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Force equals Force: Why a softer approach creates a softer response
Part 3

Life in the feet, & why it is critical to lightness

"Ride the life."

"Ride his feet, not his mouth."

"Bring the life up."

Hang around the Ray Hunts or Tom & Bill Dorrances of the world, and you'll hear similar mantras over, and over, and over again. But most folks instinctively scrunch up, grip the reins, and resist forward movement as soon as the walk they wanted escalates to a trot, or trot to canter, or canter to gallop. Even on the ground, when the horse needs to move his feet, the usual response is to do everything in one's power to STOP the feet. It's self-preservation in action, and it's darned hard to train it out of yourself.


Second ride: letting the colt pick his own speed and moving with him.

But USING that life is the single most powerful tool we have. Constantly endeavoring to stuff that life back down in the horse is an awful lot like packing down gunpowder: he energy is still there, but now it is so tightly compressed that if a spark hits it, honey, you're goin' to the MOON.

Learning to instead find an outlet for that energy does a number of things: it gives the horse the comfort of being able to move his feet, which in itself soothes him; it literally harnesses that power to do your bidding; and probably most importantly, it preserves the incredible lightness innate to the horse, and makes it available to us at an instant's notice.

It’s important not only to direct the life when the horse offers it on his own, but also to understand the necessity of bringing up the life in the horse -- both on the ground and under saddle -- early on, and getting him reliable to be around when things are moving a little quicker. That’s when you’re really going to need control of his feet, and when you’ll need him to keep thinking.

If you're having a tough time with this idea, think about what's likely to happen when just two of the feet get stuck. If both front feet get stuck, and the hind feet keep moving, well, then, we've just taught Junior to buck. Stop the back feet instead, and hi ho, Silver, we're pawing the sky with both arms around Junior's neck! In these situations, it's critical to get the STOPPED feet moving again in concert with the other two. It doesn't really matter where those feet go, just as long as they start making hoof prints again.

We never want to stifle energy…we just want to direct it. We want that life available to us, we want those feet freed up, and so we have to learn to get down to each of those feet and put them where we need them, without having to bring all four to a complete stop first. A horse brought along this way will be MUCH happier and more relaxed: turned loose on the inside, as folks like to say. A horse who's been schooled that it's BAD to offer life is a horse that will do lots of uncomfortable things when you DO ask for life, a lot like that powder keg. Want a reliable, relaxed partner that doesn't require a cattle prod to move forward? Take the life the horse offers and put it to good use. Give him a job to do, something to keep his mind and his feet engaged. But use the life that he offers. It will ultimately make that life available to you whenever you need it. And you WILL need it. Naturally, that doesn't mean we're not aiming to regulate how much life we get...but getting just as much as you want is, interestingly, much easier if you start by using what you're offered.

Life in the horse is a GOOD thing. Keep telling yourself that. That very life is what you’ll need to get some of those more advanced things done. Repeat after me: “I will not stuff the life back down in my horse! I will not stuff the life back down in my horse! I will not stuff the life back down in my horse! I will not stuff the life back down in my horse!…” Keep repeating it.