Easy Piece: when you walk forward, use your inside leg as a supporting post for your horse to curve around, but when you begin to back up, remember to switch to a supporting outside leg to help move your horse's hips towards the center of your circle, inwards to where you've released your inside leg. Going forward, you'll use your inside hand to pull his nose towards the center, but backing up, your inside hand will cross over your horse's neck to help keep his inside shoulder from dropping, and you'll have to brace your outside hand to get him to put his energy into backing up, instead of drifting out of frame. To establish an arc backing, think of gently positioning your horse so his inside eye can see his hip.

Do this exercise slowly, asking for a single correct step at a time. If you get stuck, simply walk forward until you you're 'back on track' and keep in mind that you're asking your horse to be physical in ways that may not yet be comfortable or familiar to him. However, mastering control of your horse's zones is paramount to successful higher level training.

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