Why is it important to do groundwork?

In my many years of backing youngsters, I have often experienced how the young horse can go from galloping freely in the field, naturally showing piaffe and passage, to barely being able to walk when mounted for the first time let alone trot or canter without almost falling on his face.

The balance of the horse is a very fragile thing.

The center of gravity for a horse with no rider is very different from the horse with a rider. Before we can expect a horse to move with balance and grace under saddle, we must first teach him how to change his physical movement pattern to match the new center of gravity.

This is why groundwork is so important.

The process starts with creating trust and respect from the ground. If your horse is throwing his head, not wanting to go, running off, resisting the aids, etc., it’s all because he hasn’t agreed to being mounted/ridden by a human in the first place and, on top of that, he is having a hard time balancing.

Getting a horse to trust and respect you is done by learning how to communicate with him in body language. To keep it short and sweet, it means to be able to move the horse in and out of your space. Space is a very valuable commodity for horses and, if you are the one invading another’s personal space, it means that you are more dominant. Equally, if you are the one being moved out of someone’s space, it means that you are less dominant. Dominance is important to establish hierarchy in order to survive in the mind of a horse.

Within body language there is also pressure and release of pressure. If a horse moves towards another horse to “push” him out of their space, they are being dominant and pressuring the other horse to move. Once the less dominant horse moves, the dominant horse releases the pressure and is content with the result.

As humans we often forget to release the pressure. This can show up as micro-managing/nagging the horse, hanging on the reins, yelling at the horse, etc. The horse is trying to look for the correct answer but instead finds pressure everywhere and is unable to get away. This causes frustration and resistance.

To gain their trust, we must speak a similar language, learn to ask clear questions, and understand when to release the pressure when we get what we want.

Once we have the cooperation of the horse, which means that he no longer misbehaves, throws temper tantrums and is willing and calm to be around, now we need to teach him how to balance.

This starts with lateral bend.

Lateral bending allows the horse to learn how to swing his inside hip forward, placing his inside hind leg directly under his center of gravity. Now he has the support to be able to carry a rider. He is basically learning how to move in the shape of a circle.

It is the shape of a circle that helps the horse balance with a rider on. It also allows him to learn how to bend his body (especially the ribcage), thereby moving the ribcage out of the way of the hind leg and shifting his weight away from the inside shoulder. All of this allows the haunches to be able to do a job that they previously weren’t able to.

This type of circle is a shoulder fore circle.

The best way to teach the horse how to balance on a circle is to start by working him in circles from the ground. First in hand and then on the lunge line. At first he will lunge as though he is spinning on an axis. His body will be straight and, when asked to bend, he will fall on his shoulder and throw the haunches out of the circle. The same thing happens under saddle when horses have not been trained correctly from the ground first.

As the horse improves “in hand” and on the lunge, he will start to bend his ribcage and take the shape of the circle from head to tail. This is then practiced at a walk, trot and canter until the horse is fully balanced.

Transitioning to under saddle can be done around a cone or barrel. Ride the horse on the outside rein, lifting the inside rein to bend and lift the inside shoulder and the inside leg to bend the ribcage. Make sure that the circle is the same size all the way around the cone, ensuring the horse isn’t falling out or falling in. Practice this every day until your horse can perform a flawless circle with as few aids as possible in all 3 gaits.

Now you are ready to start the process of riding a combination of straight lines and circles. Every time your horse becomes unbalanced, stiff or rushy, return to your 10-meter circle and regain balance before continuing.

Too often we try to skip all these key foundational steps and ride the horse on straight lines in a walk, trot and canter, only to struggle with wrong leads, stiff horses, balance problems and much worse.

Go back to basics and do your groundwork! There is a reason why the old masters always taught everything - and I do mean everything - from the ground first.

At least focus on getting these two components under your belt with every horse before doing anything else:

1. Achieve trust and respect from the ground for safety and partnership that will transfer into the saddle; and

2. Teach your horse how to move in the new balance from the ground so that they may successfully carry you in the saddle without compromising their health or wellbeing.

If you are consistent with these two steps you will always have a healthy sound horse, a happy balanced ride, a horse that is light on the aids and willing to please you.

Doesn’t that sound good?

Ride in Lightness

Celie Weston

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