Horse Training Articles : Introduction: The Five Easy Pieces

“Because I like high-performance horses and hot-rod cars, and choose to see a lot of similarities, I use a car-horse analogy when I teach. If you don't drive, consider this work with your horse to be Driver's Ed - the coordination needed to pilot a car and a horse are not all that different. Bad drivers have abrupt starts, rough turns, and jerky stops, and a poorly trained horse and rider will have the same problems.”

ZONE THREE:
Zone three is your horse's rib cage area, his chassis. It provides a place for you, the passenger, and acts as a conduit to transfer power from the back of the system where it's generated, up to the front, where the energy is released. Zone three is like the balance point on a scale; your legs, used towards the cinch or towards the hip, can tip the balance. Control of your horse's ribcage is important in fast maneuvers for precision guidance, for example to spread out or draw in the size of your circles in a reining horse pattern. You don't want to tug on your horse's face and risk unbalancing him and jeopardizing the whole system to adjust the circle when a little outside supporting leg will make it smaller, or a little inside leg behind the cinch will imperceptibly enlarge the circle.

ZONE FOUR:
The fourth zone is your horse's hindquarters, his motor. It's like Detroit, where the horsepower comes from! Controlling zone four is critically important to lead departures and lead changes, because a horse initiates a lope departure with his hip, not his neck, shoulder or ribcage. By being able to move your horse's hips even a few inches, you'll be guaranteed to strike off on the correct lead, and eventually do flying changes without hysteria. If you can move your horse's hip into the lead you want, he'll pick it up every time, because horses do best what they do easiest, and you'll have positioned his body to comfortably do what you want.

Remember, too, that each zone has two complimentary halves, the right and left-hand portions. It's very common to have a problem, or what I call "a glitch in the system," in only one side of a zone. Just as humans are right and left handed, horses often have a dominant side, created naturally or by their riders, or frequently due to pain or injury in the opposite side of the zone. A horse with a chronically sore suspensory ligament in his left leg will shift his weight to his right shoulder and leg, for example. Evaluate both halves of each zone every time you ride, then focus on the trouble spots.

Now that we've identified the zones, I'll explain a simple mounted exercise for each area that will help you teach your horse to correctly, and efficiently, use each zone to reach his athletic potential. When the Five Easy Pieces all mesh, your horse will be in a physical and mental comfort zone where he is able to learn, work, and perform with no resistance. You'll be able to guide his physical energy in whatever direction, and for whatever purpose, you choose. Do all these exercises slowly and deliberately, and you'll be surprised how your horse begins to understand what you want, literally a step at a time.