If you’ve ever been to a gym after a long absence or started up a new exercise routine as part of your New Year’s resolution, you have a good appreciation for the importance of gaining and maintaining fitness. The same concept applies to your horse when you put him back into training after giving him the winter off, after a layoff from an injury, or when starting a young horse under saddle. Unfortunately, many horse owners and trainers are concerned only with working their horses over obstacles or schooling maneuvers specific to their sport, rather than ensuring their horses are fit enough to perform such tasks.

We’ve all had a horse that was hesitant to go forward with ease and willingness. I want to share the story of one such colt I started recently, and some of the strategies I employed to help him “free up.” These techniques work well for horses of all ages. This article is ultimately about rider self-awareness, timing, and avoiding the overuse of pressure, which unintentionally dulls the horse. Take special note of the tips for success, and the pitfalls many riders face when their horse is dull to their aids.

In the summer of 1381, Anne of Bohemia, only 15 years old, left her home at Hradschin Palace in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic). Ahead of her lay a 1,100-kilometre trip on horseback across Europe to Calais, France, where she and her entourage would take a boat across the English Channel to England, to her arranged marriage to Richard II, the King of England, also 15 years old, whom she had never met.