How To Put Your
in
In our last Palm Partnership Training Tips, “How to Put Your
Horse in Balance Through Proper Bending – Part 1”, I described
what a correct bend of your horse’s body is, and the aids sequence
used to ask your horse to bend correctly. Hopefully this has helped
explain how essential accurate bending is to your horse’s balance,
and you have been able to ride with more control and enjoyment!
In this article, I will review the key points, continued by an exercise
to help train your horse to bend correctly! You will find that I am reviewing
a lot from Part 1; however, controlling your horse’s balance
is a very important step in your riding skills. With your horse’s performance,
it is crucial that he is balanced in self-carriage while riding
on a curve at any gait. This training will help improve problems
you may encounter controlling your horse on any curve or turn.
76 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
Part 2
Horse
Balance
through
Proper Bending
The Bend
Review of Bending
When a horse has a proper bend in his body, his entire body
is bent from the poll to the dock, not just the head and neck.
When a horse is balanced, he will have this proper bend and
will be relaxed, easier to steer, and will maintain the same
speed. Therefore, the relationship between bending and
balance is: