Lateral Flexion

[saddlebredlover994]

I'm not sure if this belongs in this forum but i didn't really know where to put it.

My question is: what exactly is lateral flexion and what is the importance? It is referred to many times but I don't really understand what it means. I was hoping some of you could clear this up for me.

I know that vertical flexions is tucking the nose, or bending at the poll, so I assume lateral flexion is moving left and right?

[SmartAlex]

That's bending the spine left or right in an arch. Your horse should be able to give his neck left ot right, and the rest of his spine should continue the arc.

I do some limbering exercises with my horse where I ask him to stand and give his neck left and right to loosen it. It helps keep him from bracing his jaw against the bit due to stiffness or soreness in his neck. He can bring his nose all the way to his hip, but you don't need to do that. Just inches will do.

I once had it explained to me by a dressage clinician who wondered why anyone would want to insist their horse rubber neck all the way to the stirrup. "How far do you want him to go?" But some horses do like to stretch that far just because they feel the benefit of lengthening that muscle.

[Sit]

Smart Alex described it technically. I like to think of it as a horse responding to direct contact with one rein by moving his head and neck that way in a collected (flexed) manner. He needs to do it readily with no "pulling" (by either the horse or rider). This is the key IMO to collection or "head set" in a Saddlebred. (Other breeds can collect somewhat, but they can't "set their head" because their necks are not put on to do it.)

So bending both ways, sometimes bending the entire body, sometimes just the neck, are very important. With five gaited horses, it becomes even more important because one way to keep a five gaited horse in form at the rack is to gently and subtly bend him from side to side. (Watch The Master, Redd Crabtree, do it in the show ring -- a clinic on racking and bending.)

It can be a little boring for the rider, but most horses like to bend, especially if you bend them around the inside leg and do it both ways the same amount. They also like bending around a pole or person. The key is to let a horse lower his head a little and tip his nose back as far as he reasonably can (and will) do.

Somebody will have to explain this to me, but I have had at least two horses that favored bending to one one side riding, but the other side driving. It tells me that it starts in the back or legs -- not the mouth, but it is baffling to me.

[SmartAlex]

Somebody will have to explain this to me, but I have had at least two horses that favored bending to one one side riding, but the other side driving. It tells me that it starts in the back or legs -- not the mouth, but it is baffling to me.

I'm going to have to bet the root of that issue is in your butt. Your natural one sideness probably contradicts your horse's natural one sidedness so that you block it when your sitting on him/her. I sit with more weight in my left seat bone. I know I do. Doing yoga I'll even tip over. I had the massage therapist come and work on Grey after I rode him, and you wouldn't believe the reaction she got in the spot my left seat bone goes. My horse is naturally right handed (based on what I see when he is at liberty). I force him to be dominantly left handed when ridden to compensate for me.

[Jrchloe]

SitI like to think of it as a horse responding to direct contact with one rein by moving his head and neck that way in a collected (flexed) manner. He needs to do it readily with no "pulling" (by either the horse or rider).

I’m sorry Sit but I’m dense and slow so could you please explain this a little more? What is the definition of “pulling”? And with this definition how does one go about doing this to help their horse set their head?

SitWith five gaited horses, it becomes even more important because one way to keep a five gaited horse in form at the rack is to gently and subtly bend him from side to side.

Sorry again. When you say bend from side to side is it just at the poll (I think I have seen Mr. Neil Visser do this on a 3 gaited horse if I understand what you are describing) or is it more like a one step serpentine kind of bend (like trying to pull diagonal pairs of legs to step sideways together)?

[Sit]

Thanks SmartAlex. I think you are right, but I'm not sure which is cause and which is effect. Both horses put me to the right side of their backs and didn't bend right as well under saddle, but bent right lining or jogging. My left leg is shorter than my right by about 3/8 of an inch and I have never figured out if I should lengthen or shorten the left stirrup (so I just leave it the same length as the right). I'm trying to concentrate on putting the same amount of weight on both stirrups becasue I think I put more on the right leg. Another oddity. I come up 95% of the time on the left diagonal. I've tried sitting a stride on the first steps, but I'm still on the left side. It bugs me. I have always assumed that it has something to do with the shorter left leg, but am clueless in reality.

Jrchloe, I'm not sure I can add much more, except you always want the neck to bend some. The actual change in the path of the horse's feet if you were on a straight line would not vary by more than a few inches in the show ring. But at home, you definitely serpentine as part of the bending. You know it when you see it or feel it. The main thing is that it is smooth, not extreme and basically comfortable for the horse. Try doing just a little and go from there. Less is more, keep it simple, and stick to the basics.

[SmartAlex]

Your balance and issues are the exact opposite of mine.

My left leg is stronger (years of mounting from the ground). My right knee is stiff, and I have a lot of trouble with the lower right leg swinging forward. I hit the right diagonal 100% of the time naturally (because I'm sitting on the left hind leg), and have to make a concentrated effort to hit the left diagonal on the first try. I sit harder in my left seat bone. I stretch my left leather, and it isn't from mounting since I use a block, and change my leathers regularly. Sometimes I resort to raising the right leather a notch. I can't say if one leg is shorter or if it is just a strength issue.

Seriously, find a web video or something of pilates/yoga and try it a few times. I didn't unravel this until I had taken a more than just a few classes and I became more aware of my balance and squareness through my core. I adjusted my seat so I felt I was putting more pressure on the right side, and voila', the left diagonal improved as if by magic. I still have trouble controlling my right leg, but getting my weight even has helped that too.

[Mona129]

Sit, jessica jahiel just wrote about this. Brita its the first thing i thought, too. Look in her archives at horse-sense.org about rein lameness. She talks a lot about how our bodies and what is bothering us, can translate into an issue with the horse.

[ASB Stars]

I am not sure that the terms "lateral" and "flexion" would be how I would describe it, but in dressage, we use lateral bend, and a horse is trained to reflect the direction that they are going, and be bent from nose to tail, on that line. So, for example, a horse on a 20 meter circle will reflect much less bend than a horse on an 8 meter circle.

We also do lateral movements, beginning with the leg yield, and moving through to canter half-passes. In these exercises, once again, excluding the leg yield, where a bit of contrabend is acceptable, the horse is bent nose to tail, in the direction that they are going. Half passes, shoulder in, haunches in, etc. are performed on three tracks, necessitating correct bend.

It is unacceptable for a dressage horse to go through a turn contrabent. It is essential for the basics to be installed correctly before moving on to more difficult movements.

Rob Byers absolutely understands the dressage work from which all of this comes. He is a good man to watch work a horse.

[Sit]

SmartAlex, too bad we're so far apart. The easiest solution would be for you to ride them one day and me the next. Much more a WMU solution than me going to yoga classes!

[3mares]

Check out this thread. Tre Lee did this training clinic back in February and somebody posted a video. Very great information here!

http://www.trot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5951&page=4&highlight=Training+Clinic