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TTouches for the Legs |
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by Andrea Pabel |
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A wonderful thing about TTEAM is that you can integrate it easily in the daily routines with your horse, like picking up his feet. |
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In order to so, your horse needs to shift his weight off the foot to be picked up. |
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And how do we get him to do just that? Many people lean into their horse's shoulder in an effort to get him to shift his weight, and only too often the horse simply pushes back. |
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Frustrated, many people then reach down and try to just yank the leg out from under the horse. Horses don't like this much and try to avoid it by quickly picking up the leg before you |
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even touch it. In some ways that is very convenient, or so it seems... as long as you don't want to examine the leg, bandage it or clean a wound.
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This is why I train my horses not to pick up their legs until I ask. Instead of leaning into their shoulder, I stroke down their leg with my hand and then use a lift / release motion with my fingertips just above the fetlock joint. This teaches the horse to shift his weight, rebalance and then pick up his foot. |
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Here is a very useful TTouch to incorporate while you are picking up your horses feet: Leg circles. |
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Hold the foot you have picked up with one hand supporting the fetlock joint, the forearm against the tendon, making sure you don't torque the knee out. With your other hand you support the hoof with the thumb on the heel and the fingers around the hoof. Your elbow should be resting on your knee, so your legs carry more of the weight, instead of your back. |
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Make sure you are not pulling your horse off balance! Now move the hoof, leg and shoulder in a horizontal circle. Imagine your circle to be like the propeller of a helicopter, only much slower... Go in towards the other leg, forward, to the outside and then back. It is important to stand comfortably while you do this, with your knees bent and breathing. If you are struggling to do this you horse will feel it and automatically tense up. |
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Start with small circles and slowly make them bigger. It is not how big you make them, but the quality of movement you achieve! Are your circles smooth and round, or is the movement jerky, stopping in places? Go where it is easy for your horse and don't force a bigger movement when your horse is not ready. You can make the circles clockwise or counterclockwise. I usually start clockwise, but find out what is easier for your horse. |
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| When you put he foot down, set it down gently. Only too often people simply drop a horse's leg after they have cleaned the hoof. Horses respond by in pulling their leg away from you or stomping it down quickly. |
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Try setting the hoof down tip first; making small circles until the toe touches the ground. By resting the toe in this non-habitual manner the shoulder releases, especially if you |
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are stroking the tendon when the toe is down. Horses with tight shoulders may find this hard to do. You can help them at first by putting their toe down on a block of wood and then gradually working your way to the ground, over several sessions. |
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It does not take much extra time to do these circles with all four legs, but it can make a huge difference in your horse's movement and ability to use his legs freely. |
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Yet another way to work with a horse's legs |
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There are several other TTouches for the legs. The Python lift is very effective and easy to do. All it takes is your willingness to learn something new: about yourself, your horse, and the way you interact. |
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Here is how you get started: Place your whole hand around the leg, your thumbs pointing up. Make sure you have a good close contact, without digging your fingertip into your horse's leg. Now very slowly (make sure you are breathing) lift the skin and muscle and hold for about 4 seconds and then gradually let the skin slide back to the starting point. If you lift too much or too abruptly your horse might tense or move away. Continue this all the way down the leg. |
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This is a very effective TTouch and may also be used on a horse's neck and back. Python lifts on all four legs can lengthen a horse's stride and improve their coordination and balance. This Touch can be used for overcoming nervousness, shying and stumbling and really stimulates the circulation.
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These TTouches can give your relationship a new quality of understanding and cooperation, above and beyond what you might expect from just picking up your horses feet. It is the awareness, the non habitual movement and the ability to have new choices that can make all the difference for you and your horse.
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Andrea Pabel is a TTEAM Practitioner II and has used TTEAM for over 25 years, teaching workshops both in the USA and Europe.
She has also written 46 children's books and is the co author of Linda Tellington Jones book "Let's Ride", a guide to TTEAM especially for children and young adults.
Andrea breeds Russian/Polish Arabians and lives with her husband and three children on their ranch in New Mexico. |
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Read comments or post your own comments to this article at the bottom of this page. |
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Copyright © 2008 All rights reserved. The above article is the property of the Author and may not be duplicated or redistributed in any way without permission. |
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