| You'd be shocked how important it is to have control | | | | Now imagine trying to walk straight or turning circles if |
| of your horse's shoulders. Here are the problems with | | | | your hips are feeling out of balance. You would have a |
| lack of control. | | | | hard time doing it. Plus, it would be difficult to walk |
| Keeping your horse's shoulders up and square keeps | | | | comfortably. |
| his hips balanced. Why is this important? It's important | | | | So if you keep the shoulders square, you have a more |
| because the propulsion comes from his hind legs. This, | | | | comfortable horse that can do circles a lot better. Not |
| of course, is from the hip area. Thus, you want the | | | | only that, keeping his shoulders square will keep him |
| hips to be in balance. You see, there's something | | | | from wanting to lean and do a circle to offset his hip |
| human anatomy has that equines don't. What is it? It's | | | | being pulled on. |
| a collar bone. So what? Without a collar bone, it | | | | How can you tell if your horse is leaning with his |
| makes it easier for a horse to lean. When your horse | | | | shoulder? If you're riding a circle and it gets smaller and |
| leans, he can pull his hips out of balance. That is why | | | | smaller... then that's an indication. Or, if you're riding a |
| we need shoulder control. | | | | circle and it gets oval and/or bigger, that indicates he's |
| Let me show you how this can pull hips out of balance. | | | | dropping his outside shoulder. If that happens, then you |
| The first thing to do is find a chair and sit upright in it. | | | | can see the value of your horse's shoulders being |
| As soon as you're settled, lean to the left. When you | | | | squared up. |
| do, notice how you start feeling it pull in your right hip. | | | | |