Developing your horse eyes is a life long journey. The better you see what is going on the easier it is to decide if anything needs to be corrected.
Now it is time to develop your vision, your horse eyes. If you cannot see what is happening then neither can you ask the horse to change into moving into a more suitable shape. If you ask for a shoulder in, i.e. to move the hindlegs outside of the track, you can start by looking at the hooves. Is the inside hind hoof moving outside of the inside front hoof? If you are working on soft ground you can look at the hoof prints. Pick an inner front hoof print and look at it until the inner hind hoof is coming. Is the hind hoof track outside the front hoof track or do you need to ask the hindlegs to move more outwards? In quarter in you want to see the inner hind hoof inside of the inside front hoof. Does it start feeling comfortable watching the inner leg hooves? Then turn your eyes towards the outer legs, and eventually lift your eyes to the pelvic region. Can you see the inner hip moving forward down when the inner hindleg is stepping forward? How does the chest of the horse move? Can you see it swinging out and in when the horse moves?
To develop your vision takes time and there are always finer details to find.
To develop your vision takes time and there are always finer details to find. I remember how hopelessly impossible it was to see the inner hip moving forward down until one day it was just there. Then I was running around happily cheering that my eyes were finally opening!
Remember
- Start watching the hooves in relation to each other and then lift your eyes on the horse.
- It takes time to develop your horse vision but just continue and one day you will see.