In the Saddle - November 2011

"I want my horse's head down"

I often hear people talking about wanting their horse’s head down.   I usually want my horse’s head down too.  Why is it so difficult to do?  Why do so many trainers ride around lifting their horse’s heads up?

“The good cutters cut with their heads down really low.”   Yes, and no.  Before looking at a picture and saying the head is low, look at the head in relation to the hindquarters.   Often the hind is much lower, it’s really an optical illusion.  In most of the rest of the cases the horse only turns with its head low and runs and stops with the head higher than the hindquarters.  So, how and why?  It’s about the hindquarters and draw.   By draw I mean the horses inclination to step backwards through the turn.  As the horse does this his hindquarters support his body weight and he can then drop his head and neck through the turn.   How about those few horses that do it all with a low head?  Same deal.  The ones running across the pen with their head low are of two types: those who run with their hindquarters deep under their body and those who are about to get beat in the next stop!   So, if you like a low head in a cutter my advice is forget the head, work on getting the hindquarters deep and be obsessive about the horse drawing back through every turn.   If the horse is capable of doing it he will work with a low head. 

How about reiners?   First, understand that not all horses are built to work with a low head.   I love the way it looks when it’s correct and I really love how it feels and works.  However, when a horse with the wrong conformation does it, it’s awful.   For the head to be low with the horse in balance the hindquarters must step under to bear the weight.   In order for that to happen the shoulders MUST lift.  It is much easier to lift the shoulders with the head higher and for many horses they must have an elevated neck in order to get the hindquarters under the body.  For those who can carry their head low, they must have hindquarters reaching and shoulders lifted or when the head drops the shoulders drop too, the hindquarters pop out behind the horse and voila, disaster!

So what happens when the head is low without the shoulders up?  First, the horse will be likely to be pushy or “on the muscle” as it runs.  If the shoulders are heavy the stride shortens in front and lengthens in back and the horse must gain a little speed each stride to keep its balance.  Just like when you or I trip, we run with our hind feet to catch our balance.  Second, they will prop in the front in sliding stops (probably after a bad run down).    If they don’t prop they will throw the head up so that they can get the butt down.   The classic shoulder low, butt high lead change includes a kick, hop or tail swish.   The spins will have a slow front end which leads to being over-bent, hind end not around a stationary pivot foot and probably the use of the wrong pivot.    On a cow, it leads to scrambled turns, cow being driven faster through each turn, jammed stops, leaking to the cow and so many other problems I don’t have the paper to cover them all. 

So, why encourage a horse to work with the head low at all?  Simple, it feels soft as warm butter, it looks good,  the way the horse works is responsive, flowing and effective and finally the horses we love to watch do it that way.

So, the final question:  How?   There are too may specific, tiny little situations to cover them all here, especially since one of the answers is collection and that alone has inspired countless books, none of which make it clear or easy.  But, suffice it to say, in all you do the shoulders must make room for the hindquarters and the hindquarters must bear the weight of the body.   If you want your horse to work with a low head, forget the head, work on the hindquarters.  If the hind and shoulders are working right, the head will drop by itself.