Re: Pete made it


"J. Z. M." <clayridgefarm@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C0CEF4D2.2FCEA%clayridgefarm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 7/1/06 1:01 PM, "lizzardwoman6000@xxxxxxxxx" wrote:
Abby wrote:
The horse uses his neck for balance. If he is having to compensate for
something in his work or the rider body, it will ALWAYS show up in the
neck.

Okay let me ask a question... are the same muscles used for pulling
down/leaning as for raising the neck? If not, how could both actions
develop the exact same area of underneck?

Yes, and no. The answer is not black and white. They use *some of the
same*
muscles, but in different ways. When the upper muscles pull down or lean
down, the pectorals play, they hold and are used as an anchor to the
action
of the pulling or the leaning. So they are used in conjuncture to the
bracing actions.

When the horse comes over his topline and uses the muscles correctly the
pectorals will ease up and float along the lower edge of the muscles only
coming into play to move the leg forward with the neck----not against the
neck as they are when the SUPPORT as they would in leaning. Understand
the
muscles are all being used in each action, but they act differently.

Think of it this way: you can bend your arm and swing it with a weight in
forward and backwards with little action by your pecs, but take that same
weight and try to push it against as wall it will take different action in
your biceps.

I think I'm beginning to see these points. I'm going to have to look at
some anatomical drawings to be sure. I have no background in equine
physiology.

Did you look at Pete's photos? Is it or is it not the identical
problem that Spice had? It sure looks the same only worse perhaps.
Joyleen's horse has a nice muscle in the top half (along the mane) of
his neck and I think that is correct.

I do not have both of the photos here for a side by side comparison. Hard
to
say. You can see the bottom muscle, the Brachiocephalicus, in a bulged
state
on any horse if you raise the head high enough. The head is connected to
it,
so it has to bulge when you raise the head, and can be seen in many
animals
merely with this action. What you should not be able to see is the animal
in
the pose of *on the bit* (for the lack of a better phrase) with his under
side, Brachiocephalicus, showing.

Okay the photo that shows the largest lower neck muscle is the one where his
head is raised very high. That may help explain that. I don't have one
with him properly reaching for the bit. Maybe it would look better.


The goal is to ride Pete leg to hand, reaching for the bit, and over
his back. We do not go around for any length of time inverted. My
instructor doesn't let me go around with him inverted. If I can't get
his neck down I work on the connection at the walk and get him off the
reins and onto my seat/legs. His neck falls down out of his shoulders
when he's connected... there is nothing to do with the reins at that
point, not that you can get his neck down with rein anyway. I am
learning to be more consistent in riding up to my hand. The key is
forward, as it is for every problem I suspect.

Oh, we can say this with certain reassurance that things are going well,
but
realize you can ride a horse with his head down in front and not be riding
it round, and not engaging his hind end. It takes feel and an
understanding
of a round body to know when the horse is moving in a correct enough
motion
to engage and lift the neck so it is working in balance over it's frame
and
not flat through a flat frame. This takes time, effort, and a bit of
determination by riders who want to achieve this. With lessons we learn to
complete the actions required.

That's what I have been working on to date. I hope to continue that with my
new instructor. It's a long road with lots of murky side trails. Lots of
not even knowing what you don't know IME. Pete is excellent in terms of
producing a feeling that is so good when it is correct. That's a school
matser in my book, not push button but very clear/wonderful when you do
something correctly. Like when I first got him and my instructor would warm
him up to show me what he should feel like. My efforts to date have been to
reproduce thqat feeling all by myself. At the risk of disagreeing with
Potter in terms of this stuff being inherently not complicated, there is no
way I could get anywhere correctly without the amount of instruction I have
had. It's more complicated to me than anything I attempted in graduate
school.

So if he isn't going around and around for any length of time inverted,
why the massively incorrect musculature in his neck?

Massive is a tad over stated. Many horses can show this muscle, again,
without needing to be corrected with incorrect head raising. Sounds weird,
but some horses have a larger Brachiocephalicus and never use it while
being
ridden, but it will wither away with more correct usage. Many animals will
raise their heads and necks enough with everyday life to build the muscle,
some carry it high when running freely. Arabs come to mind. I have never
known an Arab that did not have a large Brachiocephalicus in those free
running pics they show all the time. It only disappears when someone
makes
them lower their heads, but the minute they go flying around the neck has
a
bulge under it.

I think Pete is in this category of having a anturally large lower neck
muscle.

He's a high-necked guy which is good for upper levels and learning
leg-to-hand but can be challenging for a person at my early stage of
the game. Still, I see the people, better riders than myself, struggle
with much harder problems like leaning and BTV so I'm not complaining
too loudly. Horse that chooses to go BTV look especially tough...
that's a very hard fix I'm told.

BTVs are created, a large Brachiocephalicus can be born in the animal.

Okay then. Very intersting.

sharon


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