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Let’s talk about relaxation!

Anna Vickery

Let’s talk about relaxation!

I have often noticed that the art and awareness of relaxation in riders and horses training is frequently missed out.

Perhaps our use of language that is to blame or maybe the entire concept is fundamentally misunderstood.

I think it is fair to say that for a lot of people relaxation in their work with their horse would mean a rest period between exercises, a time to relax, maybe stretch?

For me, relaxation has nothing to do with the above. When working with relaxation I am looking for specific signals that tell me that the mental and physical bodies are harmonious, within the horse, within the rider, and ultimately within one another. I aim to work with the state of relaxation in everything I do with a horse.

Relaxation quite literally means “the state of being free from tension and anxiety.” Oxford Dictionary.

In my opinion finding true relaxation is the holy grail when I’m training horses. I believe that every movement worthy in a schooling session whether from the ground or ridden should essentially come from a place of relaxation.

Relaxation is always a work in progress. It isn't easy, but it is the bedrock for learning correctly and safely.

The opposite of relaxation is of course tension.

Tension, anxiety and ultimately fear are unquestionably useless and damaging interactions in horse training. A tense horse will not learn properly and cannot use it’s body correctly. Confusion is often quick to set in, resulting in overreaction and sometimes explosive behaviour.

For the rider to master relaxation is just as challenging. Tension in our own bodies affects the horses. Tension in our minds affect our abilities to communicate clearly. Our own inner frustrations and anxieties tend to be the antithesis for correct horse training and connection.

On the German training scale relaxation sits somewhere on the line between rhythm and suppleness. Using this system, relaxation is found through movement. Through relaxation comes rhythm and through rhythm comes relaxation. There are also, of course many other ways to help create relaxation through your partnership with your horse.

When grouped together the key words in the German scale build the perfect picture of a correctly trained horse. Rather like a great painting being brought lo life. You cannot have the foreground without the background. You cannot jump sections, find quick fixes or ignore issues. Once the foundations are established you will always be revisiting the basic principles. You do not learn something and never return.

And so here we come back to the beginning of our post. From relaxation comes everything and from everything we teach we should try to return back to a place of relaxation.

Only from this place can the horse truly learn, feel safe, digest, rebalance and get ready to begin to learn again.

<3


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