Preparing Effie for Ground Driving

Before I do extensive training under saddle, I always spend several sessions utilizing ground driving. (Note: you will notice I tend to interchange the term ground driving and long lining. For either I am referring to the idea of working from the ground with both both direct and indirect reins from a position slightly behind and following the horse).

This video with Effie is a follow-up to my previous post about preparing Moon for ground driving which covered some of my other pre-requisites for ground driving. In that post I cover the importance of confirming that I have a reliable halt, back, go and change of direction with a halter and lead rope and then moving forward by introducing changes of direction in a bridle on the lunge line.

This video with Effie is the next step where I begin to focus on suppleness and teaching my horse to "march" forward with energy without requiring continual urging from a whip or other aid. Considering my goal is to be able to "drive" my horse from 10+ feet away, I need to first confirm the following:

• Prompt quiet responses to voice cues - I need my horse to "march" forward without constantly "nagging" with a whip. She should WANT to go forward and feel confident and independent enough to do that without having me there to lead her. A horse that refuses to move forward or continually gets "stuck" is more likely to try to turn to face you resulting in getting wrapped in the driving lines - that is a VERY dangerous situation you want to avoid at all cost.
• Relaxed soft downward transitions (I don't want to be "skiing" around hanging onto my horse by the mouth). I want to teach my horse to respond to quiet "pulses" on the reins. Done incorrectly ground driving can really take a toll on a horse's mouth making them resistant. It is important to keep a fluid connection that has quick kind releases. Think about tickling rather than pulling/hanging.
• Fine tune the connection. It's important to adjust my aids for my horse when I am close to them on the ground because once I am farther away or on her back, I want to be certain we are both on the same page about what each little nuance might mean or how to "recover" if something goes too far too fast.

If you are familiar the Dressage and Cowboy Dressage training pyramids, this step of preparing for ground driving correlates directly to the parts of the pyramids focused on rhythm, relaxation, connection and impulsion, partnership, communication, lightness and ride them forward.