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WHY CHOOSE JONI BENTLEY TRAINING? Her training is unique; Joni has developed her own rider/horse training system, much like F.M. Alexander developed one for humans.
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? She teaches riders and horses to flow rather than be fixed into an, "outline" drawing from her experience of French Classical dressage, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and NLP.
5) She brings out the rider in you with her logical anatomical approach to training.
6) She shows you the benefits of power versus force.
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.

POWER

Both F.M. Alexander and the great classical masters agreed that self carriage depends on the neck being free to balance the body. Only then can the head, neck and back work unimpeded as an integrated whole.

 

 The Classical  Masters concur that the horse's head and neck must be allowed to move up and out of the shoulders in a graceful uncramped arc seeking the bit in order for the quarters to sit and support the forehand.

Horses and human body are slung in a web of musculature from the head, rather like a suspension system. We are both vertebrae, the only difference is that we are 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.

FORCE

The main reason horses are resistant to going on the bit is because they are crooked behind. By forcing a horse with a pelvic twist - as in the photos left and right - into “an outline,” by pulling them in and kicking them on, or even worse using draw reins, you tighten and contract the neck and lock it down and in. With the neck contracted and short the hind quarters can't lower or step under.

                  COMPARING GOOD AND BAD USE OF THE HORSE'S BODY
 

BAD USE: THE HEAD MUST GO DOWN?

  • Feeling the pain of the bit digging in his tongue the horse defends by either going above or behind the bit.

  • You lock the head and neck down and in (the very opposite to good posture)

  • You lock them on the forehand rendering the balancing mechanism- the head and neck- useless 

  • You leave the crookedness in the quarters unresolved.

  • You over flex the top of the spine leaving the underside weak

  • You prevent the horse from seeking the bit up and out of his wither in an uncramped arch.

  • You prevent the spine from lengthening and widening which inhibits efficient breathing, and easier, fuller lateral bending.

  • You make the horse claustrophobic, contracted and unhappy.
 

BETTER USE: QUARTERS DOWN FOREHAND UP.

  • His quarters are sitting back and down.

  • His hind legs are stepping well under.

  • The horse's head and neck is moving up and out of his shoulders in a graceful uncramped arc seeking the bit.

  • His posture is working to its optimum power for this damaged horse's level of training.

  • He is engaged behind and as a natural consequence the forehand is up and light.

  • 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.

 

 

Case study on the affects of draw reins

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?

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Joni Bentley, Alexander teacher, author of Riding Success Without Stress, specialist in horse and rider biomechanics.