Core strength and balance

 

Exercise is necessary for the horse as muscular strength is required not only for movement but effective athletic posture or carriage. Good performance is dependent on a good self carriage. In human sports, effective use of the limbs depends on a strong, stable core; therefore it makes sense that a good posture should be attained before the strength of the limbs is developed. This principle applies just as much to the training of horses.

 

The horses centre of gravity is not located halfway between its nose and its tail but, as the forehand weighs more than the hindquarters it is located more towards the front, just behind the withers.  The horse cannot change the weight of the two halves, but while running free he can alter the balance by changing the length of the neck in front of the centre of gravity or by rounding the loin and engaging the hindquarters behind it.

The horse offers correct posture as a result of balance and relaxation. The appearance of a "correct frame" can be created by force but the horse's posture will not be an honest reflection of its state of balance and relaxation.

 The horse can find its balance most efficiently when free of tension. Yet, as the horse's balance improves, tension diminishes. This is why rhythm and relaxation are the first two steps on the training scale – the very foundation on which the remainder of the work is built.

When the horse's nose is behind the vertical, the thrusting energy of the hind legs does not travel through to the poll. It only makes it to the spot in the neck where the vertebra are 'broken', at which point the energy is stifled by the heavy head and remaining neck that are hanging downward off the front. The weight of the already overburdened forehand is increased. Lifting of the forehand becomes more difficult and the imbalance creates tension, diminishing the performance.

Additionally, tension is required for the horse to keep its head behind the vertical. Either the horse must use incorrect neck muscles in order to hold the position or the rider must actively hold the horse behind the vertical. Either way, working with the face behind the vertical is an unnatural way of going for the horse that creates imbalance and tension.

When a horse has been trained to keep his head down, no matter how much he loses balance, how tricky something is or how interfering the rider is, that horse scores better in a dressage test, compared to one ridden on the fine line between collection and liberty.
That is because the horse ridden "at liberty on parole" occasionally shows his momentary loss of balance by throwing his head up. A rollkured horse has learned that opposing the rider will not improve his situation, to put it mildly.