Flexion In Motion

One of the most interesting topics I have come across in all of horsemanship is what I call “Flexion in Motion”.  It is an element of horsemanship and riding a lot of people don’t know about. 

To give it a definition, Flexion in Motion is the horse’s ability to have horizontal flexion in their body while they are engaged in forward motion.  To be honest, it is a bit challenging to describe Flexion in Motion through words only, which is why we have some great videos on this topic in our Online Video Library.  In steps 3 and 4 of the Foundation Ground-play portion of our program, we show you how the Flexion in Motion exercises fit into our overall sending exercises.  We also show you how they allow you to advance your horse's relationship at Freedom with some of our latest videos of my two horses, Deuce and Indigo.

To understand why Flexion in Motion is so powerful in the development of a relationship with a horse, we must begin to understand that for a horse, there is a very simple equation that we can always count on:

Flexion = Relaxation

Almost all horses offer a challenge in the process of building a relationship, and we have to overcome that challenge if we want to continue to advance in our ability to communicate.  By keeping everything we do in these moments connected to flexion, we are also keeping their mind and emotions connected to relaxation. 

Given that horses are prey animals by nature, they can easily associate fear and tension to anything unfamiliar.   In these moments, we can redirect their mind and emotions towards relaxation by asking them to move in a flexed manner, which leads to a relaxed state of mind.  Essentially, we get to the mental and emotional components of the mind through the physical body of the horse.  This might sound like a strange concept, but the great thing about horses is that they cannot think and feel one way, yet behave in another.  Simply put, what you see is what you get with a horse, you just have to know what to look for in their body language.

To learn more about Flexion in Motion, join our Online Video Library at www.CoolerHorsemanship.com and receive access to more than 2 hours worth of footage explaining how this concept works.  Likewise, download our E-Book Series, including Volume 5 which is dedicated entirely to the concept of Flexion in Motion, to see the full scope of the Cooler Horsemanship Program.