# Warm up exercises to fix counter bend?



## mugsy44875 (Aug 19, 2013)

I hope you guys can give me some good basic exercise to think about to work on a horse that likes to counter bend in the arena while turning the corners when i don't want him to. Ever time we head towards a turn he wants to counter bend into the corners but I am trying to work on him slightly turning his head to look the way we are going. 
Anyone have good ideas on basic warm up exercises to work on to help him?


----------



## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

A horse often bends its head and neck to the outside of a turn to help with its balance. In order to change this behavior, we must help the horse develop both strength and flexibility in its hind end so that it can step further beneath its center of gravity and support more weight with its inside rear leg.

There are various methods for doing this. These might include transitions and hill work when going straight. Lateral work, beginning with the leg-yield and progressing to the shoulder-in, is a commonly used technique. You might also simply use your inner leg to drive the horse into the outer rein in a turn. 

The important thing is to start slowly and gradually increase the effort so you do not overstress the horse either physically or mentally.


----------



## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Definitely try teaching him these things on the ground first.. yielding to actual pressure via touch and then via pressure by pointing the whip or your finger. It'll make things less confusing for your horse.


----------



## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

When a rider takes horse's head to the outside using outside leg, it called COUNTER-BEND. When the horse does it on his own against a rider's wishes, it is simply dropping an inside shoulder and failing to stay between the rider's legs and reins. It is simply a DISOBEDIENCE.

This gets started by a rider trying to 'hold' a horse out with the reins instead of teaching the horse to move off of leg pressure. A rider must PUSH a horse out. The rider can never successfully HOLD the horse out with the reins.

To understand how this works, a rider must understand that the reins do not and should not determine what the horse's shoulders, ribs and body do. The reins only determine the direction his head points. The riders legs determine where the horse's shoulders, ribs and hips are. So, when the rider tries to get a horse to move out to the rail or deep into a corner and the rider uses the reins, all they are doing it taking the horse's head to the outside and forcing the horse to drop a shoulder in a turn or 'counter-bend' instead of bending with he direction of travel. 

To teach a horse to stay between a rider's legs, the horse must be taught to yield to leg pressure from the inside leg. The easiest way to teach this is with leg yielding exercises. We start teaching a horse to move off off inside leg pressure from about the third ride on. By a colt's 6th or 7th ride, it will leg yield about 20 feet away from the rail over to the rail on the long side of an arena. We do an exercise called 'reversing using a half circle (to the inside) and then 2-tracking back to the rail'. This is a very useful exercise early in a horse's training.

A horse should do this with its head facing in just enough to see the corner of its inside eye. To do this correctly, the horse's body should stay parallel to the rail as it 2-tracks or leg yields back to the rail. It is easy for a rider to 'think' they are doing it correctly when the horse is only going toward the rail at an angle with its head cocked to the inside. This is NOT what you want. You want bend through the horse's entire body with the shoulders and hips approximately the same distance from the rail.

Once a horse can be moved to the rail, it can be pushed into corners and the rider will start having control of its shoulders and body. Getting control of the hip is much more advanced and more difficult to achieve, but you must have obedience to your inside leg before you are ready to go on to more advanced body control.


----------



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

May be a disobedience but I'm betting it is from rider error. Most loosen the outer rein and tighten the inside rein. You need to keep pressure on the outer so they don't drop their shoulder. You can actually bend a horse to the inside and do circles with only the outside rein and no inside rein.


----------



## sunnyone (Sep 4, 2014)

It could be rider error. In my case, I tend to have a weaker side and one horse I know, in particular, is willing to take advantage if I get lazy. If the horse drops shoulder only on one side, it could also be horse's weaker side and they don't want to exert the energy - kind of like people. 

It could also be a subconscious position change on your part. You are actually moving a hip or shoulder in the wrong direction - this is an instructor job to help.

In addition to others advice, 
An exercise you may consider is shortening your stride on each short side of the arena (e.g., sitting trot) and lengthen to a normal trot on the long side (or walk or canter). 

The key is to prepare for the each short corner before you get there. Inside leg is important, outside leg steadies the rest of the horse. This isn't rein pulling. In dressage, your position, leg and half halt help get the horse's attention.

Another exercise is to do a large circle (start with walk, later with trot), and with each round make the circle smaller. After moving in, move back out into the larger circle. But only if you pay attention because the horse can still easily drop shoulder.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

are you direct reining or one handed neck reining? what happens if you make a circle in the middle of the arena? will the horse lunge also counterbent? how much experience do you have, how old is this horse and how much riding does he have.

all questions to fill out the scenario.
him counter bending might be seen as an evasion, but it can also be a product of him being very stiff somewhere. if he does this anytime he is asked to circle, whether it's corner or not, ridden or not, would indicate that he CANT bend correctly, not so much that he wont.


----------



## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

> If the horse drops shoulder only on one side, it could also be horse's weaker side


Most horse that drop a shoulder do it only one direction or are worse one direction.

Horses very commonly have one side that is 'limber' and they have a tendency to 'over-bend' when that rein is used. They are commonly stiff to the other direction and lack bend or drop a shoulder going that direction. It can also show up with a favored lead at the canter. Reiners frequently do better roll-backs and turn-arounds one direction. Cutters frequently have trouble holding a cow the dodges one direction. They just cannot get back that way as quickly.

A horse may have a stiff and a limber side from the first time a saddle is put on it or it may develop a stiff or limber side.

This may or may not be related to a physical condition. It is probably VERY related to training (or actually lack of it).

A horse may have a physical problem that is causing it to be more stiff to one side or it just may need a lot of limbering exercises to limber up that side. Sometimes a good Chiropractor or Message Therapist can help. This is most helpful when a horse suddenly changes how it travels or bends.

Many riders have a stiff and a limber side on EVERY horse they ride. You have to assume that the rider rides with a very dominant hand or a weak leg or sits on a horse crookedly. 

I have severe Scoliosis and as my arthritis and degeneration had gotten a lot worse in my spine and hips, all of my horses got more stiff on one side and all did flying lead changes better one direction. The last horses I tried to show all suffered from my problems and if pain had not stopped my showing, my horses would have become un-showable because of this. 

Like just about every other problem in the horse world -- there is no single solution to every problem -- not 'one size fits all'.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Quite often it is a rider error - a lot of people lean in to the bend or just drop their shoulder into it and the horse starts to react by counter bending to balance himself
Watching how the horse canters on the lunge without a rider is a good indication of rider error being the problem


----------



## Clava (Nov 9, 2010)

I have Ride With Your Mind lessons and incorrect bend often relates to poor rider positioning, get your self straight and the horse will come straight and then add in the correct bend


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

You know you don't often even realize you're doing it - it becomes a habit that gets worse. I had a very good young trainer here who'd spent time in the UK with Chris Bartle and she had me riding around with the offending arm/shoulder up in the air to force me to think about what I was doing because I was convinced I was sitting up straight


----------



## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Cherie said:


> When a rider takes horse's head to the outside using outside leg, it called COUNTER-BEND. When the horse does it on his own against a rider's wishes, it is simply dropping an inside shoulder and failing to stay between the rider's legs and reins. It is simply a DISOBEDIENCE.
> 
> This gets started by a rider trying to 'hold' a horse out with the reins instead of teaching the horse to move off of leg pressure. A rider must PUSH a horse out. The rider can never successfully HOLD the horse out with the reins.
> 
> ...


Cherie, you ALWAYS amaze me with your knowledge, and may I say, especially for a western rider! I don't mean that against western riders, just that the ones that I have known personally don't know anything about how to limber a horse, achieve proper bend, etc. etc. I'm always delighted to see the opposite end of the spectrum of western riders with you and a few others I've come to know on the forum.

Anyway, just wanted to give a thumbs up :thumbsup: and to please keep on giving your advice and expertise! God knows I need it; your thread on developing a work ethic in a horse and the method for doing so in particularly obstinate horses has been a life saver for me, really. Its so nice to have my horse light on the leg (so I can now get a bend) and she improves with every ride, as do I! I was elated when we were then able to complete three jumps without breaking rhythm and not touching a single pole, and my seat over jumps improved dramatically, and all because we have established forward motion. So hats off to you and thank you for all your time and effort! 

And sorry everybody for hijacking the thread, I just felt so inspired! :wink:


----------

