[miss machine]

It seems as though head position is very important to riders, but it often has a large misconception. I use to cringe whenever I saw any horses head above the vertical. I thought this way for several years until later realizing the deeply embedded misconception amoungst riders to have this "perfect frame." I researched the "above the bit" "below the bit" concepts and found them really helpful to my riding. I thought I'd share.

Copied from this helpful website:

" I will be using some abbreviations in this section, for the reasons that I don't want to type so much, and because we all use them in forum discussions anyway. If you don't - here's a decoder:
BTV = face Behind The Vertical
IFV = face In Front of the Vertical
FDO = neck stretched Forward, Down, Out
Broken at 3rd = neck vertebrae misaligned between axis and 3rd

The Illusive Vertical

<This is NOT the midline that is supposed to be the vertical.
<This is NOT the jawline that is supposed to be the vertical.

Some people think that "the Vertical" is the midline of the horse's head, or even the jaw line, and some think the poll is situated 8 inches behind the horse's ears, since that's the point that is the highest, and the poll is supposed to be the highest point, right?
No.
"The Vertical" is the vertical line drawn VERTICALLY from the horse's forehead towards the ground, and the nose should be on or in front of it. The profile of the nose is supposed to be forward of the forehead, like a steep ski-slope, not an overhang!

The nose is in front of the vertical line going form the forehead.

You can also use the eye and the nostril for reference. Whenever the nostril is in front of the vertical line from the eye, the horse's head is in front of the vertical. Or with a well fitting bridle, the side piece should be vertical. This is the position the head will take by itself on a sleeping horse, or one using a minimum of neck muscles. And a minimum use of neck muscles is not as one would think, a bad thing. These are the muscles governing the head, that would pull the head back and in, shortening the neck. We want them idle, in this case. This is why the expression "flexing the poll" is so bad. It is actually "relaxing the poll" to let the nose drop to the near vertical.

A common sight found in competition, BTV and poll low.

The fact that 99% of all dressage horses you'll see in the competition arena don't have the nose on, or in front of, the vertical is a different matter. The scores given do not directly apply to head posture only, if at all. In the case of "10s", head posture does not count one bit, since if it did, the score would not be a 10. But it sure does create a mental picture of roundness, but the picture is not correct.

The Equally Illusive Poll

The actual location of the bony protrusion called 'the poll'.

Then there's the poll, and its level of elevation. It should, according to the rules, be the highest point, except for on the stretchy circle or walk on a long rein. But where is the poll located on the horse? The poll is not the point that is usually the highest on any given competition horse. No, the poll is the occipital protruberance at the back of the skull. This point should remain the highest skeletal point of the horse in collected movements and any posture when the horse is on the bit. This can be very hard to understand if you haven't seen it done. Some instinctvely think the horse is tense in this posture, or "not round enough". This usually comes from being unable to "keep" the horse in such a frame oneself, and instead needing to "trap" it in behind the vertical to keep the horse from throwing his head up. It can also be hard to understand if you don't know the horse's skeletal structure, and think that the neck joins the head behind the jaw. So get to know it!

The head attaches near the top of the skull, not where the neck meets the jaw.

I think a lot of this confusion comes from the fact that riders and trainers don't know the absolute basics of horse anatomy, and the function of the head and neck, and their joints. The neck meets the skull at the top of the skull, near the edge where the forehead starts. The skull hangs from there. It does not attach to the head where the neck meets the jaw. There's no bony connection there, and the muscles that are there should be idle in the riding horse working on the bit.

The horse will stay BTV if you train BTV.

A lot of riders and trainers also say that "poll the highest point" is the final grand prix outline, but that's just uneducated bolony! They think that the lowered neck and angled back head (with the same angle at the poll as when ridden "up") is a lower level outline, and as you come up to grand prix you just raise the neck, and voila, the head is on the vertical.
This scenario, I would say, NEVER happens. What happens is, that the horse learns to hold the head back by the underline neck muscles, and he will keep doing that as you raise the neck. These horses usually travel with artificially raised necks (and thus lowered backs), and the head still behind the vertical when ridden "up", because they have learned this behaviour, and been rewarded for it. With these horses it is impossible to "place the neck anywhere" just like the rollkur proponents say they want, because you can't pull the nose out. And the horse learns to hold the head back. The only option left to get the nose out is to coax the horse into an extended gait, and you can do that training at home, but between passage and walk in the showring, you just have an overbent horse with a lowered back.

The poll is the highest point of the horse and the nose is in front of the vertical, even if the neck is not very raised.

According to the rules, the poll is supposed to be the highest point of the horse, not the entire universe! It doesn't have to be particularly high to be the highest point of the horse.

The poll is lower than the withers in a stretch.

When the head becomes lower than the withers, it's OK for the poll not to be the highest point anymore -because it's a stretch! (Mind you, the face should still be on or in front of the vertical.) You should stretch down often, for relaxation, and elongation of the neck, not for "work". This will also encourage the horse to stretch during collection, and arch the neck beautifully.

The location of the poll (green).

Another reason this muddle of confusion exists, is that even really experienced horse people like Frank Evans and others, refer to the atlas (purple) or axis (blue) as the poll, but this is physiologically wrong. Those parts are the neck vertebrae, and the poll (red) belongs to the head, the back of the cranium, to be precise. The importance of it remaining high is for the neck NOT to bend off at the atlas or axis. And this is where cause and effect get mixed up. Since the atlas or axis is the highest point, that must be the poll. Duh!
Those who think that the poll as the highest point is only possible with a horse collected for Grand Prix, are lost in the poll-flexion maze. They think it is so, because they ride the horse from day 1 with the top of the neck overbent (bending off at 2-3 vertebrae) and the horse learns to habitually shorten the underneck and hold the head in. With that kind of reinforced habit, the only chance of getting the poll up to be the highest, would be to maunally raise the neck beyond where the horse can hold the head back behind the vertical. No wonder they think "up for competition" is bad for the back!

On The Bit

The horse is correctly on the bit without collection or elevation of the neck.

"On the bit" means the horse is relaxed in his poll and stretching his neck towards the bit. This is called for in the FEI tests, and is also described there:
In all his work, even at the halt, the horse must be "on the bit". A horse is said to be "on the bit" when the neck is more or less raised and arched according to the stage of training and the extension or collection of the pace, and he accepts the bridle with a light and soft contact and submissiveness throughout. The head should remain in a steady position, as a rule slightly in front of the vertical, with a supple poll as the highest point of the neck, and no resistance should be offered to the rider.

This horse is also correctly on the bit without collection or elevation of the neck.

A lot of riders and trainers want to call "On the Bit" "On the Aids" instead, because the "On the Bit" focuses too much on just a head set. While it may be true that you have to have a horse on all the aids in order for it to be working correctly on the bit, that is not what is stated by the FEI. As one clearly can see in the rules of the FEI, on the bit refers to only the head and the neck. In Article 401 there are 6 other paragraphs that deal with everything else, and this is the 6th out of 7, so they don't really forget the rest of the horse and ride only the head. But the fact remains, that 'on the bit' means only a certain head and neck attitude in the FEI rules. How to get it is another matter.

This horse is also correctly on the bit without collection or elevation of the neck.

This attitude has the outward signs of "the head remaining in a steady position...slightly in front of the vertical". In this case the nose should be forward of a line from the horse's forehead. The flat face of a horse is simple to see. The nose should come first. The pink line in the drawing above follows the vertical drop from the horse's forehead, and in this illustration, the nose is in front of it. It is also only in this position that most normally conformed horses are able to keep their polls the highest point. This is because of how the head and neck are set together on a horse.

[miss machine]

CONTINUED..

The blue dot = the crest of the axis & the red = the poll.

If the joint between the atlas and the skull could flex more than it should, the mandible would still press against the wing of the atlas and/or the axis, and the poll would lower and the atlas/axis rise to accomodate the angle of the head. This would be painful as well. The poll is really a bony protrusion at the back of the head, and as long as the nose is in front of the vertical, it can be the highest skeletal point of the horse. As the nose comes in, the protrusion rotates with the head forward and down, and the atlas becomes the highest point. But more commonly, the axis is the highest point. The joint between the atlas and the axis is not mobile in the up/down direction, so all of this movement must come at the horrible joint between 2nd (axis) and 3rd. This is usually where the horse "breaks" when the poll is low and the nose is behind the vertical.

Forward-Down-Out or Long'n'Low

Neck elongated, lowered and arched in a relaxing volontary stretch.

A very large group of riders seem to shy away from the term "Long and Low". I guess this is because the word "long" somehow leads them to think about a strung out horse on the forehand slopping around hollow. That is not long and low. During "Long and Low" the horse must be active and balanced behind, and relaxed and stretched down in front. But even this is feared by the vast group of riders riding the horse "Low and Together" instead. With "together", I mean nose in direction of the chest, which to them somehow makes a stooping poise legitimate. These riders dislike the relaxation part of the exercise. But this is because they would ride a lower, curled outline as part of a training "work" session, with stress on "work".
But...

Stretching FDO in a relaxed balanced trot.

This is not a "working" outline! This is a relaxing outline! The work happens in between the stretching down. It is the change of postures between actively working in a higher frame with more bend in the haunches and hocks, and relaxing down into a forward-down-out stetch that elasticises the back muscles. Not the "pull-stretch-pull-stretch" in a maximally stertched outline. The horse is released into this outline after a short bout of collecting "work". In the "work" he should always show the desire to go in this direction, but not actually do it until the rider lets him slowly take the reins out of the hands.
It is also not necessary to stretch out all the way down to the footing at all times. Horses with awkwardly set on necks can have problems with maintaining balance and rhythm and relaxation over the back if "forced" to take a lower position than their neck muscles can stretch. It's one thing to graze without a rider stretched down, another to trot in rhythm and balance while ridden stretching down.

Stretching forward-down-out all the way.

It can also be good to alternate between letting the horse stretch down fully, and just stretch down some, because always stretching to the ground can cause a horse to think he must do that every time. The horse can start to snatch the reins from you, rooting, not out of disobedience, but simply because he thinks he's doing the right thing.
It can also be a hassle to let the reins out and collect them back up incessantly, so sometimes on can only advance the hands some to allow a half stretch.

Most riders have no idea about just how often they need to let the horse stretch. But a rule of thumb is that if you ask for 10 steps of very collected trot or half steps, the horse needs 20 steps of relaxation FDO to let the muscles pump away the metabolic by-products and get new nutrition via the flowing in blood. To let the horse stretch every time he has made an effort (and even when he made less of an effort) will lure the horse to make an effort, because he likes the reward - the stretch!

Stretching FDO in trot.

Sometimes the discussion on FDO gets caught in the IFV/BTV trap. A horse stretching down can be a tad BTV and all that the viewers see is the BTV. Talk about an elephant in a glass house, for me to be complaining about remarks that horses are BTV! But still.
The lower the horse carries his neck (stretched down) the less bad is BTV. If the horse is sniffing the dirt, a few degrees of BTV is almost nothing. The jowl area is still sort of open, although not perfect. But being BTV in an upright position demands a whole lot more incorrect effort on part of the horse, than if he is a little BTV in a stretched position. So don't fret.



No Posture - Simply Slopping Around

This is not a stretch, just 'not working' slopping around.

Forward-down-out is so often mistaken for this strung out position that has no quality to it whatsoever. This is an OK position walking around the arena for the first 5-10 minutes, or as a break between work. For longer periods of time, the horse ought not to be ridden like this. If it is sitting one wants - use a sofa or a chair. Avoid weighing down the horse's back without activity from behind for extended periods of time. It serves no purpose.

When out and about in the countryside, getting used to the surroundings, and taking it easy, the horse should be ridden actively from behind, so that the hips activate the back to arch under the load. The horse should be ridden straight and relaxed and not be let to sag. That would tire the back awfully and unnecessarily. In between work, a horse could be left to his own devices slopping like this if he needs the "mental relaxation" like the mare in the photo, who is having a hard time taxating for a small obstacle. She gets a lapse or two of walk like this from time to time.

This is not a stretch, just 'not working' slopping around.

Many riders warm up this way, because they mistake it for Long & Low. It is not. This is just a lowered neck, where the horse makes no effort at all to neither stretch the back nor bend the hindlegs to carry the rider right. It is just a slopping poise where a minimum of effort is needed. I can't see any harm in jogging around like this 5 minutes for warm-up, that's true. But don't mistake it for an active stretch Long & Low or that it somehow stretches the back under the saddle. It does however let the horse get used to the rider and get some juices going before work. "

__________________________________________________ ________

Wheeeeeeeeeeeew. Officially longest post ever. Hope this helped!!

[madvoice]

Thanks for posting. Its something I've often read about and have tried to practice.

[Cavalier]

Great info!

Thanks for posting it

I'm sure we can all learn from it.

[Lindsayanne]

That's great but did you ask permission before cutting and pasting someone's entire website? Hosting that many pictures here, you're actually stealing bandwidth, which the owner has to pay for.

[Little Red Dun]

Very good article and an excellent website that I'm saving to my Favorites. Thank you for posting it.

[miss machine]

Originally Posted by Lindsayanne

That's great but did you ask permission before cutting and pasting someone's entire website? Hosting that many pictures here, you're actually stealing bandwidth, which the owner has to pay for.

As sarcastic and somewhat rude as your comment seems, I emailed her, asked, and if you went to the link, you'd notice that it is a quote, not the entire website. I was trying to offer useful information to members, not go out of my way to steal someone's bandwidth.

Thanks.

[JBandRio]

Originally Posted by miss machine

As sarcastic and somewhat rude as your comment seems, I emailed her, asked, and if you went to the link, you'd notice that it is a quote, not the entire website. I was trying to offer useful information to members, not go out of my way to steal someone's bandwidth.

Thanks.

I didn't find her comment rude or sarcastic, and if you had stated up front that you had permission to copy as much of the article as you did, that would have cleared that up right off the bat

[Lindsayanne]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

I didn't find her comment rude or sarcastic, and if you had stated up front that you had permission to copy as much of the article as you did, that would have cleared that up right off the bat

Bingo. There's a big difference in hotlinking and hotlinking with permission. Hotlinkers steal $$$ out of my pocket every year so it's a big peeve of mine.

[luvs2ride79]

Great information! I've always hated seing horses being shown with the poll tucked down and face cranked in...

I love her web site, I have it in my favorites.

~Barbara