The video: Andy came to me because he was having behavioural and soundness issues with Leo, see below for more information. Depending on your broadband connection it my take a short while for the video to start.

WHY CHOOSE JONI BENTLEY TRAINING? Her training is unique; Joni has developed her own rider/horse training system, much like F.M. Alexander and Feldenkrais developed in humans. They were not taught by experts, they worked it out for themselves much like the equestrian classical masters. More here...

 

Her training shows you how to:

1. Make your training free of obstructive barriers by schooling the rider first.
2. Stop banging away at training that doesn't get results.
3. Make training classically correct, kind, safe and successful for riders of all levels.
4. Make your training more organic and less panic and manic?
5. She teaches riders and horses to flow rather than be fixed into an, "outline."
7. She brings out the rider in you with her logical anatomical approach to training.
8. She shows you the benefits of power versus force.

F.M. Alexander Moshe Feldenkrais, the great classical masters and Dr Gerd Heuschmann all agreed that self carriage in both horse and rider depends on the neck being free to balance the body. Only then can the head, neck and back work unimpeded as an integrated whole.

F.M. Alexander discovered that for good locomotion in humans, the neck must be free to allow the head to move forwards up and out of the shoulders. Only then can the back lengthen, widen, and the lower body  suspend down onto the ground in an opposing direction. Horses and human body are slung in a web of musculature from the head, rather like a suspension system. They  are both vertebrae, the only difference is that humans are organised on a vertical plane and horses on a horizontal plane. When the head leads the movement in a forward and upward direction it literally draws upwards on the bones to which the muscles are attached. This drawing upwards is balanced by muscles releasing downwards in an opposing direction.

The main reason horses are resistant to going on the bit is due to this natural posture being disturbed. It often manifests in crookedness behind see photo left.  When horses are forced into “an outline,” by pulling them in and kicking them on, or even worse using draw reins they cannot lower their hind quarters enough to step well under their body and raise their forehand. Head in quarters up and out is biomechanically incorrect! This rider is not pulling the horse in. The horse's  previous training taught him to contract like this and it has now  become a learned habit.  When  a horse is locked down onto the forehand they cannot use their natural balance as nature intended, see above. The horse's neck is stiff and too short, he is behind the vertical, his croup is high and his quarters are trailing. Being bent out of shape with their natural crookedness unresolved, horse's never learn to seek the bit and lengthen and widen their back. This also impacts on efficient breathing, fuller lateral bending and their happiness. The horse feels  claustrophobic, contracted and a slave rather than a friend.

The same horse three mouths later. Quarters lower and stepping well under the body. This horse's posture is now a little more engaged behind and as a natural consequence his forehand is more raised.  At this stage the rider has to carry his hands higher to prevent the horse from going back to his old habits of over bending due to being ridden in draw reins. He is happily listening to his rider with his nose on the vertical and his poll the highest point.

Working with osteopath Timothy Marris, I made a study of the effects of draw reins on horses. Marris and I arrived at these conclusions after examining a horse before, during and after the use of draw reins. According to Marris, the pull of the draw rein creates excessive flexion to the vertebra of the poll and upper neck area. The resulting pressure on the brain could give the horse a headache and worsen any existing weakness throughout the spine. This strain is passed back along the neck and spine to the pelvis, causing restriction of breathing, tightening of the lower ribs and tension in the back muscles. Marris says the disturbance of the nerve supply to the front legs would easily cause lameness in the front limbs. The most saddening and disappointing effects of these gadgets, including tight side reins, is that they make it more difficult for the horse to raise and round his back. The hind legs struggle to step under leaving the spine with no support. And what effects does this constant pain and restraint have on the horse's spirit and well-being?

For more information see my articles with Dr Gerd Heuschmann.
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