Why I Don't Do Lateral Flexion

            We’ve all seen the western trainers flexing their horse’s necks right and left, teaching horse riders that it’s an absolute necessity to get your horses soft and responsive. But what is this costing us? It’s costing us connection.

When riding horses, the power comes from the back and moves to the front. Our job as riders, is to keep that power flowing and connect to it. When you flex a horse laterally or even over flex vertically, you break that connection. This causes false bending and stiffness in the rib cage. Something that I’ve noticed especially with western riders and english riders who compete is their obsession with the head of the horse. They focus too much on front to back training. This comes from a lack of knowledge, a need to rush the training, or a need to control. This also causes horses to be on the forehand and their gaits are not ‘through’.

When a horse is ‘through’ you should be able to see the energy move back to front then back again effortlessly. The horse’s back will lift and the horse will be ‘round’. Round has nothing to do with the horse’s head. Round is the energy moving through the horse’s body.

For the first few years of a horse’s training, the horse’s head should be left alone. If anything you should encourage the horse to stretch his head down, this will lift his back and strengthen his topline. The topline of the horse is what carries the rider. If your horse has a weak topline, he cannot carry you efficiently and it is damaging to him. This takes years off your horse’s life.

So when we talk about lateral flexion, it’s important to know that some lateral flexion on the ground is an important part of ground work but it should NOT be done extensively and it should NOT be done under saddle. When you teach your horse to do this flexion under saddle, it becomes a battle you will have to fight when you ask your horse to bend through the rib cage. The horse will bend at the base of the neck and the shoulder instead because it is easier for him and many times the rider will mistake this as a real bend.

Spend more time strengthening your horse’s body and mind and you will have a more relaxed ride and a much more relaxed horse.