KNOWING THOSE HINDQUARTERS!

 
I’ve been meaning to post some thoughts about the Holiday study group I hosted regarding the Hindquarters Of The Horse (part 2 in our Collection sessions). It was by far the best meeting I’ve ever had. Thanks to the participants near and far who were able to gather together in Oregon City for this day-long session. Every presentation was absolutely fascinating. 

 

Collection to a greater or lesser degree is the goal of all riders, so how our horse bends the joints of its hindquarters is so worth the study. A deep and thorough approach by a trainer who has comprehension and clarity on this subject can educate the horse to utilize its hindquarter in a way that best suits its individual conformation—-this, so that with the tiniest ‘ask’ your horse will give you that elusive and beautiful feeling of unity and lightness under your seat, folding the joints-behind evenly, cleanly and powerfully—not being held and compressed, but the action given voluntarily and without constant application of the aids.

 

This little illustration from one of Bent Branderup’s books drew my attention the first time I saw it and I returned back to it often over the past couple years. It finally became the impetus for organizing this study session: it shows the difference between the Spanish and Prussian versions of the piaffe, indicative of the type of horses typically used in Spanish or German schools. Pay attention to the angles—the deeper/wider angles of the Spanish horse versus the shallower angles of the German horse (keep in mind many horses demonstrate both deep/shallow folding, and this can be in the same leg). Being that complete familiarity with our horses' body is a priority to the academic-minded rider, a serious student of equitation will want to understand the intricacies of these angles in the hindquarters and how they close...because of course, related to your own horse’s body build and the manner in which it chooses to bend these joints, acquiring this knowledge and being able to affect change by utilizing it can transform your training in eye-opening ways. 

 

The meeting participants were initially hesitant to address this daunting subject, but soon the conversation was flowing as everyone who’d not considered the hindquarters in such depth before began to understand the fantastic possibilities such knowledge and practice could offer! 

 

Topics covered included how we attain influence of the horse’s hindquarters through education rather than constant force, how we identify the limitations of our horse’s hindquarter so as to pinpoint the areas where we can begin to carefully/thoughtfully and sympathetically improve upon them (an example might be, if your horse bends easily through the croup but is overly stiff in the stifles/hocks, how we can help the horse change its movement practices and give more bending where it is lacking, etc.), how we learn to visually see with great acuity what the hindquarter joints are doing in the groundwork, and how we learn to feel through our seat and perception what a given joint is doing (or not doing), and how/when to affect change. We also gave a good demo/presentation of the typical evasions and challenges we encounter, and offered various solutions and modes of approaching these things utilizing the power of the foundation basics as well as unusual (read: quirky) ways and means within the academic framework.

 

We did a demo with each horse participant, noting breed, temperament, conformation, training level and then analyzing in a group discussion how each horse bent its croup, hip, stifle, hock, fetlock at both the basic halt and a schooled halt. This underscored that, while we always want to look at a horse holistically, this kind of pinpointing, experimentation and exploration about how a horse looks and rides when it focuses on some joints over others can give valuable insight into what is missing and what direction we should take to helping a horse gain the necessary understanding and flexibility to overcome its limitations. 

 

Once identifying the challenges we face with a horse, it’s a long path fraught with steps forward and back and forward again. But if we know, for example, that our horse needs more bending in the stifles, or if we are able to observe the differences in bending and weight accepted upon its fetlock joints, etc., we’ll be able to more fully define the things we observe and feel and be able to begin improving things, seeing the tiny improvements that will add up to more obvious progression over time. Taking these tiny daily steps, having patience and realistic expectations bring the best results for attaining true collection and the accompanying lightness it entails.

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What I wish to convey is that academic training doesn't just acknowledge that these things are important and leave the theory of them on the table--it actively explores and puts to practice the theory at its deepest level. Can you imagine how liberating it can be to be able to communicate to the horse that it should bend that fetlock one centimeter more? Yield its croup to the desired degree? And for you, to identify your horse's limits in this regard and teach it to be the most beautiful horse it can be within the boundaries of its physical and mental health? Yes, it's that awesome to work with this knowledge! 

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Enjoy your journey, friends!