At some point during our learning process, many riders, myself included, became overly focused on the position of the horse’s head and neck. We were told that if the horse’s head was in the perfect position, it was a sign that everything else was falling into place. This mindset often caused us to prioritize the horse's front-end, neglecting other essential aspects of their movement and overall balance. With the best of intentions, we spent most of our time adjusting the reins, trying to “fix” the head position, rather than considering the bigger picture.

When I began working with trainers who encouraged a different approach, they would consistently remind me to relax the reins and stop fiddling with the bit. "Forget about the head and neck for now," they said. At first, this seemed counterproductive. How could we disregard the very thing we had always considered the measure of a successful ride? "Trust me, the head and neck will come into place if you focus on the rest of the horse," Manolo Mendez often said to me, urging me to pay attention to the horse’s body instead. And, as it turned out, he was absolutely right.

With time, I began to see that a horse’s head and neck naturally settle into the correct position when the body is properly aligned — when the horse is bending correctly, moving with balance and rhythm, and emotionally relaxed. At first, it felt almost too simple, like I was missing something. But the more I let go of the constant adjustments and resisted the urge to pull on the reins, the more I saw the horse find its balance. This is the essence of riding from back to front, as the classical masters have always emphasized.

A brief consideration of the horse’s muscles explains why the head and neck will take care of themselves. In order for him to stabilize his neck posture, the horse must relax and tone the interconnected muscles in his trunk and along his spine. The neck muscles do not work in isolation. They can support postures only when the groups that attach to them make it possible. For instance, if the trunk muscles are completely slack or hyper-tensioned, the neck muscles on the end of that chain cannot perform correct contractions independently.

The more a rider fiddles with the reins the more rigid these muscles become, which makes them unstable. This creates a vicious cycle with the rider tempted to niggle the reins even more to get the head and neck right. The solution is not in the neck; it is in the body. We must fix the body first and the head placement will result automatically.

Trusting this process requires gumption, though, and it can be easier to succumb to the expectations of those watching us. Letting the BODY take care of the HEAD requires letting things get a little messy. The picture will not be one of a horse that is ready for the show ring but one of navigating his imbalances to find a good, sustainable change. Things will look, necessarily, like a work in progress. And that is okay. In fact, it’s better than okay. You might be in this process for ten minutes, ten days, or sometimes ten months. Take a deep breath and relax. You might as well enjoy the process because there is no way around it: The only way to improve a horse’s mechanics is through his whole body not just his neck.

More by Jec Ballou

Photo: Rolf Dannenberg