Roundpens can encourage poor movement

If you have been following my round pen series - and please do read the other entries if this form of training interests you, one of the things I really dislike about the Roundpen is how it can actually form bad movement on the part of the horse.

I have seen people (both in person and in videos) spend way too much time, chasing the horse about, showing off inside turns, while meanwhile they are only training the horse to move in a poor and sloppy way that will, in the long run, be detrimental to the riding and advanced training of the horse.

Let’s examine some photos of ZZ, my young filly of three years of age, and her recent adventures in the roundpen:

In the above photo I have marked some interesting things to look at in red. The U-shaped smile over the horses’ back clearly shows she is hollow and inverted. With poor use of the back, it causes her stride to become short. The neck and jowl is stiff, indicative of being on the forehand.

If this shape were to continue you would have a horse trained into one of the poorest postures for riding – she would be heavy in the bridle, short strided, and probably would end up with a sore back and poll. It would be hard for her to move properly under a rider, and her rider would have the feeling she was stiff, short strided, and unresponsive to the aids.

In this second photo some of the same events are happening but with a bit of a twist – a nose twist that is! The back is still u-shaped, although not as bad, and the stride is short, though not as short as it was in the previous photo – do you see that?

In this second shot, the filly has tilted her nose to the outside, causing the left shoulder (inside shoulder) and neckline to stiffen. Here she is traveling in an incorrect bend or crooked. Inside of shaping her spine and ribs to the curve of the roundpen she has inverted herself.

When under saddle, this will not only cause on the forehand issues, but also great difficulty in trying to get the correct canter lead (in this photo it would be the left lead) because the stiff shoulder and hollow back will not allow the right hind to start the gait with the athleticism needed.

This is just the beginning of ZZ’s roundpen work, so we have many sessions to do to shape this sloppy, crooked and hollowed back horse… However, the next time you see someone chasing their horse about in the roundpen take a closer look and ask yourself what all that is really training their horse to do.

More on Roundpen positions

Although I have talked about the Roundpen and the positions, those were in diagrams. I thought it would be helpful to show it in still photos (and later in video) to aid in your understanding.

In order to slow or stop the horse, the position is in front. The photo here was one of the few I could get of Z still in motion even though I was in front, because her instinct is so strong to stop when I am in this position.

If your horse rushes by you when you are in front, try increasing the distance and getting further ahead. If the horse still rushes by, step back and let him – that is better then getting hurt by trying to enforce a stop from a horse who clearly is not going too.

In this photo, I’ve stepped out to the front, she has stopped and I have asked for the turn by placing myself in line with her outside shoulder. If you look closely at her body language you can see she is about ready to turn to the inside and go to her left. Since she is facing me for the turn, this is called an Inside Turn.

When asking for the inside turn, if your horse doesn’t give it too you (does an outside turn), try increasing the distance between you – a horse who feels you are too close will feel threatened and give a butt turn. Also, make sure you are aiming your energy and whip to the outside shoulder, not the inside.

The most common driving position to start the horse in motion is at the hip. Most people are actually standing at the ribs, when they think they are at the hip. So it’s best to actually be behind where you think you should be so you do not restrict the horses’ forward movement.

A parallel position is good if you and your horse are doing reciprocal movement. If you are looking for your horse to copy your body language and there are NO dominance issues, this can be a fun partnership position to be at.

In this photo, note how the horses nose is tilted to the outside and the body posture is U-shaped. She is uncertain about my intentions and not relaxed. Unfortunately, this is what you see a lot in the roundpen with the trainer never correcting or encouraging the horse to relax, round, bring the head down, and the back up – these are things we will be working on to improve Z’s self carriage.

Again, photos and video can help you improve as a trainer. These photos show me that I need to work on relaxing and shaping Z’s body posture. Here her back is still stiff, her head is up.

Unlike many RP trainers, I do not work the horse in the circle for long periods of trot and canter. I am more interested in the horse learning to mimic my movements, pay attention to what I’m asking and to seek out to be with me.

Because these are my goals, we do a lot of rest movements to bond. Here I have stopped, ZZ has turned to face me and I am inviting her towards me by having the whip behind and my hand outstretched.

She gets a good rub when she comes up.

For more on Roundpen training, be sure to read
the series with detailed instructions and diagrams.

Pre-mounting exercises

Here are some of the beginning work on getting Z ready for me to mount. At this point she has been sacked out, is used to me standing on either side of her to groom while I’m on/off the mounting block, and I’ve trained her to be comfortable with me on both sides.

However, she is VERY resistant to having me standing over her back and putting pressure there. I am coming to the conclusion that, with this filly, it’s going to be one of those issues (i.e. like lifting the hind feet) that is going to take a LOT longer then I had thought it would. Just getting her comfortable with me taller then her, her standing beside the mounting block, me leaning over with weight on her back etc… is obviously going to take a lot of sessions before we get to the part of getting ON!

However, like some horses, particularly mares, if I rushed this part then we would end up in a needless battle. Better to take this part slow, get it down well, and then move onwards in order to instill confidence in me in her. I am doing this exercise loose in the Roundpen, though I have done it with her tied to the hitching rack. I am experimenting to see if she is given more freewill during the work, does her resistance lessen?

In the roundpen, loose, I just start patting and putting pressure on her back. Sometimes she will walk off and if she does I follow a few steps, still with pressure and then let my hands slide off.

Here I am using my hand as a Target for her nose to touch. When she does she gets a click and treat. Here the point is to move her up, so the mounting block is in an ideal place.

If she stands still while I get on the mounting block she gets a click-treat. If she backs up, I move her into position again with my hand (though I think I’ll bring out my target sock for a longer reach as then I wouldn’t have to get off the block).

In this photo she has been good and got her click, while she turns around for her treat, she pins her ears, still rather peeved about the entire process.

BTW there are some things I really like about this Roundpen: the big trees that give some shade and the rubber side “ropes” instead of boards or pipe. What I don’t like is that it is located quite a distance from the main working areas, has grass (that can be distracting), and is a bit too small for the big horses.