How to Fix Dropped Shoulders

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How to Fix Dropped Shoulders

Welcome to your next issue of "Horse Class," your how-to source for equine tips, tricks and solid foundational training brought to you by horsemanship101.com and John Lyons Certified Trainer Keith Hosman.

Do you sometimes feel like you're sliding off your horse to the left or right - especially in your turns? Have you tried everything on the planet to deal with it, from kicking the devil out of the horse's shoulder to "lifting him" with your reins to screaming your bleeping head off?

Want an easy fix?

The fix is simple and easy and for sure my old mare wishes I knew this trick some twenty years ago!

"Teaching Horses: How to Fix Dropped Shoulders" is sampled below. To read in its entirety or to print the article out, follow the links provided. If they don't work or you're not getting the emails properly, see the bottom of this page.

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Articles and products related to this issue's topic:

1) Circles
2) Neck-Reining
3) Problem Solving
4) Reining
5) Saddles and Fitting
6) Shoulder Control
7) Turning

See training how-to and product recommendations for over 300 equestrian-related topics.

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Previous horse-training tips and articles can be found 24/7 at Horsemanship101.com/Articles. All can be printed out & saved for easy access later.

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Let's Fix that Leaning!

"Does your horse tip through its turns? Or, maybe you've decided you need a "better-fitting" saddle because the one you've got just seems to keep slipping off to the side? (Darned if you don't have to keep readjusting, pumping one stirrup or the other back to center every five minutes, all-the-while thinking "Can my balance really be this bad?") In either case, newsflash: Your horse is "dropping his shoulder." And get this: Not only is the fix easier than you think, it takes effect quicker than you'd expect. Frankly, I wish I'd known this (soon-to-follow) trick twenty years ago - it woulda saved me (and my poor horse) tons of aggravation.

You've probably felt this many times: You turn to the left or right and the "front of your horse's back" suddenly tilts in the same direction, leaving your gluteus buttocks sliding off like a pair of fried eggs on a greasy skillet. The fact is, your horse has never been trained to keep upright through his turns. He's simply turning as nature instructs - and Nature doesn't care if you slip off...."

keep reading this article

A Companion Article

Here's an excerpt from a previously-published article called "Steer the Tail." It's an alternative perspective on much of the material found in this month's piece ("Fix for Leaning Shoulders," above). However, while the current article calls for a disengagement to cure tipping shoulders, this older article prescribed and described "disengaging" to calm the excited horse and to cure "drifting."

"When you steer a boat, you always steer from the back end, don't you? That's what you'll do here. Your horse is driven by its hindquarters; that's the engine and where the drive comes from. To start getting control of your horse, you'll first take control of its "engine." You'll drive your horse around the arena like you're driving a boat. You'll pick up one rein and just drive his tail the direction you don't want to go. So, if you don't want to go "over there," then you push his tail "over there" instead and release the rein. As soon as you release it, then pick it up and drive his tail over the other direction. Release the rein, push him out, drive his tail the other direction. You'll just keep pushing the tail different directions..."

Read the entire article by following the link or by visiting Horsemanship101.com/Articles.

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"Beyond moving away as you prepare to mount up, has your horse picked up other annoying habits? Does he bang impatiently on the stall at feeding time? Or lead poorly or buck or bite or kick out during a speed transition or drop his head to eat grass or forget you exist when whinnying to his buddies or "get cinchy" or act the fool for the farrier...? Has your horse come to see you as underling? When the answer is "yes," know that while remedying this behavior certainly brings about positive results in a broad sense - it is a primary key to fixing the horse that moves off at the mounting block.

Today we begin by diagnosing just how much control we have versus what we think we have..."

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