Horse
Savvy
Ranch
Cindy Schleuss, Owner
Posture Rigging
Helping a horse find it's correct posture can be challenging. I have spent many hours pondering how to accomplish this feat for horses who can not carry a rider and for horses that just need confidence in their own bodies. This is what I came up with.
How it Works
There are four parts to this set up. Let's start with the "neck brace". The neck brace is a polo wrap that I use to wrap around the neck of the horse. What I have found by using this devise is that the horse can not push down through the neck, but rather will use the topline muscles, which is what we want.
The polo wrap that I have wrapped around the hind end is used to encourage the horse to "sit" to step under. I set it under the seat bones and have it snug. I would not however, use this part on a horse that want to "sit" too much, or looks like his sacrum is always in flexion. I only use the polo wrap around the hind end when I have a horse who's sacrum is more in extension, or looks flat.
I use the sliding side reins as a support to an open neck in posture, never to crank a horse into a position. I have them a little too loose on West, but that is because he has been locked into a frame and I want him to learn how to stretch to find the contact. As he warms up and his confidence builds I will shorten them so that they actually do support him, but I will never make his neck shorter than how he is carrying it in the picture.
I have discovered that if I cross the sliding side reins over the withers of the horse that they will actually stop a horse from diving or falling into the base of their neck. I discovered this nifty trick when I was working with a client's horse, Windsor, who has arthritis between C6 and T1. He had a mild set back in his rehabilitation and I needed to find a way to support him so that I did a better job. I do not like it when a horse back slides in their progress. I was thrilled when I saw the weight of Windsor's body attempt to fall into the base of his neck only for the sliding side reins to catch him and re-balance him more to his hind end. Once he felt that support, he was not afraid to go forward. We built him back with a top line I never dreamed he could build, and with this lofty free movement I never thought he could get. Since then I have been using the sliding side reins this way.
The lunging cavison is the last piece to this posturing rigging. If you do not have one then just attach the line to the bit. I like using the cavison because it helps me stretch the neck of the horse so that I can arc it and help the horse to place their head in balance with their body. I can adjust the head height as the horse's body strengthens, always watching the angle of the sacrum and the angle of the atlas so that they match to the best of my ability.
