Groundwork - do you do it and what do you do?

[cheekywelshie]

I try and do a bit of groundwork before I get on - halting, backing up, sideways...but haven't mastered how to leg yield or shoulder in from the ground

Anyone swear by Groundwork - and has it worked?

 

[Auslander]

Tried it. Alf made it abundantly clear how he felt about it...

 

[Enfys]

No, fortunately my horse is extremely well trained, over trained, she hates schoolwork, and groundwork in particular, and God help anyone that puts a lungeline, or worse, longlines on her.

Any schooling we do on the trails, it is the only way she will tolerate it without exploding.

 

[silv]

Tried it. Alf made it abundantly clear how he felt about it...

Ha Ha, love it!!!

My friend does classical dressage and she has a warm up routine she uses before she gets on, it is to loosen the horse up rather than training as such.

 

[gunnergundog]

When did the term 'groundwork' become the fashion?

I would say I don't do it. However, if I have a youngster/any new horse I ask it to step back when I enter the stable. Yes, I longline and lunge babies. Groundwork to me used to mean the in-hand stuff that the Spanish riding school do, not the basics that I teach from on top.

 

[Nudibranch]

I long rein youngsters, and do a bit of lungeing with them for voice commands. I also do the odd bit of spook busting type stuff with them, and get the basic lateral movements in place.
The only time I've done the same with adult horses is a couple of off the track TBs, really just to assess them and get the basics consolidated. Don't do it as a matter of course with any of them though. Tbh, if riding is out then I'd rather take them for a walk in hand or in long reins. I think they learn a lot more.

 

[Auslander]

Ha Ha, love it!!!

My friend does classical dressage and she has a warm up routine she uses before she gets on, it is to loosen the horse up rather than training as such.

Horse in the pic is a former PSG dressage horse, and he is very confident that he knows everything already. Any new ideas are met with passive, but firm resistance!

 

[Woolly Hat n Wellies]

Yes.

I was having trouble with my gelding becoming strong, argumentative, bargey, overexcited. I had done a lot of work myself to improve him, but had reached a stage where we just didn't seem to be able to go any further. I started with a new instructor who swears by groundwork. She found some small sore spots on his back, probably caused by a previous badly-fitting saddle, which were causing him to hollow and carry himself badly, stopping him progressing further in his ridden work. She started his groundwork, re-taught him to lunge, and forbade me to sit on him until he was ready. I did 10 weeks of groundwork and lunge work (including "lungeing" in a straight line, and around corners, not just round and round). It was very hard, and not helped by the amount of people who said things like "you're not REALLY going to stop riding until she says so, are you?" and "Just go for a ride, she'll never know, it won't do any harm."

I try to keep up with some sort of groundwork session or lunge once a week, and a couple of minutes before I get on, especially at competitions, where it helps to get him focused on me, and away from what that horse over there is doing. He used to be a terrible gawper, he would also walk over the top of you, and he used to get quite anxious and uptight about noises he couldn't see a cause for. Now we do forward and back. He has to step back from the weight of a finger on the rein, but he will now do it from the word 'step', because I kept saying it to myself to get my timing right! He steps forward from a touch on his side with the end of a whip. The rule is that I don't move my feet until he steps forward - he isn't allowed to just follow me - and he has to step forward with his hind leg first, on the side I've touched. We do standing properly, he has to stand with his sternum back, and his hind legs under him, not strung out the back. And once he's stood, he has to 'park', he doesn't move off until I say so. I've got to a stage where I can get off him after a ride, untack him in the middle of the yard, and then put my arm out as though asking him to walk on on the lunge and say walk on, and he goes into the stable. We also turn on the forehand and turn his front legs around while the back ones stay still. On the lunge we do lots of transitions to get his back end under him, and we practice keeping a set distance apart, walking around the field, keeping him straight on the tramlines on the stubble, or over poles or in and out of cones, we've even done a little jump on the lunge line.

It's been really good for him. He carries himself much better, whether he's working or just around the field, and is much more relaxed, comfortable, and a nicer person as a result. I don't try to comfort him when he starts to look at something any more, I just turn his head firmly away, and when he hears a strange noise, he now looks at me first before he decides how he's going to react, and if I ignore it, so does he. He has no soreness any more, and his ridden work feels a lot more solid, like it has better foundations to build on. He's well-mannered, and everything is so much easier. I can pop in and out of his stable, with him loose, and trust him to stand and not push his way out. He also starts his ridden work with much more focus, he's in the mood for work. Getting him over poles and little jumps from the ground has boosted his confidence a little, as jumping is another thing that makes him anxious, and with a rider he tends to charge at it like he's got rockets up his bum. On the lunge rein, he takes things much more slowly and for comfortably, and it's slowly translating into more confidence, and less rushing, when he approaches a jump with a rider.

So altogether I feel a lot safer and more relaxed with him, and I think he does with me. Apologies for the essay, I seem to be a bit of a fanatic!

 

[Wheels]

Yes I do groundwork - several different types.

We do lunging, In-hand work in the bridle, in-hand with the cavesson and the odd session with obstacles

The in hand and lunging work is to teach self carriage and I use it to teach lateral work and when the time comes I may use it to teach piaffe.

The obstacles is just for something a bit different, we do it first in hand and then at Liberty.

I think all of the groundwork helps us to connect on some level that riding doesn't.

 

[cheekywelshie]

I am interested in teaching lateral work from the ground but struggling with out help - I do the step back aiming at light touch (which can be hard) and walk on from a tap on the side...

How do you teach lateral work from the ground - do you have any pics?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We do it as a matter of course, as part of our daily life.
My unbacked 4 yr old will, on request, move back from the stable door, stand or move over, while I rug/open door and fix it back, walk on, half-halt (steady), stop, turn on the forehand, leg-yield, put her head up/down, all as part of going out to the field in the morning and coming back in. She understands what I want because it makes sense to her and she is rewarded for getting it right. She knows the voice aids and will be able to transfer them to ridden work. She wears a simple rope halter and responds to a light touch or a pointing finger. There is no need at all to set up special sessions, just do it.

 

[atlantis]

Annoyingly posted an immensely long post about what we do and then lost it gggrrrrr!!

We do groundwork as part of straightness training. I'd recommend it to everyone it's a fantastic course that teaches you a systematic approach to training horses. You work on groundwork (one line), work in hand with 2 reins, lunging, riding and Liberty. You learn a sequence and teach your horse the movements in the sequence in all of the 5 aspects or "pillars". This addresses the horses natural asymmetry.

I have found it invaluable at improving Lottie's way of going as she was almost lane she was so unbalanced and on her forehand. It's worked wonders for her strength, coordination, manners, and our relationship and I wouldn't train a horse any other way now.

I had looked into and bought books on groundwork and work in hand but this is by far the easiest programme to follow and I love doing it. I did 2 months of groundwork and hacking after Lottie tripped and fell on the road. She couldn't turn left before. After the 2 months she won a dressage test with over 70%.

I am now teaching her half pass and renvers. She is secure in haunches in and shoulder in and loves learning new things too.

I love it. Here's a link. Some might think it's pricey but there's loads of free information online and a free mini course at the moment. It's all on the link.

http://straightnesstraining.com/

 

[NZJenny]

We do it as a matter of course, as part of our daily life.
My unbacked 4 yr old will, on request, move back from the stable door, stand or move over, while I rug/open door and fix it back, walk on, half-halt (steady), stop, turn on the forehand, leg-yield, put her head up/down, all as part of going out to the field in the morning and coming back in. She understands what I want because it makes sense to her and she is rewarded for getting it right. She knows the voice aids and will be able to transfer them to ridden work. She wears a simple rope halter and responds to a light touch or a pointing finger. There is no need at all to set up special sessions, just do it.

This. Everything you need for handling a horse on the ground. But then there is this whole other world of stuff that seems to have no particular purpose other than selling DVD's and expensive sticks and ropes.

 

[Equi]

Every single time. My gelding can get a bit stressy in the stable when he needs work or food and his head becomes a weapon and he's very bolshy and rude. Making him back up doesn't stop it but it makes him sort of think a bit. When tacking up/grooming I always need to move him about to get to each side so yielding. I then feed or work and end the session with the same backing up and yielding when he is a bit calmer because I feel it sinks in more when he is calmer so my hope is that when he's stressed eventually he will associate the yielding and backing up and something he does when he is calm too and must be done. It's definitely working he does back up easier and I tel him wait. I won't let him walk out of the stable in a barge he has to wait.

Someday they will just find me lying in a hedge probs ha.

 

[Wheels]

I am interested in teaching lateral work from the ground but struggling with out help - I do the step back aiming at light touch (which can be hard) and walk on from a tap on the side...

How do you teach lateral work from the ground - do you have any pics?

It isn't really something to be explained over the Internet, people have written full books on the subject so I cannot give you a full description here.

The best thing to do would be to find an instructor to show you, it's more about your placement, the timing of cues, aids that all have to be perfect and that is hard to do if you haven't been taught. As with anything else it is a process starting with more basic movements which need to be in place correctly before you move on. So I would say if you want to do shoulder in, travers, half pass all correctly then find a classically minded trainer, if you want to do more natural horsemanship type stuff then there are other trainers out there for that.

What area are you in ? We might be able to suggest someone

Books are also a good place to start but don't give you the same learning as a teacher. Books I've read, liked and used are Oliver hilberger, schooling exercises in hand; 101 horsemanship exercises; perfect manners by kelly marks

Good luck

 

[Caol Ila]

No, because like Auslander, I have an older Shire-cross who thinks she knows everything and that dicking around on the ground is a waste of time. She also has brilliant ground manners and is straightforward and fun to ride, so she's right.

If I had something with lousy ground manners, or some other issue that more groundwork might help, I would do it.

 

[Nudibranch]

Richard Maxwell has some useful stuff on teaching lateral work too.
Its interesting though - I think of groundwork as dedicated sessions, whereas what some people describe here is what I'd call manners and daily handling. I'd expect any horse to do thinks like back up, turn on the forehand, step over, etc as you need those basics. So I guess you might teach them through groundwork and then reinforce them through day to day routine. I dunno! Its just semantics!

 

[madlady]

It isn't something that I consciously set out to do - it's something that gets done on a daily basis as a matter of course.

As youngsters (before 3yo) all mine have known, back, stand, steady, over, walk on & trot from voice. When they've then been started under saddle they know the voice commands. When I've then started lateral work I've put another rider on board, me on the ground giving the appropriate voice command and a finger prod in the place where they are going to get the leg command.

All of mine do still get long reined regularly during the week or walked out in hand. That's because hubby doesn't ride so he'll take them out and about that way.

 

[EQUIDAE]

Heather Moffatts enlightened equitation has a good section on ground work. The book is currently free on her website - just pay p&p

 

[Pearlsasinger]

This. Everything you need for handling a horse on the ground. But then there is this whole other world of stuff that seems to have no particular purpose other than selling DVD's and expensive sticks and ropes.

I've been using a simple cow halter for 40+ years and a schooling whip if the occasion arises. I wish I'd thought to dye them pink and make a DVD (or I suppose it would have been a cine film in those days!)

I cannot understand why people have allowed this mystique to build up around something which should just be part of handling horses. There is nothing that I do that any horse owner couldn't work out for themselves, with a tiny bit of thought.

 

[Firefly9410]

Yes.

I was having trouble with my gelding becoming strong, argumentative, bargey, overexcited. I had done a lot of work myself to improve him, but had reached a stage where we just didn't seem to be able to go any further. I started with a new instructor who swears by groundwork. She found some small sore spots on his back, probably caused by a previous badly-fitting saddle, which were causing him to hollow and carry himself badly, stopping him progressing further in his ridden work. She started his groundwork, re-taught him to lunge, and forbade me to sit on him until he was ready. I did 10 weeks of groundwork and lunge work (including "lungeing" in a straight line, and around corners, not just round and round). It was very hard, and not helped by the amount of people who said things like "you're not REALLY going to stop riding until she says so, are you?" and "Just go for a ride, she'll never know, it won't do any harm."

I try to keep up with some sort of groundwork session or lunge once a week, and a couple of minutes before I get on, especially at competitions, where it helps to get him focused on me, and away from what that horse over there is doing. He used to be a terrible gawper, he would also walk over the top of you, and he used to get quite anxious and uptight about noises he couldn't see a cause for. Now we do forward and back. He has to step back from the weight of a finger on the rein, but he will now do it from the word 'step', because I kept saying it to myself to get my timing right! He steps forward from a touch on his side with the end of a whip. The rule is that I don't move my feet until he steps forward - he isn't allowed to just follow me - and he has to step forward with his hind leg first, on the side I've touched. We do standing properly, he has to stand with his sternum back, and his hind legs under him, not strung out the back. And once he's stood, he has to 'park', he doesn't move off until I say so. I've got to a stage where I can get off him after a ride, untack him in the middle of the yard, and then put my arm out as though asking him to walk on on the lunge and say walk on, and he goes into the stable. We also turn on the forehand and turn his front legs around while the back ones stay still. On the lunge we do lots of transitions to get his back end under him, and we practice keeping a set distance apart, walking around the field, keeping him straight on the tramlines on the stubble, or over poles or in and out of cones, we've even done a little jump on the lunge line.

It's been really good for him. He carries himself much better, whether he's working or just around the field, and is much more relaxed, comfortable, and a nicer person as a result. I don't try to comfort him when he starts to look at something any more, I just turn his head firmly away, and when he hears a strange noise, he now looks at me first before he decides how he's going to react, and if I ignore it, so does he. He has no soreness any more, and his ridden work feels a lot more solid, like it has better foundations to build on. He's well-mannered, and everything is so much easier. I can pop in and out of his stable, with him loose, and trust him to stand and not push his way out. He also starts his ridden work with much more focus, he's in the mood for work. Getting him over poles and little jumps from the ground has boosted his confidence a little, as jumping is another thing that makes him anxious, and with a rider he tends to charge at it like he's got rockets up his bum. On the lunge rein, he takes things much more slowly and for comfortably, and it's slowly translating into more confidence, and less rushing, when he approaches a jump with a rider.

So altogether I feel a lot safer and more relaxed with him, and I think he does with me. Apologies for the essay, I seem to be a bit of a fanatic!

This is inspiring �� thanks for posting.

 

[Cortez]

I've been using a simple cow halter for 40+ years and a schooling whip if the occasion arises. I wish I'd thought to dye them pink and make a DVD (or I suppose it would have been a cine film in those days!)

I cannot understand why people have allowed this mystique to build up around something which should just be part of handling horses. There is nothing that I do that any horse owner couldn't work out for themselves, with a tiny bit of thought.

Although I do train my horses in hand, I agree completely with Pearlasinger here ^^^

 

[LHIS]

Yep, I love it. I did a good solid 4/5 months of ground work with my young pony before I even thought about riding. It has given us both a strong bond, which has been a great foundation for our ridden work. He is naturally a bit bargy, and groundwork has taught him patience and to respect my space.
We started with lots of long reining, reinforcing what he had been taught last year, got his voice commands sharp, he knew them all and responds well to them now. I can ask him to move side to side, back, place a foot carefully, he knows his left from his right. Once he had mastered all of this we then started to incorporate more challenging things, I did obstacle courses for him - he'd have to go backwards through salem cones, through 'L' shaped poles - harder than you think to keep them on task and not getting frustrated.

When I started riding him I took a lot of confidence from the fact that I knew he would listen to me, and we're at the stage now where we're so 'in tune' with one another that most of the time I just need to think 'left', 'right' or 'halt' and he does it.
I'm quite sure without the many months and time I spent with him on the ground, he wouldn't be the fab little guy he is now.

He still has moments, and we do have some kevins, but on the whole he's great and trusts me - again something I attribute to our groundwork.

I still do groundwork with him, he's clever and needs reminding occasionally of things, so we always do groundwork before I ride - it keeps him listening, gets him warmed up, and ensures any spooky beans are dealt with prior to getting on. He knows that when he's got his tack on he has to be a good boy (and he is).

As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of the groundwork!

 

[cheekywelshie]

daft question but how do you get the front legs moving with the back ones stil - like a pirouette??

 

[Shantara]

I do a lot of stuff on the ground with Ned, mainly because I am not always in the mood to ride, but always want to spend time with him! I bombproof, go for long in-hand walks where we go over bridges, down and up steep hills, over logs and all sorts, "free schooling" sort of...I don't do it a lot, usually after I've ridden, I'll take his tack off and walk/trot with him following to help cool off. I think it's great fun! And it means I can get him past scary things with me leading him

I also have started with the little pony, Ghillie, mainly because he's young and I'm far too big to ride him!

 

[Cortez]

daft question but how do you get the front legs moving with the back ones stil - like a pirouette??

The back legs are not still in a pirouette, they keep stepping on the spot (ideally). You need to move the shoulders around the hindquarters; start with just a step to the side and build slowly from there.