flat work

Whatever the sensitivity of a horse, his response to the rider’s aids is primarily linked to his training and how well he understands the request. Setting good codes of communication with a horse, requires, first of all that the rider be in a good physical condition to use his body properly. When the rider is able to position himself correctly and is apt for the work demand, then he needs to be tactful enough to act at the correct time and at the correct level of intensity depending on his horse.

Horse’s temperament and rider’s behaviour

It is obvious that some horses are more sensitive and hot than others. However, it should not prevent the rider from making sure that his horse understands the request correctly. Quite often, some riders would say: “My horse is not responsive … He’s sluggish…He’s too cold…”.  It is indeed frequent to find some horses who have become completely cold to the leg aid because the request from the rider is not clear enough.

In this type of situation, the riders’ response is always the same. We take a stick, some stronger spurs….According to Michel that escalation will not bring any good if not to have a horse that will give up.
On top of it, if the rider starts influencing his horse in a strong way; the stronger he gets, the worse his position will be. It will disturb his actions with some stiffness and unwanted movements and the horse will be more and more confused in his mind.

A solution the soft way

An easy solution exists. It will palliate quickly to the problem of a horse that does not respond to the leg aid. Michel’s training method is based on the correct physical and mental influence from the rider, the correct level of influence and the good understanding of the horse. This video gives you the perfect insight into it. Lucile and Baladine demonstrate the exercise. To start with, the mare is cold to the leg and the rider tries to carry her mare all the time hoping to reach and stay at the correct speed.

At the end of the lesson, Lucile is impressed by the responsiveness of her mare.

This session is linked to the sheet A2 of the Training program 1 

This exercise is comprehensive and technical, which is among Michel’s favourite exercises.  It teaches the riders to be very meticulous in their position, the track they are on and the control of the speed.  It is a perfect exercise to practise the basics prior to a jumping session.  The goal is to program the horse and rider before jumping.

The set-up which consists of two ground flexi Jump poles, is really easy to realise and shows no risk for the riders and horses. That said, it will require a lots of focus and some preparation from the rider.  He/ she will have to comply with the requirements of a course, practising the flexions to the right and left, the approaches and landings, a certain number of strides between poles, the straightness, some flying change of leads, increasing and decreasing the speed….all that while keeping a light seat, to offer the freedom of movement to the horse. Quite a program.

This exercise is shown on the sheet G7 of the Training program 1

According to Michel, it is essential that horses know how to rein-back. It is a good suppleness exercise which gives the horse awareness of his whole body and particularly his hind quarter. Frequently horses have a hard time to connect their front end to their hind end. It is even truer with young horses who focus more on their front end that their hind end. The rein-back is a good solution to solve this issue as it asks the horse to use the hind-leg joints while increasing the energy flow along the horse’s spine. Therefore, the rein-back is an excellent exercise to improve the horse’s pushing power and the suppleness of his back.

However, the rein-back will only benefit your horse if it is correctly performed. Unfortunately, too many riders force the rein-back by leaning back and pulling on their horse’s mouth, and this is counter-productive.

This exercise will help you overcome the technical difficulties of a course without straining your horse. It can be practised by riders of all levels and will help you gain correct habits: a symmetrical position, a straight horse in the approach and landing, follow a precise track in the turns and on straight lines, get ready and anticipate each action, keep a steady rhythm.

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

Alice came to stay a few days for a clinic at Michel Robert’s yard. The first videos show Alice’s preliminary flat work lessons. Alice’s horse is overwhelmed as it’s his first time working in a field. Open spaces, other horses around, news jumps ….all are excuses for him to express his joy! During this lesson, Michel will emphasise on the body position and mind-set the rider needs to adopt, in order to deal with her horse’s emotions, while working him with no excessive constraints. This lesson will show you that it’s possible to control a high energy level horse without any rein-aids or other kind of coercive methods which can ruin the horse’s mind and body.
 

The active leg action is independent from the other leg. This leg is useful in moving the horse’s haunches on an inside track or maintaining the haunches on the track while the rider is moving the horse’s shoulder on an inside track. In the first case, we call it haunches in, in the second case, we call it shoulder in. In order to practice these exercises, the rider will have to dissociate the actions of his legs but he will also have to coordinate them.

In this lesson, Michel reviews a few basics for the rider to do the correct movements which will make it easier for the horse to understand the requests.
 

In this session, Michel teaches Pierre who is riding Quatmandou, a 9 year old gelding.   
Pierre is in control of his horse, but he has a tendency to overly constraint his horse with his legs and hands. The goal of this session is to obtain lighter aids from the rider in a manner as to let Quatmandou move with more freedom. In the end, Pierre will gain in efficiency by letting his horse express his full potential.