Long Drove Holistic Horse Training

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Long Drove Holistic Horse Training A holistic training approach for horse and human. We consider all aspects of training, management,

16/10/2026

Just a reminder that Mapping Dysfunction and Compensation is happening next Thursday, 22nd October, at 7:30pm UK time. Replay available

50% of places have now been taken! If you’d like to join us, you’ll find all the details and the booking link in the event below. I’d love to see you there.

16/10/2026

Camped Under describes the posture but how does that impact the function?





15/10/2026

Issues in the hind end are a body wide issue




Camped under: look beyond the hind legs.Does your horse regularly stand with their hind feet tucked underneath them, lea...
13/10/2026

Camped under: look beyond the hind legs.

Does your horse regularly stand with their hind feet tucked underneath them, leaving less space between the front and hind legs? It’s easy to focus on the hindquarters, but we need to look at what the whole body is doing and why the horse keeps choosing this position.

Having the hind feet further underneath the body can look like the horse is loading the hind end well. But foot placement alone doesn’t tell us how well the horse is supporting their weight. A horse can stand tucked under and still struggle to use the hindquarters effectively.

In this position, the hip, stifle and hock are held in more flexion, rather than allowing the horse to settle into a more neutral standing posture. This changes how the muscles work to stabilise the hindquarters and can place additional demands on muscles and joints. The feet may be underneath, but the body is still having to work to hold itself there.

When this becomes the horse’s usual posture, that pattern can carry through into movement. The hindquarters need to be able to both flex and extend to accept weight and propel the horse forward. If the horse habitually holds everything tucked underneath, they may struggle to move freely between the two. This also involves how the pelvis moves in relation to the spine, so the effect reaches beyond the hind legs.

Over time, repeatedly relying on the same restricted pattern can put more strain on particular structures. This is why we need to pay attention to how a horse habitually stands, rather than waiting until the difficulty becomes obvious in their movement.

“Camped under” describes the picture. It doesn’t explain the reason.

We shouldn’t automatically write it off as conformation. A habitual stance can reflect how a horse is managing their balance, discomfort or difficulty elsewhere in the body. There may be scope to improve it, but first we need to understand what is driving it.

The answer isn’t simply to make the horse stand with their hind feet further back. We need to help the body find a better way to support and distribute its weight, with a more effective connection between the front and hind end. That starts with understanding the individual horse and using appropriate groundwork to develop more comfortable, balanced movement.

The aim is more than a different standing picture. It’s a horse who can accept weight, flex and extend without continually relying on the same restricted pattern.

11/10/2026

Your horse's shoulder tells a story about the function of the entire body.

Mapping Dysfunction and Comensation Webinar 22nd October





Is an upright shoulder conformation, or a consequence of something else?We often look at a horse and say, “That’s just h...
10/10/2026

Is an upright shoulder conformation, or a consequence of something else?

We often look at a horse and say, “That’s just how they’re built.” But bone shape and length are different from how those bones are positioned within the body.

Conformation describes the underlying structure. Posture describes how the horse holds that structure.

The shoulder blade is supported against the ribcage by soft tissues. Its angle reflects both the horse’s build and how they’re holding and using their body.

So before you decide that an upright shoulder is something your horse cannot change, ask: how much of what I’m seeing is structure, and how much is posture?

Your horse’s shoulder doesn’t work in isolation. Neither does the pelvis.The body works as a whole. The position and fun...
10/10/2026

Your horse’s shoulder doesn’t work in isolation. Neither does the pelvis.

The body works as a whole. The position and function of one area influence what’s possible elsewhere.

The relationship between the shoulder and pelvic angles can help us understand how the back connects the front and hindquarters.

Sometimes, understanding what you’re seeing means looking at the other end of the horse.

What does a horse need to carry a rider?More than a saddle and a willing attitude.One of the hardest conversations I hav...
09/10/2026

What does a horse need to carry a rider?

More than a saddle and a willing attitude.

One of the hardest conversations I have in my work is telling someone their horse would benefit from a break from ridden work.

I understand why that’s difficult to hear. You have a horse because you want to ride. You may already have had months of setbacks. Being told to spend more time out of the saddle is frustrating.

But wanting to ride doesn’t make your horse physically ready to carry you.

Many horses I meet are struggling to balance and organise their own bodies before we even add a rider. They need the strength and coordination to support themselves, use their backs comfortably and allow the front and back of the body to work together.

Adding our weight doesn’t magically give them those abilities. It gives them another demand to manage.

And horses find ways to manage. They may brace through the neck, hollow the back, load the forehand or lose the contribution of the hindquarters. They still walk, trot and canter. They still get you around.

That doesn’t mean they are carrying you well. It means they have found a way to do what you asked.

A willing horse can still be a struggling horse.

When I recommend a break from riding, I’m looking for an opportunity to change how the horse moves without it having to manage a rider too. Thoughtful groundwork allows us to start with something it can cope with, improve the quality of its movement and build from there. If pain is involved, that needs addressing as well.

Simply getting off won’t build strength. What you do next matters.

But there’s another part of this that can be harder to hear.

If the way you were riding contributed to the problem, getting back on and riding exactly as before can keep that problem going.

There is a difference between going for a ride and riding as part of rehabilitation.

Rehab riding needs a clear purpose. You need to recognise how the horse is moving underneath you, understand what your own body and aids are doing, and adjust the work to help it find a more comfortable, coordinated way to carry you. You also need to recognise when it can no longer maintain that, and stop.

It isn’t enough to do the groundwork, get back on and hope the horse sorts the rest out.

Your riding has to change with the horse. Otherwise, you can spend all week helping it find a better way of moving on the ground, then climb aboard and rehearse the very pattern you are trying to change.

We have to be willing to look at our part in that.

Ridden work can build strength when the horse is ready and the demands are appropriate. But repeatedly asking a horse to struggle through a session isn’t the same as developing its ability to carry you.

Returning to riding may mean a few comfortable minutes, then getting off. Not carrying on because you’ve set aside half an hour or because it felt good at the beginning. Being able to find a better balance briefly is different from having the strength to sustain it.

I want people to enjoy riding their horses. I want the horses to be comfortable doing it, and capable of continuing for years.

That sometimes means doing the work off their backs. It also means being prepared to change what we do when we get back on.

We can’t ask the horse to change everything while we change nothing.

Making a change can be the easier part. Keeping it and building strength takes longer.Sometimes a small adjustment to a ...
09/10/2026

Making a change can be the easier part. Keeping it and building strength takes longer.

Sometimes a small adjustment to a horse’s balance, alignment or relaxation makes quite a noticeable difference. They move more freely, feel softer, and suddenly you can see what you’ve been working towards. It’s lovely when that happens. But it’s easy to assume that because they’ve found it, they can now keep doing it.

They still need time to build the strength and coordination to sustain that change. That takes regular practice, with work they can manage and time to recover. It also means you need to keep watching what is actually happening.

You might get better support through the chest and base of the neck in some simple groundwork, then add a little more forward movement, a bend or some lateral work. Somewhere along the way, the chest drops, the neck braces and the balance you started with disappears. You’re still doing the exercise, but your horse is now doing it in a different way.

It’s easy to miss when you’re concentrating on where you’re going or getting the steps right. But if you carry on repeating it, you may be giving your horse more practice in the compensation you were trying to change.

That’s why noticing the small things matters. You might need to make the exercise easier, ask for less or give your horse a break. If they’re struggling to sustain the movement, that tells you something about what they can manage at that moment.

And once it becomes easier, you need to know when to move on. Doing the same thing for months because it helped at the beginning can leave you stuck. The work needs to develop as your horse does, so they gradually learn to maintain that balance through different movements.

Consistency takes more than turning up and doing the exercises. You have to keep checking how your horse is doing them. Sometimes you need another pair of eyes to help you spot what’s slipping or recognise when they’re ready for more.

Before you add another repetition, ask yourself: what am I giving my horse more practice in?

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Huntingdon
PE283HY

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