07/06/2026
Is your groundwork is hurting your horse? When we stop to consider the consequences of what we are doing to them, are we helping them become more balanced as individuals, or are we unintentionally disuniting them, teaching them to crowd, load the forehand, and stand off balanced?
This type of ground work is extremely common, and it used to be the core of what I did. But a little bit of observation goes a long way in revealing the truth in what is being taught to this horse.
Horses respond to everything we do, internally from us, and externally with our physical bodies, and the more we refine our control over our selves, the less time we need to "train" our horses.
What is abundantly common is teaching a horse to lead off a pointed finger, or to transition off the same queue, but what seems to be overlooked is the fact that horses are not animals that naturally respond to pointing in the way we'd like. Actually, by putting our hand out in this way, above their chin, we are actually taking the space we want them to travel in, which to the horse, naturally communicates to them to travel in the opposite direction (away from where we are pointing). By undoing this natural instinct, we are confusing them and teaching them to lead into our pressure. What we should do instead, is take the space we no longer wish for them to occupy, and open the way for them. Not block the entrance then throw a flag at them when they don't go.
I have found that when we train a horse to be balanced and on the hind quarter, not crowding and on the shoulder, more athletic maneuvers such as turning on the haunches becomes available far sooner.
A horse that is balanced and sure of himself is not a horse that will buck or rear!
