Training Aids for your horse

Discussions around training aids for horses seem to cause a lot of disagreement!! I think it's a really personal thing whether you decide to use them, but I can give you some ideas on why they can be helpful! 

As an Equine Physiotherapist and Spinal Manipulation Therapist, I work with lots of horses with back pain, poor posture, injuries, and horses in post surgery rehabilitation, so I'm working in the 'correction' phase with horses a lot of the time.

What I see really regularly is horses that are not using their back and core properly, so the forces of movement and the weight of the rider is going through the limbs instead of the body working as a whole unit and carrying the weight and absorbing the forces and movement of the rider as a whole. 

I like to look at horses like a bike chain - the whole body can't work efficiently if one of the 'links' is broken! 

These horses, where the body isn't fully functioning, need to be re-educated on how to use their back and core, and then strengthened. 

So back to training aids...

My view is that we all need to be training our horses to use their back and core properly, and develop good core strength in our horses so that they are able to carry a rider without risking injury. 

Our horses need to be trained to develop good posture and core strength. And to do this, we need training strategies. 

If you are able to exercise your horse without training aids, and he will naturally move in good posture, in a long and low frame, and lift his core and back, BRILLIANT WORK!!!

If your horse doesn't move in good posture, he is crooked, and doesn't lift his core and back and work long and low in exercise, then you might need some help. 

Training aids have a place, if fitted correctly, and used correctly, to help train your horse to work in good posture. 

I would much prefer to see a horse being exercised in a well fitted training aid, working in good posture, engaging his core, and moving symmetrically, INSTEAD OF moving in a hollow posture, non symmetrical movement, crooked, not engaging core without a training aid - this second type of movement can lead to your horse becoming injured. 

I work with a lot of horses that have been treated for 'Kissing Spine' and one of the most important parts of the rehabilitation process is to improve the horses posture and strengthen the core to rehabilitate the horses back function, and this is a RETRAINING process. A well fitted training aid that trains the horse to work in self carriage without force is a valuable tool in this situation. 

I have my preferences on training aids, of course, and have actually a whole module on Core Training Aids within my Strength & Straightness programme, because I think it's so important to understand how to fit and use them properly. 

If you look at the photo of my horse Azuro, above, you can see him working in the Equiami lunge aid, which I have used and recommended for years, the ropes are loose, there is no restriction, it encourages him into a long and low frame, no force or fixed points, and he has to carry himself within the loop of ropes. He will stretch down on the lunge without any training aid, because I have trained him to do so over time, and it's now his default way of moving - see pic below. 

I hope this helps and maybe gives you a bit of confidence to use a training aid if you need to retrain your horse and you're struggling with it - there is no point strengthening poor posture, you need to make a change! It might be that you use one for a short period of time until your horse understands what you are asking and has developed enough core strength to move 'long and low' in exercise. 

If I can help you further with any of this do let me know...

And if you would like to join my online training programme to Strengthen & Straighten your horse, click through here for the details...: Strength & Straightness Online Training