Re: [RC] shoes/bits affecting natural gaits - heidiIs "collected and on a bit" natural for a horse or is it a head and neck position that people choose for the horse? I have never seen any horse travel that way without being forced. "Collected and on the bit" strictly speaking really has nothing to do with head and neck position--or at least head and neck position is secondary. A collected horse is a matter of body carriage--the back is rounded and the hindquarters are engaged. This does cause some degree of flexion of the neck, but how the head is positioned when collection is achieved is a function of the horse's conformation. "On the bit" has to do with the horse being in communication with the bit--you control the hindquarters with your legs, and "collect" the horse by rounding him and driving his hindquarters underneath himself with your legs, thereby putting him "on the bit" so that his body is like a strung bow between your legs and your hands. This is a matter of delicate communication when done correctly--not a matter of force. And yes, this sort of carriage IS natural for the horse--he can carry himself this way on his own. It comes easier for a well-balanced horse that is a natural athlete than for an unbalanced horse that is a klutz--but it is, indeed, a natural thing. The difference is that when you ride, he does it because YOU ask him to, not because he just happens to feel like it at the moment. If a horse is shod based on natural conformation and gaits with its natural headset, why change it with a bit? If you are collecting a horse properly (not just forcing him into some predetermined "frame"--which, granted, sadly passes for collection in some circles), you won't change his "natural" headset by collecting him--you merely ask him to travel in what is his natural position of collection. You ask with the bit (actually, you ask mostly with your legs, and simply use the bit as a way of defining a forward barrier)--you shouldn't be altering what he is, other than honing his ability to become collected when warranted. Heidi ============================================================ If you treat an Arab like a Thoroughbred, it will behave like a Quarter horse. ~ Libby Llop ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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