For years, I worked and rode my horses feeling very proud of the fact that my horses had the softest feel in the pole and face. Yet, I never understood that true softness travels through the face, pole, neck, withers, shoulders, fore legs, barrel, flank, hips and all the way down to the hind feet and tail.
Where did this idea of softness start? Ask many folks and I’m sure we will get a multitude of answers, but I really think it starts in the brain. And with that, we strive for willingness from the horse. Alternatively, I think we sometimes confuse for softness would be lightness.
I find many troubled horses I work with to be very light, but not soft, in the beginning. Most light horses are very reactive but not very responsive. Think about that and let that sink in. I kind of refer to lightness as a pinball banging between the bumpers! Just trying to get the right answer by trying everything!
Now, back to softness. After reading Bill Dorrance’s book, “True Horsemanship Through Feel,” I began to understand that softness doesn’t stop at the ears. The message needs to travel further down the body to the desired point of action. So, If I’m asking for the horse to back up on a very light feel, his hind feet should lead the way. After all, that’s the engine! A turn on the forehand should get a response of a shift of weight, inward step of the outside hind followed by the lateral step of the inside hind. I’m sure some will disagree with the order of movement so give it a try and feel what keeps you in balance the most. This can be another discussion for another time!
If I find myself trying to create softness in my horse, I must identify every part of their body and a cue to address that point of action. Action because it’s not always about movement, sometimes it can be about stopping movement.
I may just want the horse to make one step backwards so I may start with a slight feel in the rein, maybe the weight of a can of Pepsi, ‘The pride of the Carolinas’. There’s the wanna-be sponsor plug! With that feel I’ll just wait, no more added pressure, just go with the horse until he decides to go with you!
The small quiet cue is what creates softness, not the pull harder until he moves cue. That would create a reaction/avoidance of the pain that might be coming. If you get a shift of weight, release, rest, let him think about it a bit.
Now, let’s try it again, find the feel and wait…maybe a foot this time, release and rest, and think. Before long, you will have this thing going on with even less. Patience is the key to response, response is the key to softness. Urgency is the key to reaction, and reaction is the key to lightness! Think about that, and let that sink in. You pick the world you want you and your horse to live in.
The reward of softness is being able to operate in a quiet feel, quiet voice, and a quiet body.
As always, Enjoy the Ride!