Booty Booty Booty Booty Rockin' Everywhere

Twice a week I work with this massively muscular quarter horse mare named Sugar. She is a VERY well trained mare. When she wants to be. Sugar was trained to neck rein, do roll backs, side pass, everything! However she was also trained to be a "peanut-pusher" Ugh! What's the problem with the peanut-pusher? They are usually VERY heavy on the forehand. In fact most western pleasure judges and trainers, frown on the peanut-pusher look. Now Sugar has the look and body type of a foundation quarter horse. She is a big, stout, short-legged mare, so for her to be so dependent on her forehand really takes away from her training, it makes her lazy and sloppy and it tends to throw her owner off balance. So how do we get the military tank to rock back on that booty?

First and foremost we need to be assured that there is no underlying medical reason why the horse is so heavy on the front, even though being heavy on the forehand is a VERY common occurrence in horses. Then we need to strengthen our OWN riding position in order to help our horse. Always stay nice and tall in the saddle, with you legs light on the sides, never grip with your thigh, use your calf. And make sure that YOU are properly balance in the saddle, before we ask your horse to re-balance itself.

Well, there are a several ways to encourage a horse, no matter what the discipline, to engage their hind quarters. The easiest? Transitions, transitions, transitions. Halt to trot, to walk to trot to lope to halt to back to on and on and on. Practicing transitions will force your horse to utilize it's hind end more, because you are constantly switching the gaits. Soon the horse will begin to anticipate your transpositions, and will therefore stay back on it's rump in preparation for your next move.

Also, circles, ahhhhhh you can never go wrong with a nice circle. Now if you are doing the circles properly, your horse will also be forced to engage his hind end. Be Careful not to mistake a bent in neck and nose as a properly bent horse. You need his body to be wrapping around your inside leg. This pic is a great example of that.

One other tip I give riders, is to bring their hands up a bit, only a few inches up off the neck, and shorten their reins a bit to give them a bit more contact with the horse's mouth. Almost as if you could imagine, lightly lifting your horse up off his front end. Sit deep in the saddle, breathe deeply, and push with your seat and thighs. Do NOT try to PULL your horse up by it's mouth! You will end up with a hollow-backed animal and not a properly engaged animal. Stay light on the mouth and ask for a bit of collection and impulsion.

Speed control. When walking, trotting or cantering, extend and collect the speed of the gaits. Collected walk, medium walk, extended walk. This will also help to add impulsion, which will again get that pony of yours on her rump!

Can we say Ground poles!!!! ANYBODY, no matter what discipline you prefer, can benefit from the proper use of ground poles. Walk, trot and lope over these bad boys and your horse will be rockin' that booty!!

Hills, you and your horse can walk up and down a hill. Start with a gradual incline and then work up to more.

Last but not least, roll backs and turns on the haunches. These are impossible to do without the hind quarter engaged.

Sometimes horses just get bored with their same old routine, so mixing up their workouts will also keep them interested and fresh enough to want to learn and make them more willing to accept new things.