In this second article on bend and flexion, we look at the application and use of bend in straightening, suppling and schooling horses according to the German training scale.

It is known that bending a horse is used to straighten him. There are two degrees of straightness: Training level straightness and "true" (or higher level) straightness. Training level straightness is defined as a horse working equally into both reins as a result of working equally with both hindlegs. He will be straight within his own body, but crooked when compared to the side of the arena, since his haunches are wider than his shoulders.

True straightness involves being able to put your horse's shoulders in front of his haunches. This requires that a horse is supple enough, so that the inside hindleg can step correctly under him. A stiff horse will not want to bend his spine and will end up swinging his hindquarters out or drifting in or out with his shoulders, in order to avoid placing his inside hindleg under his centre of gravity. On a circle, this will result in the horse falling into or out of the circle, depending on whether he is stiff to the left or right, and on a straight line it results in a horse moving crooked, along three or four tracks instead of two.

Do lateral exercises
Lateral exercises give you the opportunity to loosen your horse where he is inclined to be stiff. His jaw loosens because of the flexion and the muscles behind the saddle loosen when his hindlegs cross over. Figure eight patterns also supple the horse everywhere, because he must constantly change the bend and balance from left to right and vice versa. Correct bending on the circle brings your horse's shoulders directly in front of his haunches.

Conrad Schumacher has coached European championship, world championship and Olympic riders. One of his common quotes is: "Neck control is horse control ... With this capability, you can control your horse's shoulders, which enables you to control and channel the energy created by his hindlegs. So as a result of neck control, you can control his quarters and entire body," he says.

True neck control
He stresses that it does not mean "backward riding" or "riding from front to back". True neck control is not possible unless you ride your horse actively forward and he accepts a contact by gently seeking the bit. The horse's back is like a bridge that carries him and his rider, and the neck completes the bridge. So by positioning the horse's neck, you channel his energy for better overall control.
Shumacher says: "The weakest rider is stronger than the strongest horse if the rider is able to bend his horse honestly."

By this, he means that the horse should be supple enough to bend in both directions, change smoothly from left to right or go straight at any time. When you are successful in controlling your horse's bend to this extent, you have a supple horse who is not able to resist, and you are able to make him understand and do what you want.

Straightness and collection
With correct bend you are also on your way to a higher degree of straightness and collection. "Indeed," says Conrad, "you'll see that bend is the basis for every movement through Grand Prix. Bend control is the key to straightness and collection."

Lateral flexing (to the left and right) supples the horse's jaw, which is the first step to neck control. Until he yields in the jaw, he cannot properly bend in the body. The rider being able to initiate a stretch to lower the neck, helps you build a bridge of honest contact with his mouth and solidifies your ­connection to his neck setting.

Few horses are ambidextrous by nature, meaning they can bend as easily to the right as to the left. Any inherent stiffness should be addressed by stretching and suppling the horse. If a horse is stiff to the right, it is because the muscles on the left are stiff and contracted.
Therefore doing exercises that require him to flex and bend to the right, stretch the shortened or stiff muscles on the left. As the muscles on the left start relaxing and elongating from stretching to the right, over time, the rider will start feeling a more even contact on both sides of the mouth.

It is common to "work a horse into his resistances" in order to supple him, meaning that if the horse is stiff to the right, you do exercises that bend him right, since that is the direction he resists bending in.
A horse that is habitually hollow, who works with his upper neck muscles contracted and his back stiff and tense, will be worked in a lower frame than normal until he "softens" and relaxes the neck and back.

Overbending
A horse that "overbends" and dips his nose behind the vertical to avoid rein contact would be ridden in a higher frame in order to help him accept a contact and avoid him "breaking" in the neck, an action on his behalf which impedes the connection between hindlegs, back, neck, mouth and rider's hands, which prevents the rider from being able to truly control rhythm, contact, impulsion, straightness and ask for collection.

Sometimes a horse is too bendable in his neck, and uses extreme neck bending as resistance to avoid bending in his spine, leading to stiffness in the back and a habit of swinging his hindquarters out to avoid bending in the back. Such a horse would need to be stabilised in his neck, and small flexions would be used, but little neck bending would be employed in his general training until his neck stabilises.
In the next article we look at some methods of using bend that are considered incorrect and counterproductive.

(Sources available from the author.)