Bend'em To Keep Them Straight | RES 035

Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

This week’s episode focuses on a topic some might find to be controversial. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we ask a lot of the horses we ride. Often times you’ll hear trainers yell to “bend” that horse or “flex” them. I had the opportunity to work alongside Jack Brainard years ago, who is a personal hero of mine. At one point I was telling some folks to bend their horse and flex them, and I caught a prying glance from Jack. I asked him if I’d done something wrong, but he said no, and that we’d talk about it later. Well, at supper that night Jack asked me why it is we bend and flex our horses. Of course, I gave all the typical responses, about how it keeps the horse more supple and softer in the face. But that’s not Jack wanted to know. When he pried deeper into the why he told me this, and at the time it went over my head, but I’m going to share with you depth behind his reasoning: We bend ‘em to keep ‘em straight.

Key Takeaways

The long-term goal of bending and flexing your horse is to keep them balanced and straight. Everything your horse does it’ll do better when balanced and straight. It’s the starting point for all their actions.

So you may be asking the question, “If we want our horses to be straight, why bend them at all?” Think about this: is it easier for a horse to turn with its head squared with its shoulders, or with its head bent all the way to one side or the other? The answer is with its nose dead straight ahead. This is why when you apply pressure to the reins, and the horse responds softly, you let their head go back to being straight. It’s what the horse wants, and they will learn over time that it’s the easiest job we can give them.

How does this fit into working day to day with your horse? Say you are going on a trail ride with some friends. You don’t want to be zig-zagging all over the place. You need to realize that when you apply pressure to get the horse to turn, what the horse is seeking out is to be straight again. Bending and flexing gives the horse the opportunity to go back to being straight.

I train with the philosophy that you want to work your horse to 120% so 100% seems easy to the horse. And yes, this applies to those of you who just take their horses on trail rides, and those who are competing in an arena. While horses can walk, trot, and lope all on their own, adding a 50 pound saddle and 200 pound rider to the center of their back changes the equation. Training your horse to keep their back slightly elevated while riding will help keep them from sagging into old age.

Don’t use “I just trail ride” as a cop out for making your horse more disciplined. And trail riding can be extremely dangerous! You don’t have a controlled environment like inside an arena and much can go wrong. You are responsible for your horse's well being and safety, and proper training is critical for you to be successful in that endeavor.