horsemanship za

Horsemanship and working in the Bit - are they compatible?

I feel that this is an important subject to address and to explain why I feel that it is essential to introduce the bit to your horse as soon as possible when you are ready.

I say when you are ready only because if you are still someone who is pulling or struggling with balance, you really need to get that under control before putting the bit in your horse's mouth.  He might be ready - but you might not be! Agreed, if you lift up rather than pull back, you will be less of a problem, but too many of us fall back on old habits unless we have the teacher's beady eye on us.  Also, it is important to understand that you can create a fifth leg for the horse (with your hands) allowing him to lean on the bit just as much with a raised hand as a low one.  The point I am trying to make is that it is not about carrying the hands higher - but about having them where they need to be, when they need to be and how they need to be... with thanks to Steve Halfpenny and the late Ray Hunt as I owe this phrase to them and I use here in relationship to Philippe Karl's Classical bridle work.

 So many people who come to horsemanship shy away from the bridle or feel that it is now an evil instrument of torture.  However, we really need to get rid of this view and start to look at the subject more closely and with a less emotive eye.  It is not the bit itself that is the problem - it is the hands that it is in.  In fact, I feel now, that the bit is an essential part of the horse's training and without it we are actually not doing him any favours.  Don't get me wrong - I have not suddenly lost my marbles and gone away from horsemanship, I am not giving up on all the equine learning theory or the study of horses and how they tick.  I am not going to stop teaching or promoting Silversand work (because it really does do exactly what it says on the box) no - this is about where we go next and why.  Don't forget, Steve also works with the bit and encourages us to get to it sooner rather than later.  

When introducing the bit I feel that the Philippe Karl work is the way to go because I firmly believe that it not only improves the horse and horsemanship, but that we see additional changes and faster learning than I ever thought possible in the horse.  Some of these changes seem to come about even faster than with horsemanship or should I say faster than with horsemanship alone.  I hope to explain this more clearly and why I feel this in the paragraphs that follow.

Ringing the changes:

Yes, the initial change in a horse with a problem or in a young horse that has not had much handling will be lightning fast if the trainer gets it right.  In fact, this change can appear miraculous.  However, the bit work seems to make extraordinary changes to the horse's ability, athleticism and balance in a very short space of time.  It also builds on the confidence that he gained during his first horsemanship training and if you are skilled enough to introduce the two almost simultaneously - you will see that the licking and chewing on the bit will mean that he learns his horsemanship even faster, retains it even better and grows further in his confidence.  Of course, I can not scientifically prove this - but it is something that both I and a number of students have been experiencing recently and we can't put it down to anything else other than the work we have now been doing in the bit.

If you think about it - we need the licking and chewing for the horse to learn and for him to relax and release his mind.  If his mind is stuck, his feet are stuck, if his feet are stuck, his mind is stuck - but let's take this one stage further - if his mouth is stuck then he can be stuck in body and mind! Release any one of them and you have a different horse who is able to learn, get supple, relax, stretch and get soft.  As Mark Rashid says, softness comes from the inside - lightness is on the outside. To work with a bit in the horse's most intimate inner place is to speak directly to him with trust and directly to his mind - if you can release that with real feel and timing and with great care, you hold the key to finding the most incredible partnership and a true athlete.

I have often spoken of the fact that we need to be thinking in terms of working toward collection regardless of the discipline we choose to do with our horses. Even if we want to just head off down the trail, we can't hope for a horse to carry us in a sustainable way into old age if we are not riding him correctly according to his anatomy and biomechanics. I now feel we must take this even further - that unless we work and school our horses correctly all the time and take this stuff seriously, then we really can't expect them to be healthy and happy well into their old age. Sorry folks, but I think that we should consider, that if we are not prepared to go this route, if we don't want to really school our horses and maybe if we don't wish to accept the bit work - then we maybe should be considering getting out of horses as we are not working them in the best way and one that is in their best interests.

Yes, that is a bold statement and it might not be one everyone wants to hear! I certainly never thought I'd be the one writing it - not if you'd asked me a few years ago. Not so long ago I might also have been very anti-bit.  However, I can not deny the facts of what I am seeing on a daily basis and I am fortunate enough to be able to work with horses nearly every day and of course, not always just my own.  The horses I work with also include those of many different breeds and abilities and this is what has sold me on the message that Philippe Karl teaches.  Just as when I discovered Steve's work - although he is amazing - it was the horse that told me that his style of horsemanship really works.  Now it is the horses again that show me that the philosophy of Philippe Karl really works and that it should not be ignored.

  For me, I believe that the two systems work together in harmony and that this is the way forward.  Without the bit to help us, we can not hope to make the horse as supple as he should be and it is this suppleness that improves his mental, emotional and physical health further - the bit, while it can be an instrument of torture in the wrong hands - can be our greatest friend in the right ones. It can help us ride the great athlete that the horse is and it can help us take a horse that has been terribly unbalanced and even fearful due to this and give him back his self-esteem, his self-carriage and his self-confidence. It can turn him into the best athlete he can be for his age, ability and conformation - and this is often much more than we would ever have thought possible.

Benefits to Balance:

The bit, unlike the natural hackamore, can give much more correct bend. Most horses can put a twist into their jaw when bending their head left or right and they can find it very easy to lean on the hackamore or halter if they really want to... often they put in this twist because it is much easier than bending a neck that has contracted muscles on one side.  Most horses if they resist will put in a twist, much of the bend we ask for in horsemanship is with the nose coming toward our foot or to their shoulder and this actually incorporates a kind of twist.  Although he might be willingly giving his head, we might inadvertently be creating a problem for ourselves.  After all, this is not what we are after - not if we want to build in balance and suppleness and strengthen the horse because he needs to carry a human.   Even the physios I have been working with recently have notice the difference in my horses and they always found them supple from the horsemanship work I do.  However, this correct flexion of the neck without allowing a twist seems to be making an even bigger impact on my horse's abilities - in particular his balance.  The more a horse is in balance, the better he is able to cope mentally and emotionally - so balance must really apply to all areas: mental, emotional and physical.

Often what we are taught of as soft feel is in fact the horse over bending - sometimes even breaking at the third vertebra.  We must be very careful to recognise this and do our best to avoid this over-bending.  We want the horse also to stretch forward and out and down - but if we are not doing this correctly, this can put him even more on the forehand, he can be too low and he can become very heavy and lean into our hands.  It can be hard to lift a horse's head in a hackamore from this position - the horse can find it much easier to lead downward into our hands.  Neither of these things is helpful to a horse that needs to carry a human.  

It can be that in the halter or natural hackamore we are less able to correct either of these things because the horse can really lean if he wishes.  It is also easier to avoid this leaning if the trainer is experienced and his or her timing is good, but it is all too easy for many to get their horses leaning and heavy.  It is for example, almost impossible to fix a twist without the aid of a bit.  Even my best and lightest horses in the halter and hackamore have become different - improving more than I could possibly have imagined - by my using the bit - and I mean using it in the way that Philippe Karl introduces it and uses it.  This is the way that Veronika Bühn (www.prohorse.org) has been teaching us to work with it.  Horses that I have had, with which I have struggled to help with the balance issues for some time, including lots of physio work and real focus on correctness during horsemanship, did not improved as much as I hoped they would - until I used the bit.

The surprising thing (the thing that told me to sit up and take notice) was that more than one of the horses to which I am referring above, had reached a kind of plateau where I thought that this was as good as it got.  However by using the bit and more precisely, by using the work of Philippe Karl, those same horses improved noticeably and extraordinarily in only three sessions. One of the horses to which I am referring has been pretty much the same for the last 5 years.

Case History - Robyn:

Robyn of course who many of you will know from my starting her, is now 6 years old, going on 7.  Doesn't time fly?!  I got her at 2 and during her third year after her start I did little rides with her every few weeks, sometimes twice a week but rarely riding her more than 20 mins or so. If we did an outride, I would usually take another horse along so I could get off Robyn and ride the other one home or we would do ride and lead work. Sometimes she would not do anything for 6 weeks or so and then I'd just remind her of what she had learnt and then let her be a horse again.  At 4 I rode her a bit more, did a few more outrides and a bit more schooling but still did not ride her often.  I maybe rode her for around 40 mins at times but it was not until she reached 5 that I would be on her for around an hour at a time or do longer outrides.  Between 5 and 6 I started her schooling more and introduced the bridle, but more in a horsemanship way and not doing much with it - just letting her carry it and giving her a bit of direction here and there.  I did some great clinics with Markus with it but mostly continued in the hackamore.

Her schooling got better and better and she is a great horse - but her canter, in the arena, had always been what you might call on the erratic side and not that relaxed.  I put this down to her still being young and not always well balanced - I let her move on a bit and did not worry too much.  I'd steady her up by doing some gymnastic work with jumps or allow her to have a good run on an outride.  I'd ask sometimes for only a few strides of canter and make sure she was balanced and then allow her to go forwards at trot or walk and reward the try... but still nothing really seemed to make a huge difference to the canter.  Some days it was OK, some days it was good and others it was downright horrible!  Overall it improved - yes.  It was more balanced - but it was still not what I'd call great!  My instinct was that we needed more lateral work.  You see I had in mind that balance was the issue and although I was right about this, there was FAR more to it than I could ever have realised!

So thinking this, I worked on shoulder in more and got her shifting her hips around and yes, there was an improvement, the biggest one being that our circle right became more round and more correct.  However, there was little real change to the quality of the canter other than it was now more on a round circle than before!  I could conclude from this that she was more balanced - enough to hold a better circle - but not enough to make a difference to the quality of her work.  It was at this point that I discovered there is far more to balance than meets the eye. It is not just physical - it is mental and emotional also, although of course they are connected and related.  Of course I know that if there is tension in the head then there is tension in the body and this will reflect in the work - but I had not really seen this as an issue of balance in the head - not in such a specific way.

When I attended Vroni's clinics she worked with me and Tamboree on making transitions from a balanced and relaxed walk - on a circle but with the correct bend of the neck - into the trot. The bend of the neck is important, in fact vital, because without the correct, supple, relaxed, soft and willing bend - the transition to trot is jerky and also the balance is too much to the inside and not on the outside shoulder. The horse in effect, falls in - even if it is a horse that mostly seems balanced and holding a good circle - like Tamboree. If the outside ear is at all flicking outwards you can bet that this is where the horse is looking and therefore the horse's attention is not around the circle you are heading on.  It is instead, somewhere else and creating an imbalance. The transition should only be requested when everything is correct and in balance - then the horse will really give you the most amazing feel and will power along. At this point you can now allow straight if you wish (bend builds straightness as does suppleness) and you will feel the horse propelling you forward - really pushing you along and in balance. If things get faster, or heavier in front - you know you are losing balance. The idea is to try and allow the horse to extend the neck and still maintain his or her own balance. When making the downward transition - also get the bend and make a good/correct and balanced downward transition.

So where am I going with this? Well I hope you have guessed. Going home and applying this to all the horses I found all sorts of things improved, better turns, more supple and willing horses, better physio reports, more forwardness and power, more balance in stops and back ups.  Of course, to get all this the horse must understand the bit and its use, and it must be mobilising its jaw while doing it - if the horse is chewing it is relaxed and it generally chews also when it is in balance. By combining all these things together I worked all the horses at walk and trot and halt and finally decided to give it a go at canter. The result - Robyn was a changed horse.

The changes I found were not just in Robyn, although she was relaxed and confident enough to be able to offer a more balanced canter even in the big fields below the house, across the river and well away from her friends.  In Tamboree, who has always had a head twist, this has started to disappear and she too is much better balanced.  I could never fix this "twist" in the hackamore and now it is only when she is a little tense (maybe in a new place or learning something new) or if  she goes out of balance - that it really noticeable.  Often the horse may go out of balance because it has just got tense and has stopped licking and chewing!  All in all we have more indicators to show us where our horse is at:  if we lose the licking and chewing - we are probably about to lose the bend/balance, lose the balance and probably the licking and chewing is drying up, lose the bend and the balance has gone and most likely that tension is already showing up in the jaw - and so on and so forth.

I now have additional tools, ideas and information to get the horse's attention, maintain it and correct bend and all of this, because of the use of the bit. Some of what I have achieved I don't believe would have been possible without it. The chewing on the bit in turn helped the horse to learn faster and here is the revelation - the more the horses chewed on their bits, the faster they were learning their horsemanship work - even if I taught it to them when they WEREN'T wearing a bit. Having studied more and more about the brain recently and the release of chemicals in relaxation and in learning - I can not think that this is by chance, especially when I found that this happened for more than one horse and was happening with some of my student's horses also.

In all the young horses I have started recently I have followed my usual formula but I have introduced the bit much sooner. The result - very, very different horses who do not seem to develop any of the habits that some do from then trying to lean on the hackamore - either when turning or when going forward - by pushing down into it. Now, you might ask, is this just the way she trains in the natural hackamore - well maybe, but I have had some pretty light horses in the hackamore and some that did not pull or lean, however, the feeling you get with the bit and bridle is very different. There is a different BALANCE and there's that word again. The horse is suddenly able to achieve more than he ever could while carrying a human and this in turn gives him additional confidence. It also means that the rider is better in balance and better able to feel if the horse is not right.

Riders and Balance - the next discovery:

And this is another interesting thing I have discovered - not only do the horses improve faster, but so do the riders! They are riding better and also sitting better in balance.  I think that we can start to approach our work with horses in two ways - there are those that maybe have some very old bad habits such as pulling on horses and they might be better really only being allowed to do one rein work - but there are those who have bad habits that are so bad, they end up still making the horse heavy on one rein and really getting so out of balance they make everything worse. If we assess what kind of rider we have, we can offer them the best method to suit them and their way of learning - I have found that by combining one rein riding, this style of two rein riding (and also doing it in the hackamore and not just the bridle) riders are getting the idea much quicker.

Riders who cross their hands over the horse's neck - tend to do so with one rein even more so - so giving them two reins and getting them to ride in the way we are now - makes a huge difference. Remember that it is not just about the use of the bit but the whole way of how we communicate with the reins that is developing, the rein position, arm and wrist position, correct use of inside/outside rein and all this in turn related to getting correct bend and suppleness from the horse. What I want to see is that this is also applied when students are doing their ground work - either on line or in the bridle. As Steve says - everything we do on the ground relates to the saddle, but also we should work our horse on the ground as we would ride him under saddle, and this applies just as much to the Classical work as it does to our Silversand work. Both are in agreement - yet again.

I still feel that riding with one rein really gets the rider to balance and focus and for young horse starting and horses being restarted, this way of riding is really essential to gaining their confidence, but we can start to mix the two ways of working together to get a more individual combination for a student. You might even take them back to one rein riding later after they have learnt how to guide and bend a horse and communicate with it through the reins.  For someone who has "never" ridden before - interestingly - this way of two rein riding really seems to work for them and only once they can "ride" can they then go on to one rein riding.  One can even get them to work on correct rein position/bend and balance by keeping them on line in a form of lunging while they take two reins and you support them from the ground. You can also get them to work on their hand and arm position, timing and balance without reins while you work the horse on line - they have invisible/pretend reins and while they are doing this not only is their own balance improving but they are learning right from the very beginning - NOT to rely on their equipment.  What I'm really trying to say is that I feel now, more than ever before, that we have found a way of getting students to learn faster and thus catch up to their horse quicker.

This problem of the horse being way ahead of the rider can be a real issue when training or retraining horses to horsemanship. The human takes so much longer to grasp an idea.  So often students seek help for a horse they are struggling to work with so that it will be easier for them to learn on. However, they struggle on the ground for a long time or still have fear issues and bad habits that they find hard to break and which send the horse backwards in his training or confidence. This then increases their fear of trying - they know how important it is to get things right for the horse and how much they need to try to get it right, but end up almost paralysed from trying. Not all of these issues will go away of course and just because we might have a way of making things a little easier for them, it does not now mean the horse can become an experiment or that the human can relinquish some responsibility - but by using this bridle work or having a different way of working with two reins, we have a better chance of getting the two together quicker and better than before. Or at least in a way that they are starting to work together rather than becoming frustrated with each other.

There are times of course, when being strict about adhering to a horsemanship start for a rider might benefit them - but this is where experience becomes important and where trainers are necessary to help students on this journey. It's where the trainer must be constantly working on themselves and their skills in order to be able to work out what is best for the student. They must also be learning - how people learn - and try to adapt the methods accordingly. The point is that now, there are two methods that work so well together that you can use them in combination without one interfering with the other, to get a better result for both horse and human. And that has to be better for both - doesn't it?

Because this work puts the horse in balance more quickly - the rider is more able to be in balance with the horse and they can therefore feel the horse and know what to offer him because they are not compensating for his lack of balance and their lack of balance/experience. Riders tend to pull due to bad habits but they also tend to pull because they are out of balance. If they are not experienced riders or riders who can ride on one rein/without relying on reins - they will tend to get out of balance with the horse and thus lean and pull. Often they do this leaning and pulling in completely the opposite direction to that of the horse and so now the horse also tries to compensate for the rider and a whole fight (leading toward rigidity and more lack of balance) ensues.

I have found that usually within 3-7 lessons riders are getting such a good idea about how to work with their horse to help him or her when riding that they are able to pretty much start working along on their own without re-developing so many bad habits. This is also because the lessons include working on these balance issues using a bridle on the ground and thus the horse is learning how to balance and position himself on the ground ready for when the rider climbs on top.

It is really useful to have 3 or 4 lessons in a row if possible as this really gets the student going and really gives them a very good foundation to work with. Riders that I have known for a few years with bad habits and bad focus, that tend to lean, pull or grip up with fear - look like completely different riders in only a few sessions. They look much more in balance, they are sitting tall and looking good and they can feel their horse so much better. They also start to feel when the horse begins to try and lean and pull on them. The rider, due to their own improved balance, confidence, position and understanding is in a much better position to fix this and help the horse. We finally start to create an upward rather than downward spiral - the more balanced the horse, the more balanced the rider and so on.  Even more novice riders learn enough to have something to offer their horses. The more balance the horse has, the easier it is for the rider to get into and maintain a strong and balanced position. As most of the early work is done in walk - and in fact a huge amount of the training can be done in walk - the less experienced rider also has more time to think and adjust.

All round - everyone benefits:

Every single horse I have tried this with so far has improved or changed in some way - and all for the better. I genuinely believe that I could not have done this without the Philippe Karl work and without the use of the bit.  I honestly believe that no horse will be carrying a person well, correctly or in balance without the bit work.

Even those famous people who say they can train without one - some who can train even without a halter - are not necessarily riding in balance. Take a close look at the photos (!) - you will see horses pulling themselves along, punching out of their shoulders, throwing their heads at Spanish Walk or in piaffe and passage, bouncing (not flowing) and who are often overbent (usually at the third vertebra and "behind the bit") - even when they are not wearing one!

You may wish to disagree - and this of course is your right.  But I urge you - until you try it and until you see it for yourself, until you feel the difference and until you can guarantee that you are doing the best for the horse you are riding so that he can carry you in a sustainable way into his old age, in balance, in good health and in accordance with his anatomy, biomechanics and in regard to the laws of locomotion - don't be too quick to judge the use of the bit!

So, is horsemanship (what many will term as natural horsemanship) compatible with working in a bit - you bet!!!

 

For more on the work of Philippe Karl go to www.philippekarl.com and also attend the clinics of Veronika Bühn of ProHorse (one of Mon. Karl's students who regularly visits South Africa).  Veronika offers three day clinics and often days of private lessons - see the Events Page for dates and locations.  All bookings through HZA.  Please also visit www.prohorse.org.

 

 

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