This is a question I get asked a lot, both implicitly and directly, because none of the herd at the farm are currently able to do traditional riding lessons for various reasons. It is also a question many horse owners are faced with when their own horse is unrideable due to injury, behavioral issues, saddle fit problems and more. I am personally in that very scenario now, as my horse undergoes an extensive physical and mental journey. I know how frustrating and disheartening it can be! But I also know that it can be a blessing in disguise if you are willing to look at it that way. So whether you are facing a day, a week, or a year without riding, or wondering if you should incorporate some more unmounted activities into your riding routine, let’s talk about why it can be a good thing!
First off, I think it’s important to clarify that I am not anti-riding. I myself enjoy riding, and I absolutely adore teaching riding, from first time beginners to adult amateur dressage riders to teenage competitive jumpers to novice vaulters. Three of my four certifications are based on people being on top of a horse.
I do however think that in general in the equestrian industry, there is a fixation with riding being the primary, and sometimes only goal, which can cause important steps to be missed in the learning and relationship – building process. It can also cause welfare issues for the horse, due to the mentality of the horses being a tool that is only there to serve our desire to ride. I also think that when we place more value on riding than on any of the other things that we can do with our horses, we are missing out on so many of the benefits and learnings that our horses have to offer us.
So what are some of the benefits of being with our horses on the ground? It’s a long list, so get ready!
First let’s look at some of the benefits to the horse at taking more time on the ground. From a purely physical standpoint, our horses need to be strong and correctly developed, with good balance and self-carriage to be able to carry us comfortably. Think of all the things we ask our horses to do under saddle. If the horse cannot comfortably and reliably perform these things without a rider, adding more weight, a change in their centre of mass, and a potentially unbalanced load is not going to make it easier for them to perform. If we take the time on the ground to strengthen our horses, develop balance, rhythm, and mobility, and reinforce a healthy and sustainable way of going, it will help ensure their ability to be a happy athlete and partner under saddle. If you spend a lot of time riding alone, it can be easy to miss small disfunctions starting to creep into your horse’s way of going. This disfunction may be being caused by the rider or it may not. Either way, taking some time each week to work with your horse in hand, on the lunge, or long-lining can be helpful for keeping a visual tab on your horse’s development.
From a relational perspective, nothing is more valuable than taking the time to work with and to get to know your horse on the ground. From the horse’s point of view, if they spend 23 hours a day just doing horsey things, and then we show up and spend time asking, expecting, or demanding they perform for us, it’s easy to understand why many horses might prefer the other 23 hours to the one they spend with us. Imagine if you had a friend who was constantly asking you for favours every time you got together (“Want to hang out this weekend? Oh, PS if you could just help me do my chores first that would be great!”. “I haven’t seen you in forever, any chance you could drive me to the airport on Wednesday?”). I would hazard a guess that this would very quickly become not your favourite friend, and you may even actively avoid spending time with them. Yet this is often the dynamic that we have with our horses. Try incorporating some time with your horse on the ground where you just hang out without any expectations at all. Or some time where you perform an act of service for your horse without asking anything in return, such as a good groom or adding some fun enrichment to their paddock. Often this can be enough to build up a balance of good will in our relationship with our horse, so that we aren’t always in overdraft with constant withdrawals and no deposits.
For us as riders, there are many benefits to taking more time out of the saddle as well. Riding is an extremely physically demanding sport, and it is also inherently dangerous. Yet how many of us do any cross training for strength and mobility on the regular? How many of do any kind of warmup before we get on? And how many of us do any training on injury prevention in the event of an unplanned dismount? Adding in as little as a 3-minute warmup before you get on can go a long way in preparing and protecting your body (not to mention making it easier on your horse!). Trying to incorporate even just one or two short sessions per week of cross training to strengthen muscles, increase mobility, improve posture, and develop balance will go a long way in improving your riding. Not sure where to start? Try typing any of those points from the previous line into YouTube. As far as learning good techniques to protect your body in case of a fall, try finding a vaulting coach in your area to teach you how to tuck and roll safely!
But are there any mental or emotional benefits for us humans in working with our horses on the ground? Of course! I think most of us got into horses for the same reason – a love for these incredible animals. When we get hyper-focused on a goal, be it a riding milestone, a competitive aspiration, or a business plan, it can be easy to lose sight of the reason why we started in the first place. Taking some time on the ground to just hang out with our horses, work on developing relationship and connection, or learn something new together can go a long way in keeping the joy and curiosity alive.
But how do we develop that relationship and connection? One of the simplest (although not easy!) ways, is by learning how to tune into your horse’s smallest communications. If we can let them know that we notice those tiny little shifts, be it an ear twitch, a change in their rate of blinking, a tensing or relaxing of muscles etc., it will vastly improve the two-way communication between horse and human. It will also help to develop a sense of attunement – or feeling seen and heard, which is what our mammalian nervous systems are designed to seek out to help us find that “rest and digest” state. It is the same reason why we humans seek out friend groups, clubs, and social groups – because we want to be around people who “get” us. While we aren’t going to see horses seeking out a carrot convention, they are designed the same way, to seek out that attunement. If we can offer them that feeling, it will also help us achieve that feeling via the process of co-regulation. Nervous system regulation and plasticity is an important part of mental, emotional, and physical health for horse and human alike. It is an invaluable thing that will benefit every horse-human relationship from recreational to competitive partnerships.
Developing your eye. Horses have large and biomechanically complex bodies. In addition, they are prey animals, which means that they will always try to hide any pain or disfunction as much as they can. What this means as horse-people, is that it is an extremely difficult process learning how to spot functional movement over dysfunctional, soundness vs lameness, and tension vs relaxation. The only way to get better at this (and trust me, you will never feel like you know it all – it is truly a life-long process), is by practicing. Working your horse in hand or on the lunge regularly gives you a chance to practice watching how your horse moves, and how each piece of the puzzle fits together.
From both a therapeutic perspective, as well as when teaching children how to be with horses, there are some additional benefits that are important to speak to. I place extremely high value on unmounted work with horses for children both in a “regular” lesson setting, as well as in the therapeutic riding arena. Taking the time to help a child or youth develop a strong understanding of equine communication and boundaries, and placing importance on relationship before horsemanship or riding is invaluable for several reasons. For one, it increases the welfare of the horses involved by moving them from a position of being a tool for learning or therapeutic goals, to being a sentient partner and active participant in the process. The by-product of this is increased safety for both horse and human, because the kids learn how to “read” horses right from the beginning. It also almost completely eliminates the chances of the horses operating in a state of shutdown, freeze, learned helplessness, or high stress, which is not only unethical, but can be dangerous. Lastly, I firmly believe in the importance of modeling respect for the autonomy of another living being, and thus demonstrating to the student that you will do the same for them, and helping to develop emotional literacy and understanding of boundaries that will serve them well not only in horses, but in life.
Finding a grounded state can be challenging in our busy modern lives. While it might sound a little out there, one of the easiest ways to start practicing finding that state is to take a few minutes to really focus on the feeling of your feet on the ground. Notice how your feet feel in your shoes. Notice how the ground feels under your feet. Notice how the ground that is supporting you is the same ground that is supporting your horse, and that even when you aren’t touching, that ground connects you. This may sound like a silly meditation, and you might not notice much of a difference at first, but what you are doing is tuning into your felt sense. With practice, this will become easier and easier, and can be a handy tool you can use just about anywhere when you are starting to feel anxious or overwhelmed.
If you are unable to ride at all right now and looking for the silver lining in the situation, I hope that you are able to take some of these ideas and turn those lemons into lemonade. Even if you can ride, I invite you to try to incorporate even just a little unmounted work or activities (or non-activities!) into your routine. I would love to hear how it goes!