In the standing work the horse understanding of the aids is very visible and you practice your own clarity in giving the aids. Your hand is trained to give and receive information.
During groundwork and when teaching the aids we hav worked some part when standing and some part when walking. Now we want to work more actively in standing. This is a very good exercise as it clarifies how we give our aids and how the horse understands the aids. We also practice to give and receive information in our hand.
Stop the horse and stand in front of it, just like a regular groundwork position. Ask for stelling and bendingin one lead and aske the horse to do a shoudler in without moving its feet. I usually ask for the shoulder in by moving the outer shouler inwards. Since the horse should not move its feet, this is only a shift in weight, to add more weight on the inside front leg. Then move the shoulder back to the track and ask for a quartersin, i.e. to turn the quarters inwards, by lifting the whip over the back towards the outer hindleg. Shifting between shoulder in and quarters in while standing is really soft and easy if the horse is supple. If it is hard and rough, then don´t go into it with more force, but try to feel where the horse is stuck and then ask this part to soften.
Shifting between shoulder in and quarters in while standing is really soft and easy if the horse is supple.
When you can change between shoulder in and quarters in we start adding forward down and collection. We ask for shoulder in and forward down and quarters in and collection. When asking for collection then slightly lift the head of the horse. Since the head is connected to the hips, a raised head will lead to a lowered hip, and to lower the hip the hindlegs must bend. If you miss raising the head, the horse may easily just shift its weight backwards, with straight knees, and then you get no collecting effect.
To move like this between forward down and shoulder in and quarters in and collection means you are schooling the halt. Eventually the horse can carry more and more weight on its hindlegs and it will end up in a school halt, where the hindlegs are substantially bending and carry weight in the same time as the inner front leg is lifted as it no longer fits under the horse.
Remember
- If it is not easy to change between shoulder in and quarter in it is due to tensions that you first have to release before you go back to changing between the shoulder in and quarter in.
- Forward down and shoulder in.
- Collection and quarters in.