Case Study Roz and Val
“Roz heard about the School of Legerete from a friend overseas and contacted me because she felt sure that EdL could help her and her horse Val.”
Before I started working with Roz, Val had a history of being very anxious and in-between his spooks he would move in a very conservative and over flexed way and Roz had had a number of nasty falls from him. Like most people, Roz had been taught to ride Val in an overflexed position, with low backward acting hands, which meant Val couldn't see where he was going and certainly contributed to his unpredictability and spookiness.
I always say to my students, the horse’s body never lies, their body musculature tells you everything about how they move. When I first met them, Val had a weak top line, would barely 'go' from fear of mouth pain and he had overdeveloped muscles in all the 'wrong' places. This lovely lad now has a chest, shoulders and neck that schwarzenegger would be jealous of and he seems a hand higher!
Roz also had her own body issues of being the most flexible hypermobile person I've ever taught! It is well known that hypermobility in horses is very problematic but the same is true for riders! It takes a lot of practice for hypermobile riders to control their bodies desire to over-move or move at odds with their horse’s movement. Fortunately Roz was incredibly dedicated to improve her bodies control in movement and the improvements in her riding since I’ve been helping her have been notable.
Picture 1 shows Roz and Val BEFORE they started training with me. Roz’s low, backward acting hands caused Val tongue pain and made him overflex and compress his neck. This blocked his shoulders and meant he couldn't 'go' or see where he was going!
Picture 1 BEFORE Kat’s help
Picture 2 shows the beginning of working with me. I taught them how to lunge without gadgets. This enabled Val to learn to stretch his neck in neck extension and improve his shoulder balance laterally, both on straight lines and on curved lines.
Picture 2 AFTER Kat’s help
Pictures 3 and 4. Roz learnt how to teach Val jaw mobility, longitudinal balance, lateral flexibility and balance, neck extension and ultimately poll flexion. In Pictures 4 and 5 you can see Val moving from static lateral bend into neck extension in the bend. This offers a big stretch so is excellent for correcting asymmetry.
Picture 3 AFTER Kat’s help Picture 4 AFTER Kat’s help
Picture 5. We worked on developing their inhand work to the establish the positions and postures he learnt on the lunge and in the static flexions from the bit. Inhand work is invaluable in progressing your horses understanding of the school of aids.
Picture 5 AFTER Kat’s help
Picture 6 shows Val under saddle and now moving in a much healthier position and posture compared to his previous training picture (Picture 1 - above). Now Val has confidence to stretch into the contact and take the contact forwards and away with a softness and length to his neck and an improved stride length.
Roz has worked tirelessly to improve her riding knowledge and help Val become the dancing star he was always destined to be, the correct foundations have been re-established and are now building blocks to spring from. This sweet horse has improved beyond all measure and is no longer a ticking time bomb – though there is still a lot more progress to come for this partnership, Val’s progress is a testament to Roz's efforts to improve. Well done Roz and Val!
Picture 6 AFTER Kat’s help
If you have a horse that hollows, leans on your hand or overflexes, irrespective of their age contact Kat for help – thinkingequitation@gmail.com