Fall 2019 / 55himself along by his front
end as he is propelling
from behind.
He’s prepared to walk—
slowly—but nothing more.
Step 2:
Activation
The solution is to do what-
ever necessary with your
legs, seat, hands, and voice
to get your horse to push
off. Again, what you want
is more push, not more
speed, but in the beginning
it may mean you prompt
him to gallop off. The key
thing is to release all cues
the instant you feel him
seriously push forward with
his hind end.
With repetition over
time, your horse realizes,
“Hey, the leg comes off
when I change the shape of
my body, no matter what
speed I’m going at.”
In the photo, note how
my horse’s forehand has
come up, his hind end has
lowered, and his muscles
are activated. And get
a look at that hind leg!
That’s what I mean by
push. My horse is almost
ready to lope off; that’s
the degree of readiness
you’re after.Step 3:
Self-Carriage!And here’s the result. Myhorse is still walking, but
compare this photo to the
first one. Here, his shoul-
der is raised, his neck is
arched, and his hind end
is lowered for a lovely
round topline. His muscles
are working, and his hind
legs are pushing hard
and reaching well under.
Compare that right hind
leg in both photos... the
difference is dramatic.
In this state of self-car-
riage, my horse is like
that tennis player: poised,
balanced, ready. He’s
taking responsibility for
himself, moving with
energy on his own and
prepared to respond to
my next cue.
A true pleasure to ride! View this exercise in action as Warwick
demonstrates at HorseandRider.com.Watch Warwick!
PHOTOS BY VICTORIA WESTPHAL
Australian clinician
and reiner Warwick
Schiller lives in Hollister,
California. He’s an NRHA
reserve world champion
and represented Austra-
lia at the 2010 and 2018
FEI World Equestrian
Games. He solves horse
problems by changing
the rider’s perspective.
Learn more about Schil-
ler and find his clinics,
books, and videos at
warwickschiller.com.23