Natural Dressage Forum Trainer Questions

Featured in Karen’s November 2007 Newsletter

Karen(K1),
We have been discussing contact a great deal and hoped you may have input on getting a long open neck that stretches to the bit, use of the outside rein, and your veiws on salivation. Acheiving vertical flexion is one thing, but we would like to learn more about the type of contact that is needed for creating more expressive gaits.

Thanks for your time and knowledge,
The natural dressage forum
www.naturaldressage.2savvy.com

A: I always feel like giving a ‘zen’ answer to this question: “Ahh, it is not the contact that creates the neck, but the neck that creates the contact.” … and just leaving it at that… but really this is the case! The neck is an extension of the spine and the spine is supported by the legs and is free only if there is balance. The key is to find balance, then the neck is free. Balance is a product of the emotional state, the mental state and the physical state. Within respectful boundaries I make sure my horses feel free to move powerfully forward (this does not mean just speed or out of anxiousness, because a horse that is ‘escaping’ forward, by definition does not feel free! I make sure they are balanced and I make sure they know how to find the stretch on-line and riding. From there I make sure I can take the slack out of my reins and not screw anything up! The contact truly is created by the body of the horse filling up the contact. This is a completely different feeling than a horse who is bracing or leaning. Our hands must be able to diagnose the sensation of pressure. ‘The horse filling up the contact’ or ‘feeling the horse’s hocks in your hands’ are statements that are often mis-interpreted to mean it is OK if your horse leans in your hands. Not so! But also misinterpreted is the idea that to ride in lightness it is not OK to feel your horse! If the horse moves forward into our hands to make a connection in the reins and we misinterpret it as brace, we now have discouraged the long, reaching spine and will cause contraction as the horse tries to be a ‘good boy’ and not touch the reins. look to ‘hold hands with me’. And I can receive it. It is less about amount of pressure and more about quality. The same goes for the outside rein. Yes, it is important to feel the energy of the horse between the inside and outside of his body, and when bend is created, or in lateral exercises, if your outside rein is there, your horse will fill it up. If you disappear or are not there, you will not feel it and your horse will also not feel as much information or connection. But too often students are told ‘outside rein’ or ‘outside rein half halt’ and they TAKE the outside rein. You need to ‘be there’ and cause the horse to fill it up for you! Now, as for salivation… that will continue on the next page!

Salivation… (not to be confused with salvation)
Here are my humble thoughts on salivation:
First of all salivation is good…it just matters if it is excessive, and what happens once it is in the mouth…does it dry up, get swallowed or accumulate?
‘Negative’ reasons for foam:
•anxiousness…this is typically big frothy stuff that drips all over the place!
•inability to swallow… due to tension and tightness in the throat latch area.
‘Positive’ reasons for foam:
•intense concentration/effort… I have found times when horses, even with the hackamore on get a little foam between their lips during sustained concentrated moments. I am aware, but if everything else
tells me things are OK, I don’t see it as necessarily negative, especially if
the horse licks and releases when he rests. I have experienced this on horses having really wonderful moments of them really ‘applying
themselves’.
‘Negative’ reason for no foam:
•dry mouth due to holding mouth slightly open, or so much tightness that no saliva is produced
‘Positive’ reason for no foam:
•Horse producing saliva but is relaxed and loose enough in the jaw and mouth to swallow regularly.
Benign reasons for foam:
•action of bit against lips. I just put a (clean) rubber thing in my mouth
and I am not really feeling stressed, but I am accumulating some saliva
and even though i am swallowing, I don’t get a perfect ‘seal’ and so
some is getting a little frothy in the corners of my mouth!
Ever notice that athletes spit a lot? I asked a triathlete friend of mine why. He commented that during exercise sometimes the saliva is more mucousy and feels better to spit, and also during some intense exercise it just doesn’t feel good to swallow, it interrupts the breathing pattern or can cause more air to go into the stomach.
Maybe some horses experience this too…could be worse: they could spit!
Typically, the horses I have don’t get foamy except for a little between their lips on occasion.
In dressage-land foam is considered ‘good’ but I think that is because so many horses shut down and become dry in the mouth. This is dangerous because then the tissues can crack and be damaged by the bits. It is a common practice to feed sugar cubes often to keep them having something to chew on. I have also seen liquid soap squirted in their mouths to create foam. This was done in the spirit of not letting the horse’s mouth get dry and injured, but of course it was not getting to the core issue!
As with everything, the important thing is to know your horse, and notice when something changes…then take in all the information at hand and do your best to figure out what is going on.
If I see a horse foaming, I do just that:
I look at the whole picture and see if there is any meaning behind it.
I think that is all I have to say about salivation!