How Is The Horses Balance

"Balance." There is often such a misconception of this essential requirement in horse training that a few words here are necessary. A certain degree of balance is essential for all riding horses. Apart from jumping, balance makes a horse less likely to pull, more agreeable to ride and more likely to stand the wear and tear of work.

Fig. 1. The Big Double At Punchestown - This photograph shows how a horse has to shift his balance and use his hocks when jumping a bank. - W. A. Rouch Copyright

The Italians maintain that any attempt to lighten the horse's forehand is unnecessary and advocate complete liberty of rein throughout the training. Their horses, consequently, do by far the greater part of their work on their forehands and seldom have what we would consider a good mouth. We know that with their methods they produce wonderful fencers and show jumpers.

Are we to accept their theories on training in entirety? I think certainly not, although I know many men who have done so both at home and on the Continent. Again I ask for moderation.

To accept the Italian theory would mean that one fails entirely to understand the true meaning of "balance," although, as opposed to the old haute école idea of balance, the Italian method is obviously preferable. The former was attained in a riding school and produced permanent lightness in front in all movements. The head and neck were raised to the maximum height and then bent from the poll. The higher the carriage of the head the more accentuated the curve of the neck. The haunches were continually kept well under the horse to raise his forehand and the head kept what was termed a fixed profile. The horse became gradually muscle-bound in his loins and shoulders. Balance of this nature, or akin to this, prevented the horse from using his powers of extension and accentuated the difficulty of propelling the body over a fence.

Fig. 2 - This picture shows the extension of the head in conjunction with the fore-legs. A young horse with a light mouth will soon learn to jump a wide place with confidence if he knows that he is going to have freedom of his head. - By permission of Capt. Paul Rodzanko, Chevaliers gardes, Russia

Owing to the head being raised and bent at the poll, the muscle which extends the shoulder-joint and controls the free forward movements of the fore-limbs became contracted,* and consequently the horse's energy was spent in high action and pawing the air.

* This muscle that advances the fore-limbs originates from the back of the head and the first four bones of the neck and runs down to the humerus or lower bone of the shoulder. When the neck is bent to any great degree this muscle is artificially shortened and the action of the shoulders and fore-limbs is contracted.

It is a fact that a horse at full gallop can never extend his fore-feet beyond a plummet-line dropped from his nose. Obviously a horse balanced on the above lines becomes useless as a practical fencer.

What is required is balance in a wider sense, namely, a horse that knows how and when to raise his forehand and bring his weight back, and how and when to lower his head and bring his weight forward.

The former is required at the slower paces and when stopping, and the latter when extending himself and to assist him when jumping.

To attain this kind of balance it is necessary to get a horse up in front and back on his haunches in moderation; at the same time give him frequent periods of extended work with a free rein. It will be necessary for him to work at all paces both up and down hill. Let him jump plenty of small banks and small fences on the slope of a hill. This up and down hill work teaches horses to balance and extend themselves in a way that is unattainable on the flat, and also improves their shoulders very considerably. Horses jumping down hill learn to land lightly without pitching forward. I think a sound understanding of balance is so necessary that I will give two examples.

The action of jumping slowly on and off a bank clearly exemplifies my meaning. The particular effort required is the reason why most Irish hunters have a fair natural balance, though they are generally unfinished.

Coming up to the bank the horse in steadying himself brings his weight back and almost simultaneously raises his forehand to scramble up the bank. At the same time it will be found that he has brought his hocks under him to propel himself upwards. When he has raised his forehand he extends his head to help him to bring his hind-legs on to the bank. On the top he collects himself again, then throws his weight forward to enable him to extend himself and get clear over the ditch on the far side of the bank.

Thus it will be seen that he is learning to balance himself both in bringing his weight back and forward.

Fig. 3 - The horse is learning to bring his weight back and support it on his hocks, which come well under him as he moves or stands on the hill. The rider's hand must keep the horse's head raised and a pressure of the legs must keep the horse's hindquarters under him.

Again, one can walk, trot or canter down a hill, but preferably starting the practice at the slowest pace. Halfway down the hill, feel the reins and raise the horse's head, closing one's legs against the horse's side and leaning one's own body back.

One will soon find that the horse learns to bring his weight back, and that his hocks will come naturally underneath him going down the hill. Thus he combines raising his forehand and pulling up on his haunches, in preference to pulling up so that his weight and the force of propulsion are born on the fore-limbs.

I trust that these two simple examples may have proved both the necessity and the possibility of obtaining balance in moderation.