Let Loose

Karen Rohlf who wrote Dressage Naturally talks about encouraging the horse to 'let loose'. She is a dressage rider who trained with Anne Gibbons and later went on to work with Pat and Linda Parelli. She says that dressage teaches a lot about the biomechanics of horses and some about the emotions of the horse. Parelli and Natural Horsemanship teaches a lot how horses feel, react and think. She combines the two, which is what I work towards as well.

In 'Letting Loose'  she is looking for is the horse stretching his top line, lifting his back and dropping his head. This is done in conjunction with the horse using his abdominal muscles. It relaxes and stretches and strengthens the horse. When a horse relaxes physically, he relaxes mentally and emotionally. Now you have a calm and thinking horse.

                       This is how he started out yesterday, slowly and somewhat relaxed.

I remember the first time I asked Rascal to do this. I couldn't believe how quickly he caught on to what I was asking. In no time at all he was all loosey-goosey and happy and calm. I bent over a bit while lunging him to give him an idea and that smart guy picked it up instantly by mimicking my body language.

Rascal loves moving in this relaxed frame and he will often stretch his nose all the way to the dirt. No pictures of that, as lunging and getting any photos at all was just about more than I could manage!

And a bit more forward.. and lifting his back...

After this warm up we had another fabulous ride. This time I asked him to just let loose while riding, collecting and letting loose.. each loop around the area was better and better. I got loose too!  My husband said he looked fabulous!  But alas, he did not have the camera. So the shot of Rascal cantering will have to do!