 It is April 1st and this is the March newsletter, no joke. We are late his month with our newsletter due to the unfortunate combination of spring break and several big horse shows. My apologies to our members and my sincere thanks for all the inquiries as to where the March newsletter has been! As always, we are focused on the quality and the content of the site and hope you enjoy this month's articles.
Best Regards,
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DEVELOPING THE YOUNG HORSE PART 5
 by: Lynn Palm, Palm Partnership Training (TM)
"The Goal-Riding Training Level, Test 1, Part 5,
Balance Through Bending"
At this stage in your young horse's training, your main objective should be to control his balance. In order to do this you need to align the horse's entire body on both straight and bent lines because alignment creates balance. When you achieve this balance in your horse, he can display the qualities needed for Training Level-a steady rhythm, relaxation, and smooth transitions.
If you remember from the last article, the rider's seat and legs control two-thirds of the horse's body from the withers back and the rider's hands control the forward one-third of the horse's body including the shoulders, neck and head. To be more specific with the hand aids, the right rein control the right side of the head, neck, right shoulder and front leg. The left rein controls the same on the left side. To ride the horse straight (or keep his body straight along a curved line), the rider has to channel him between his legs and the reins. (more)
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BREATHE LIFE INTO TRAINING
PART 5
 by: Jenny Rolfe, www.spanishdressagehorses.com
Seeking Submission-From the Mind of the Horse.
Submission is a natural and instinctive response for the horse, from the moment he is born. If you observe a herd of horses, you will see the young foals cautiously approach an older herd member demonstrating a submissive stance in their body language.
These observations can show us that submission is a code of behaviour, totally acceptable within the structure of a herd. Colts at play will be trying to assert their dominance in preparation for their role in the future, when they could become the head stallion with their own herd of mares and young.
It is helpful to understand what submission means to the horse. Leadership, within the herd is natural and within this structure comes both security and survival in the wild.
A horse demonstrating submission, is more attentive and respectful of discipline, which will be a helpful response for us, as trainers. If we can become the natural 'herd leader' and create this bond during loose work, we can take this relationship on into our ridden work. We will become more self aware, as the horse can learn to respond more readily to our body language and breathing.
We can then gain a submissive and attentive attitude and our partnership with our horse, will become more harmonious. Through a logical progression of training, we can encourage a calm yet attentive attitude from the horse. This will promote his physical progress in training as his muscles will be more relaxed and able to support fluidity within his movement. Tension from the mind of the horse will cause tension throughout his body, which can result in stilted paces with an increased risk of injury.
There is much we can learn from our observations of a horse whilst moving in his natural freedom. The gifted horseman will understand that he should regard each horse as an individual and assess the path of training accordingly.
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