MOST HORSES I MEET HAVE TROUBLE FLEXING at the poll on the left. There are two reasons 1. They have too much weight on the left shoulder 2. The right side shortens and drops down (toward the ground). This causes the horse to want to hold the head turned slightly to the right, i.e. not giving in the left side of the throat latch area.
This is Rameses, a 5-year-old Arabian gelding, when I met him, he had no ability to turn his head to the left. He could turn the base of the neck but not his head, this caused tipping of the head (ears left, muzzle right) and at times extreme reactions in his neck up and to the right.
Here is a video after a few days of working with him showing these tendencies:
Because the left shoulder is carrying more weight and the head (where it meets the neck) is stuck looking right, it also causes the right side to be contracted and not able to lengthen. We used both longing and in-hand to help him start to move those parts of his body.
Longeing: we first had to go forward because I either had a loopy line (falling in) or he was leaning on my hand (falling out). We need him to come into the hand (and follow it!) then we can start to change the contractions he has adopted and create relaxation through straightness.
Here is an example of going forward to create the connection:
As he started to release the right side, the neck can come out and down. This gives us the opportunity in the hand, to lengthen the right side even more and create motion on the left side of the poll.
This next video, (taken 4 weeks from the last 2) is much more connected and I am able to target loosening up the poll area (at times) because he is carrying his weight more even in his shoulders. While it still lacks connection at times, I am able to restore it without having to push him very forward. The rhythm also starts to be more consistent.
In-hand:
I started first, with the start and stop the exercise to help him learn to move his shoulders both forward and backward without throwing his neck up or dropping the shoulders one way or the other. *The audio on this video was directed toward his owner as it was a video for her
This exercise is very useful in many ways, but in this case, the initial goal was for the horse to be able to back up, control his shoulders and relax the neck.
Once he understood this, I added at the beginning of shoulder-in on the circle. This helped him understand exactly how to move his shoulders. He wanted to step away with his right shoulder when I pushed on the left, I want him to control it (lift it) and instead, come under and upon the inside hind. Look for this first step to NOT be with the right front.
After 5 weeks of work, the change was significant. We could also see a big change in his ability to trust and relax in his everyday life. We had a chiropractor work on him about 3 weeks into working since he had an injury to his forehead as a baby which I suspect is why he was so stuck in that position.
Here is a link to the initial work we did in the stall before even beginning to longe him.
