How groundwork can relax & calm your horse

This article is close to my heart, as groundwork is a substantial part of the horse-human relationship. Maybe even the second strongest “activity” pillar after riding. 

Groundwork can be a means to exercise the horse, to make up for lots of stable time, to get energy out, to teach the horse certain things. And groundwork can be the time to enJOY each other and deeply connect by understanding each other on a different level. 

For the horse, especially the traumatised horse, groundwork can become a tool of healing, by moving the body gently through resistance and restrictions. If done with awareness and selfish-less, it is healing in motion or active bodywork.

Essentially, groundwork is connection. 

Now you don’t want to be the person standing in the middle and telling the horse what to do. That feels like a lot of pressure and is often not well received by these very intelligent and intuitive beings. But you can be the person in the middle radiating trust, peace and understanding, gently guiding the horse through movement. 

I like to work with an approach which I call Relaxation-based groundwork. In a nutshell, by becoming aware of your own body, emotions & mind, you will issue an invitation to your horse to relax into him/herself.  Only from a place of acceptance & relaxation, true connection and sustainable training can be initiated. 

Exploring the WHY

First things first. When we are working with our horses, we honestly have to ask ourselves: does this activity or approach offer any true value to my horse? Does it enable naturalness?

The most natural state for horses is Being. Being you could also call relaxation. Whenever we deviate from this natural state, we are creating tension in the body and the nervous system. This can be caused by our pace (we humans are so much faster than animals), our expectations, by asking too much. Tension, if not balanced, will over time lead to behaviour issues, pain, illness and a refusing attitude. So how much and how fast can we ask? 

Exploring the natural State 

The aim of a relaxation based groundwork session is to guide my horse and myself into Balance. There is a fine equilibrium between energy input (e.g. my voice, aids, whip, energy, expectations, etc.) and energy output (the horse’s movement, forward drive, communication such as tail, licking, chewing, etc.) – I have written more about balance here.

In a session I’ll usually be closely paying attention to the horse’s communication in order to FEEL the natural state – the moment when input and output are in harmony. Effortlessness is when each stride comes as a result of the last one, not because I generate more input or have to calm my horse down.

In these sessions, I have learnt a lot about my horse’s natural ability, pace & releasing time. Instead of pushing, I listen so that the horse can show its real ability and what is capable on the day. But even more importantly, my horses will strongly connect with their own bodies and its natural capabilities – without putting tension into the body and wthout over-compensating for me. This always feels absolutely amazing to them and a session often ends with yawning and lots of gratitude for each other (my favourite part!).

The Gifts of Balance

There is a saying that your inner balance is always reflected by your outer environment. In this case this will be my horse. If I am not balanced in myself, I can clearly see that my horse is not balanced either. That might be shown in the quality of movement, the attention, behaviour or motivation. 

But only from a state of balance, can we ask for more: be it impulsion, forward or collection. If we are asking from a place of un-balance (resistance), we’ll be generating tension and the work has little real value. 

By looking for balance, I’ll get an honest sense of how much of “more than natural” I  can ask without compromising the body or my relationship to my horse. Remember, I certainly don’t want to be the “nagging person in the middle who just asks”.

The beauty is, in balance the horse has the ability to release stored tension – instead of accumulating more tension through work. And of course, with time and patience, the natural Normal will move towards More all by itself. The effect of tension-free, kind & sustainable training. 

Phases to work with during during these sessions

Each session will obviously present different opportunities, because both beings (human and horse) are never the same. Be it the environment at the yard, the weather, herd dynamics or our internal dialogue, no day is alike. I generally work with these phases during a session: 

Grounding together and finding the present moment

Connection to my horse to find its natural state of balance in walk

Allowing the space & time for the horse to release tension during movement

Explore asking for More (that can be quality of the movement or a different pace) without compromising the body or relationship

Working towards a new normal state over time

And lastly, acceptance of what the day brings. No expectations, no training goals.