Along your riding journey, it’s likely a lot of us will experience the issue of a horse coming behind the vertical. This is a way for the horse to avoid contact and they do so by curling their neck and bringing their chin close to their chest, resulting in the feeling that your horse has “let go” of the bit and you have lost the contact altogether. This is problematic from many standpoints, but most importantly, it results in unhealthy biomechanics. So, why does it happen and how do we fix it? Let’s get into detail about this common scenario.
Why is this a problem?
If we take a look at the dressage training scale, the first section is rhythm. When a horse comes behind the vertical, the rhythm of their gait becomes variable and inconsistent. This is especially noticeable at the walk. Moving on to suppleness, it’s important to note that a horse who isn’t correctly seeking the contact will have a hollow back. When the back is hollow, the hindquarters will struggle to come underneath the horse, resulting in a loss of suppleness. When a horse curls behind the bit, it’s impossible for him to work into the contact which inhibits the flow of energy we’re looking for in a horse exhibiting proper self-carriage. Remember, energy from the hind legs should be traveling over the length of the entire topline and coming into the bit, where the rider then follows the motion of the head and neck with an elastic, supple feel. Without the hind legs properly thrusting the horse along, the use of half-halts and leg cues that have the goal of producing more impulsion is negatively affected. In laterals, circles, and turns, a horse that evades the bit by coming behind the vertical will often lack proper bend and not be able to stay straight along the line of travel. This lack of straightness causes all sorts of balance and steering problems. Finally, without a correct connection to the bit, true collection simply cannot be achieved. This is largely due to the fact that the horse will not be able to sustain impulsion and engagement unless they’re on, or slightly in front of the vertical. So as you can see, a horse going behind the vertical effects every single element of the training scale.
So, Why Does it Happen?
In order to know the best way to help your horse, it’s important to get to the root cause of why your horse is coming behind the bit. The first thing to rule out is pain. If your horse suddenly begins coming behind the vertical and nothing else has changed, this is a strong indication that you should have your equine dentist out to check your horse’s teeth. This is also true for a horse that appears to “refuse” to come into the contact correctly and the problem has been ongoing. Ruling out pain or medical issues is always my recommended starting point when it comes to issues with contact.
Once pain has been ruled out, it’s time to evaluate your hands. If you aren’t yet able to ride with independent hands (hands that never balance on the reins and hands that can stay elastic during all gaits), this could be why your horse is coming behind the vertical. See-sawing your hands in attempt to get your horse on the bit is a major no-no and will almost always result in a false “frame” or the horse evading the contact. Imagine a flexible piece of plastic, or even a dressage whip being pressed against a wall. If you want the outline of the straight stick to become bowed, you would keep your hands steady, applying a gentle feel on the stick. If your hands kept taking and giving on the plastic, bouncing, or grinding back and forth, there is no way the plastic would stay bowed. Think about the plastic as your horse’s topline. Busy hands simply do not encourage a horse to take the contact correctly. Another mental image that can be helpful is to imagine you’re holding two cups of water in your hands as you’re riding. Try not to jostle or spill the water from the cups. I have actually tried this myself, but I don’t recommend it for the sole fact that some horses will spook if splashed with water, creating a safety issue. The mental image itself is enough for most riders.
If your hands are steady and your horse is still having a hard time, you’ll next want to take a look at how your bridle and bit are fitted. A small rough patch on the bit could be irritating your horse’s mouth. The bit may not fit anatomically inside the mouth even if it’s the correct width. If you have questions about how your bit fits, I can help through a virtual consultation. There are also professional bit specialists that can help. Tight nosebands can also create discomfort and cause your horse to come behind the vertical. Be sure you have at least two flat fingers worth of space after you tighten your noseband. Even if your noseband has the right amount of slack, you could also experiment with loosening the noseband one or two holes to see if your horse goes better.
If you’ve introduced a double bridle too early for you or your horse’s level of education, this is a recipe for discomfort. Improperly fitted double bridles can cause a lot of discomfort for a horse. They can also be uncomfortable when a rider is not yet educated enough on how to use both sets of reins. If your horse has come behind the vertical right around the time you introduced the double bridle, try going back to the snaffle for awhile, brush up on your skills, and consult with a trainer before transitioning your horse to the double bridle.
If you’re using gadgets such as draw reins to “encourage” (force) your horse to work in a frame, this can be very harmful. Draw reins are simply a band-aid approach and don’t work as a shortcut to get your horse to work into a connection. Draw reins can be painful and can cause a horse to duck behind the vertical to avoid pain.
If a horse that has had recurring discomfort associated with working into the contact, they may have formed a habit around going behind the vertical. If this is the case after you’ve done your troubleshooting, it’s time to help your horse learn how to move in a healthier way. Here’s how to do that.
How to Fix the Problem
Start the work from the ground. Lungeing with a focus on encouraging stretching at first is a good starting goal. Once the horse stretches their head forward and down (long and low) consistently on the lunge, you can begin to re-introduce the idea of contact. From this point, you can lunge with properly fitted side reins. It is crucial that the side reins are long enough that they don’t make contact with the bit unless the horse chooses to stretch into them. The purpose of this is to show the horse that they can stretch into a connection that doesn’t bounce, see-saw, come unsteady, or jostle the bit in their mouth and that they can learn to feel safe when they choose to stretch into this contact. NEVER use side reins to try to position the horse’s head and neck how you think it should be positioned. If your horse has been struggling for a long time, she may not trust the side reins for a few sessions. Don’t be discouraged by this. Simply encourage forward impulsion and engagement, and the stretching will eventually follow. When your horse consistently is thinking forward and seeking contact with the side reins, you can transition this work to under saddle.
Generally, a circle is the best approach to beginning the contact work under saddle. Start out on a longer rein, and look for the feel of your horse seeking the bit, stretching long and low. Don’t start with short reins!! You may also want to ride a few transitions and additional bending exercises such as serpentines to get your horse relaxed physically and mentally. Once you feel that your horse is relaxed and focused, start to shorten the outside rein first, then the inside rein. Ask for a slight inside bend. For reference, in a 20 meter circle, you don’t want any more bend than the amount necessary to peek down and see your horse’s inside eyelashes. Your goal here is to be able to get your horse to bend around your leg. Don’t focus on the head and neck. Instead, focus on the hindquarters, thoracic spine, head and neck creating a slight inside curve by working together. If you ask for too much bend to the inside, you’ll lose the connection through the outside rein and the horse will likely drop her shoulder. When this happens, it’ll feel like your horse is bending to the inside but falling to the outside. If the rhythm and impulsion is still good, you will feel your horse starting to look for the contact the same way she had been on the lunge. If your horse’s outline is still quite low at this point, don’t worry. Stretching towards the bit instead of ducking behind it is the goal at this point. Just continue asking for forward as you maintain the bend throughout the horse’s whole body. It is critical here that you don’t fiddle with the reins. Keep an elastic connection through your shoulders, elbows and wrists as well as keeping your body supple, being careful not to lean to the inside of the circle. If at any point during the shortening of your reins you feel that he’s starting to get behind the vertical, you’ll want to correct this by lengthening the reins and asking for more forward movement. Don’t rush this step. You may want to spend a week or two in this stage without moving on to the next phase. Too much contact too soon can easily set you back in a matter of minutes.
Once your horse is confidently seeking the bit, not losing impulsion, and maintaining bend, you can begin asking for more engagement from the hind end. Through the use of correct half-halting (from your seat and leg first, then your reins), your horse will begin to use his body in a more uphill posture. Contact problems are often habitual, and fixing them takes time. Remember to stay patient, listen to your horse, and take as much time as you need to fix the problem
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and reading this post. Do you have a question for me? Feel free to send it on over. I would love to answer some reader questions. As always, I will be releasing a podcast episode on this topic shortly as well. Make it a priority for your next ride to be one of harmony, connection, and most of all JOY!
Take care,
-Kimberly