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FEBRUARY 2007 • VOLUME 18 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine
Manolo’s Message Article # 4 Balance & Rhythm in the Young HorseBy Manolo MendezCopyright © 2002 Manolo Mendez
Head Rider from the Royal Spanish School in Jerez (home of the 2002 World Equestrian Games) continues his series of articles on training the horse … from the very first Kindergarten days all the way to Grand Prix. In this article, he tells us about how to develop balance and rhythm in the young horse, and how any factor inhibiting freedom of movement works against good training.
The training of the young horse continues in the way described in Articles 1-3, practising small, easy figures and working towards (but not expecting at this stage) perfect balance and rhythm. The rider makes sure that all previous training is being confirmed for the horse, by constantly strengthening the foundations, and making sure the horse understands. This builds confidence. We need to know that the Grand Prix horse will be able to read us easily and subtly at the end of his career – this is what we are working towards with the young horse.
The horse should be in daily work now of 45 minutes – walk, trot and canter. It is best to start with walk, but sometimes a young horse may be unsettled and not listening, and we may need to start with a canter. We have to read our horse and work him as he needs. The rider at this stage must be very careful how he asks for everything; it would be too easy to push for too much, too soon.
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