What Western Riders Can Learn from the Shoulder-Fore!
Clear Mental Horsemanship with Dennis Cappel
Most of my audience, like me, have spent much of their time in the Western world of horses. But I have always found it interesting to watch skilled English riders and handlers collaborate with their horses.
There are concepts they talk about that you do not hear discussed very often in the Western world. One of those is called the shoulder fore.
I had heard the term before, but I never really understood exactly what it meant. Once I began to understand it, I realized how useful this concept could be in teaching both horses and riders.
Here is a common example of where it can help.
When we are riding a horse around the outside of an arena, it is common for the horse to want to look toward the outside. When he does, his body will often begin to fall toward the inside rather than staying properly aligned with the direction of travel.
This is where understanding the shoulder-fore can be effective.
The outside shoulder should lead slightly ahead of the inside shoulder. We achieve this through the relationship between our inside leg and outside rein, using the inside rein slightly if needed to help keep the horse looking in the direction we are traveling.
The key is to make these adjustments without overdoing them. We do not want to use the inside leg so strongly that we push the hindquarters to the outside. Our goal is to maintain the alignment of the horse’s body while making a subtle adjustment in his posture.
This change helps the inside hind leg push the outside shoulder slightly ahead, correcting the tendency to look outward and helping the horse travel in the direction we are asking him to go.
Why is this important for Western riders?
Because we often spend a lot of time thinking about where the horse’s head is, without fully considering how the position of his body affects the way he travels.
When we understand the shoulder-fore, we have another way to recognize and correct a horse that is not traveling in the direction we intend. Rather than simply pulling his head around or allowing him to fall out of alignment, we can use our aids to help him organize his body.
This is one of the things I enjoy about horsemanship. We can learn from different disciplines and apply that knowledge to become better horsemen, regardless of the style of riding we prefer.
The more we understand how a horse uses his body, the better we can communicate with him. And the better we communicate, the better our experience becomes for both horse and rider.
Sometimes, a concept we have never really considered can make a significant difference in how we approach something we have been doing for years.
That is why I am always looking for ways to improve my own understanding. There is always something more to learn about horses.
Dennis Cappel
Cappel Training and Shoeing
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Excellent topic. Thanks Dennis. I experience this issue in the mounted archery I do here in Japan. The horses tend to bend and look to one side or the other as a habit. I think it ends up hampering their over all freedom of movement... So working on this specifically would be very helpful.