03/03/2026
A short snippet of Lucky working on some haunches mobility to help develop more suppleness in his pelvis, back and ribcage. I enjoy working on this along the indoor wall. Itās fun to see how much changes in a short time for the horses.
Every horse is built differently and itās important that you take that into consideration as you work to develop them. I ride such a large variety of horses that it makes it really fun to experiment with different movements on different body types. These thicker quarter horses that have big muscles that lack natural flexibility, (sort of like the opposite feeling of riding the warmbloods), can stay tight and short through the entire croup, so much so that they wonāt even track up. Mobilizing the haunches in a different way has really opened new doors for them and created a lot more flexibility and reach through the pelvic swing, some of them gaining inches of step.
I have enjoyed using the indoor wall and mirrors to build this slowly, but you can do it along a fence line too. You can also build it in from the ground with even more degree of angle. The wall really helps naturally keep the shoulders more vertical, where as out in the open sometimes it is easy to fall through the shoulder rather than isolate the haunches more. I am in no way a dressage person, but think more counter shoulder-in as you work this. You can experiment with the angle as it feels like each horse has its own sweet spot, and over time through flexibility and strength, you can increase the angle.
For me, I do not want to set the horseās head or neck into a man made position. I prefer each of them to find their own spot that suits their own balance and over time allow it to develop based on their conformation. Simply utilizing the head and neck as a data point to help tell you how the balance is developing from the haunches. I am searching for the horses head to be up, goal of poll the highest point, and Iād prefer an open throat latch, especially on green horses. But keeping in mind that each horse is going to be different and look for where to be themselves, where they start may not be where they will end up, so be patient. This horse always wanted to dump his head low to the ground and working this way has helped allow him to find a little more balance and lift his neck again. He doesnāt offer a ton of lateral mobility at the jaw, so I do not force it on him or expect him to make fast changes in that part of his body. Rather, over time through focusing on his pelvis and hind limbs instead, he is gradually softening his jaw line. I simply help him stay vertical when he wants to drop an ear and the rest of the mobility is up to him to release and find. Each day he gains a bit more confidence in his haunches and that helps him find more of his own stability in the head and neck. You cannot use force to create softness, so instead focus on building strength in different parts of the body (like the haunches), and that can allow the horse to relax and soften in areas where they may be tense, guarded or blocked (the jaw). Horses live on four legs, the answer is rarely at the location of the problem.
I enjoy working on this up one side of the arena, and testing a straight line to a leg yield back to the wall down the other side. Give it a try (a bunch at the walk to start with) and let us know after a few days how it is going! Be patient and remember if its new to your horse, it takes a lot of effort so look for just a step or two to start with and release out of it.
