Mary Allen
Momentum relieves the horse’s back, promotes strength and elasticity of the hindquarter muscles, and makes dressage horses look as if they are dancing.
Momentum, in the sense of the horse training scale, is defined as an energetic impulse from the hindquarters that is transferred to the overall forward motion of the steed. This can only work in gaits with a suspension phase, i.e. in the trot and canter, the walk is considered a gait without momentum. Conversely, one might think that momentum is synonymous with speed. But that’s not true: Difficult exercises such as the piaffe or canter pirouette can do almost entirely without speed, but require a lot of strength and momentum from the hindquarters.
“From the outside, you can tell a lively horse by the fact that the croup seems to be lowering and the hind legs take big, relaxed steps without the horse seeming too hasty,” says Zoe Sanigar Zollinger, equine psychological behavioral therapist and centered riding therapist.
Momentum under saddle can only develop if a horse runs in time and is relaxed. The muscles of the back in particular must be able to let go so that it can arch up towards the rider. This creates an arch of tension that bends upwards, relieving the long back muscles. On the other hand, the two neck-back straps are stretched over the croup and the withers and help to relieve the non-supporting structures of the back and to carry the rider’s weight.
Training Requires a Lot of Patience
“Only when the back is arched is it physically possible for a healthy horse under the rider to let its hind legs swing far below its center of gravity,” says Sanigar Zollinger. She warns against trying to bring young horses or correction horses into an upright position too quickly and letting them walk on the forehand for too long. Instead, you should ride youngsters, i.e. horses that are still in their basic training, straight ahead at all gaits until they have developed the necessary torso and hindquarters muscles. It is important to ensure that the stretching posture is correct. This must not put excessive strain on the forehand. One should be aware that such training takes several months.
In addition, riders should work on their seat – preferably with the support of an experienced trainer. Because the thrust from the hindquarters can only swing forward if the rider does not block the movement with a stiff pelvis, pinched legs, or an unyielding hand. A saddle that does not fit properly or health problems can also be to blame for a horse being tense and therefore losing momentum or not being able to develop it at all.
Even if it requires a lot of patience, the effort is worth it: when a horse lets loose and trots energetically through the arena, it is a visual pleasure. Contrary to popular belief, a lively horse does not catapult the rider out of the saddle, but takes him with him (provided the seat is released), so it is more comfortable to sit. But the most important point is that developing momentum is essential for good and healthy riding.
“With Western horses, the back is relieved and the movements flow through the entire horse’s body, which relieves all bone, tendon, and ligament structures,” explains Sanigar Zollinger, who teaches all riding styles. In classically ridden horses with the aim of relative uprightness, the muscles in the hindquarters can only be stimulated further when swinging, so that later they can also bear the load. In addition, swing training stretches the so-called trouser muscles of the hindquarters and ensures that they remain elastic and the hind legs do not become backward, which in turn would lead to the back being pulled down. Enough reasons to encourage even purely recreational horses to work actively and energetically with their hind legs. This is the only way they can carry a rider’s weight without being damaged.
The fact that momentum is equally important for horses of all breeds and riding styles does not mean that all horses have the same movement potential. This is due to the individual physical requirements, and different breeds were bred for different purposes. While one can often observe an enormous “basic momentum” in modern warm-blooded horses as early as the foal age, many compact Iberian horses bring less power than a high ability to collect (the hindquarters of the horse increasingly bear the burden of the rider’s and horse’s weight). This is a requirement to be agile enough for farm work.
Step Exercises Make Sense
Riders of fast-moving warmbloods don’t have it any easier, warns Sanigar Zollinger: “It’s often much more difficult to let go of large-framed, fast-moving horses and to ride them energetically.” This is especially true at the beginning of the training, when they are still solid in the back and “throw” the rider. The rider then often automatically tenses up to compensate for the throws, and the hands also become hard or restless.
The horse reacts immediately with further tension. As thigh walkers with a straight back and insteps, such horses can still appear spectacular and lively, but they have long since lost the real momentum in the sense of the classic training scale. More compact, less gaited horses, on the other hand, are quicker to sit well. “In my experience, they are more forgiving of rider and seat errors,” says the specialist.
Every horse can develop momentum within the scope of its possibilities. The best way to promote momentum depends primarily on the age and level of training of the horse. “You can teach young horses by hand to use their hindquarters more by touching the hindquarters and using a special voice command,” says Sanigar Zollinger. Later, the voice command on the hand or the lunge is enough to let the horse take off more energetically.
Under saddle, the horse should be able to correctly stretch forwards and downwards in a straight line at a fresh pace before riding trot-canter transitions and tempo differences within each gait. “The walk doesn’t have a floating phase, but it’s still excellent for activating the hindquarters,” advises Sanigar Zollinger. Good step exercises are, for example, riding uphill and downhill on stretches that are not very steep off-road – in the correct arc of tension and not on the discarded reins, because that gives you strength. Leaving the thighs at a slow, calm pace also promotes stretching and building up the muscles in the hindquarters, which is good for momentum development at the trot and canter.