Longeing before sidemovements ?

The big term groundwork is first of all a heading for everything you do on the ground when you are not riding.

Groundwork starts as soon as you lead the horse, i.e. when you take the horse out of the stable. After all, you have to get from A to B first. That is why we start (also with our education and training level) with the leadership exercises (level A) and then do the same at a distance, that is then longeing (level B). That goes seamlessly into one another.

 

In terms of content, this means a diligent running, also going for a walk and leading the
horse with the transitions to the halt. Here we are already creating a very important
basic for trust and obedience and the first important aid. We let the horse take on to
the right and left and also take a halt from time to time. Outside of the riding arena, we
also want to make sure that the horse stops at a traffic red light and doesn't just go on.
But if the traffic light is green, we should be moving to stay in the flow of traffic.

We work these very important preparations with bodylanguage. The bodylanguage is
derived from the natural herd behavior, so that a horse that grew up in a herd structure
should understand us. 

If we work these aids of forward and halt on a distance on a circle, that is longeing.
Here we move on to the first basic gymnastics. The horse should supple up, so relax
forward and down and thus trust us. We continue to give the signals to start and to
halt, as in the first leadership exercises, only on the longe.  

The further groundwork, e.g. the sidemovements, the increased, more targeted and
detailed stellning and bending (e.g. work in standing or by walking backwards on the
circle), also the beginning of the schoolhalt, I classify as advanced groundwork (level
C) (not to confund with handwork). Here we increase the suppleness of the horse, want
more stellning and bending and a lot of more flexibility in the horse. The horse should
already be well trained, be able to listen well and trust us well. As a rule, however, one
does not really start with the sidemovements if the horse is not yet standing still, cannot
listen, and generally questions us. 

As a rule, the horse should be longed beforehand so that we have a flowing, supple
forward in the horse, because the forward is the element that will get lost again the
fastest, especially when working the sidemovements, but also later in collection. The
movement then quickly becomes short and stiff. 

With older, more settled horses it may be possible and also useful to start with the
gymnastical groundwork, i.e. in standing or walking. 

You can calmly explain the aids, mobilize the horses shoulder a bit, have each leg set
very specifically and only gradually let the horse a little more out on the circle.
Training is individual, it is definitely related to the individual. 

But if we want to start from a common thread in training, the more logical conclusion
is to move from the basic leadership exercises to a circle. We don't really want to slow
down the urge to move, we just want to organize the movements and gradually bring
the horse into shape, working on its crookedness. 

In the case of the horses fundamental questions of upbringing and trust, longeing gives
you the opportunity to get the horse to move more freely and still pay attention to
yourself. For the trainer, working from a distance is a relatively safe position.
Longeing gives us educational horsemanship work on the one hand, and freer forward
movement in the horse on the other hand, so that the horse can get supple forward-
down itself first, without putting too much concentration or too much meticulousness
on precise individual groundwork. The horse should always have fun at work and the
lessons or positions and elements that we choose should motivate the horse to
advance in its training. You can then gradually become more precise and finer
incorporate playfully here and there.

If we work meticulously in high gymnastics too early (schoolhalt, sidemovements,
collection), it can happen that we take away the horse`s desire to learn. There are
disadvantages to it. The horse`s body and mind must be able to keep up. Otherwise
there wil be strains and/ or frustration. Otherwise, the forward movement and with
it the suppleness is unfortunately quickly lost.

Especially when we are working in handwork position, it can be the case that the horse
does "sidemovements", but a basic forward movement is slowed down because we
are close to the horse and the work also has to go along with it. The movement then
simply tends to falter. 

As always, a good mixture of everything makes sense and is a good solution, but it
depends on the individual horse (or the trainer). 

From a good forward and an obedient horse, we get very flowing sidemovements, very
soft parades and a motivated mind. If we are too strict or too fast in the sidemovements
or parades, the movement is no longer flowing. Then the horse presses on our hand,
goes against. Rather, you have to discipline and frustration quickly arises. 

The sidemovements should come out of a forward flow, the dynamics should be
maintained. However, the horse must have learned to listen beforehand so that it does
not hurry away or ignore the instructor. So here we are again in the bodylanguage that
we should have built up from the leadership and longeing training before. 

Longeing with bodylanguage is ideal because it combines horsemanship work well with
basic gymnastics.

You don`t need the cavesson for the initial horsemanship work. I still like to have it
on the horse, because the work flows seamlessly into one another. With the
cavesson we can already ask for some stellning when the horse looks outwards so that we
can give an idea of inwards stelling and downwards again. These are first ideas for
stellning in motion. 

The moving forward in a supple and relaxed manner is very important to us. In a playful
way, you can gradually incorporate the aids in more detail, explain them to the horse
and then take them with you in motion. 

The advanced groundwork then goes into greater detail. You refine the work. This is
where the sidemovements come into play. Longeing the sidemovements in the next
step is quite a high standard for rider and horse, because here one queries
the sidemovements from a distance. But you only need a beginning, an entrance, so to
speak. You don't start with that. You first explain the sidemovements up close. And the
sidemovements up close are not the beginning when you get the horse out of the
stable, etc. 

Of course, if you can 😉, you can train the horse completely while standing,
teaching the aids, explain sidemovements and set the parades😉. Conversely, the
horse is a moving animal and we also want to ride 😉. We need and want
the movement and we want to bring it into a beautiful shape that we can
ride comfortably and that brings the horse into balance.

 

The following is helpful: 

Principle: 

The individuality of the story of rider and horse should always come first. This
text serves more as a logical thread. 

Compromises are always made in training.  

My tip: 

Some horses are well advised to be worked very precisely and calmly in
rehabilitation so that first aids are explained and first of all the horse learns to put
every single leg correctly in walk. But if you want to describe it in a general way,
it should be possible to include free, relaxed and supple longeing movements into
the work again and again.
 

I recommend including longeing work into your training every now and then in order
to maintain a basic suppleness in the horse.

 

Touchstone: 

The harmony should be preserved, it is not the exercise or the working position that
is decisive. 

Sidemovements should not only be sidemovements, but supple sidemovements with real
capacity to carry weight. 

The horse should not only just carry out the exercise, because it has just learned
it, but should be motivated in the matter of "be allowed to think along", 
be allowed to contribute its own ideas and exude self-confidence and strength. 

The touchstone is the charisma of your horse. If the charisma is lost,
the exercise or the path just may not be right. 

You should then take a break. Then go back to the beginning, maybe "just" go for
a walk again and take a very careful look at where the harmony and the 
flow have been lost. Where and why did you “get lost” or “tightened”
and what exactly did the horse not understand? How did the horse react?
And maybe also the question: how often has the vet been there and why? 

Only then does it continue. 

Ask yourself the question: What do you want to educate? 

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Sandra Mauer, blanq 

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