Controlling the shoulders is important for so many exercises such as turning, circles and lateral work and improving connection with the shoulders improves your ridden communication as well as your horse’s balance and body awareness.
Horses who lose balance or connection with the shoulders will often be heavier on one front leg than the other, fall in/out through the shoulders (meaning that they drift in one direction or run out through their shoulder when you try and turn), prefer one rein over another, struggle to turn especially in higher paces or tighter turns, or feel heavy on their front end, which can lead to tripping or rushing.
In this video, I show you how to isolate the shoulders from the saddle with Heather. This will teach you how to communicate to your horse that you want her to move her shoulders in a specific direction and is the building block to so many other exercises.
You’ll learn clicker training for riding and how to use positive reinforcement under saddle, for schooling and dressage.
➣ The FULL version of this video, showing the unabridged training session, is available in the ‘Riding with Connection’ Course in the CT Club. You get instant access to all of the Courses as soon as you join, so if you want to know more about +R under saddle, please join us!
➣ Want to know more? The bestselling Connection Training BOOK is the place to start 📖 Get it on Amazon or download Chapter 1 free here for a preview 👀
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Really love this! I’m looking to start clicker training my horse to connect better with him and it’s looks so much fun! How did you get her to starting crossing in order to train on the ground first?
Hi Jen, thanks for your comment. Here’s the vid on crossing the front legs from the ground: https://connectiontraining.com/how-to-teach-your-horse-to-move-their-shoulders-over/
There are step-by-step vids (along with all the other groundwork exercises) in the Gymnastic Groundwork Course in the CT Club, so do check that out if you’d like more info and a programme to follow https://connectiontraining.com/learn-ct-online-2/
And yes, I followed this path because my horses and I had never had so much fun!