How your horse brings himself (his frame) while he is being ridden has an effect on his both mental and physical condition. For him so as to achieve at his finest necessitates that he is flexible, balanced and has powerful back muscles to easily carry the saddle and rider without having anxiety or strain. Your horse would need to work in the correct posture or “frame” to be able to perform at his best.

A great riding frame begins with a good walk. A good walk is considered the most stressful gait to attain, the easiest to eliminate, has even, lively, rhythmical steps with impulsion, could only be practiced by using flexible muscles, a moving back and versatile joints. If your horse is distressed or has tight muscles, he cannot attain a good walk. To be able to create a good walk, you ought to motivate your horse to push onward energetically from his hindquarters to make sure that his hind legs step perfectly beneath him. It is necessary that you release any stress in your own body. Relax from your neck to your seat bones together with all your joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles & toes). Always keep your core involved. Your horse will mirror what he feels from you. Keep a flexible, subsequent contact on long reins.

If your horse won’t proceed into the contact, hollows his back, takes short “sewing machine” steps or rushes into trot, work him on a 20 metre circle. By doing this you can boost him to bend more around your inside leg. Feel and continue with the natural swing of your horse’s barrel. Always keep your legs gently contacting the barrel and give a more powerful push with your inside leg as you feel his barrel swing outward.

Be sure that your outside leg is soft to ensure that it follows and doesn’t block the movement. The bend helps your horse calm down and lower his neck which helps lift his back to level. While doing so, your seat requires your horse to step onward.As your horse develops a good, relaxed walk with impulsion, swing and suppleness on the circle in a single direction then work on the other direction. You could find your horse finds it less complicated going one way than the other. This is common since horse’s are left or right sided much like we are left or right handed. When you or your horse get frustrated or stressed going one way, return to the direction where the work was less complicated until you get calm again.

After you have developed a good walk with a few uniformity on the circles then you can start to do some work on the straight line coming back to the circle to re-establish relaxation anytime needed.

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