Ground rails, trail pattern poles, or obstacle course logs — these low-lying obstacles are a regular feature in the equestrian experience. We walk, trot, and canter over them in straight paths, serpentines, or pinwheels.

Groundwork = Secret Conditioning - While it is widely used for gentling young horses and teaching basic skills, groundwork also offers the possibility for a notable amount of conditioning. When consistently and strategically practiced, it can improve muscle tone, basic metabolic function, and neuromuscular patterns.

While it might often be spoken about in artistic, aesthetic, or even philosophical ways, lightness — both of movement and also of communication with horses — is more than an abstract ideal. In many ways, it measures a horse’s current physiological capabilities.

Visiting a Western art museum recently, I was captivated by the Russell and Remington paintings of horses and riders. The harsh realities of cowboy life were portrayed by hard riding and bronco busting. Horses in action — vehicles of transportation and battle — seemed a sharp contrast to horses in our modern Western cultures as companions or partners in sport. Though enchanted by the artistry, I was unsettled by the common denominator in every painting — every rider hauling on the reins; every horse a picture of mouth-gaping tension.