Alignment...the Cornerstone

Proper alignment is everything. In horse riding, alignment often becomes most addressed when we work on the lateral movement of a horse and the straightness of a horse. But proper alignment begins way before we ever sit in the saddle or hook the lunge line on. A simple frolicking in the pasture with an accidental slip and fall can completely misalign a horse. Getting cast in the stall can misalign a horse. Pulling back while tied can misalign a horse. Getting a shoe stuck in the fence can misalign a horse. Knocking a hip walking through a stall door or a gate can misalign a horse. We may not see symptoms of misalignment; there may be no swelling or heat or lameness. But just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So many training issues or behavioral problems get categorized as the horse's mental state or something that may have traumatized them at some point in the past or a bad attitude or something that we're doing that is causing an issue for the horse. But the simple reality is, if a horse is misaligned in their body, they're not going to feel great in their bodies. Considering it's their job to protect their bodies in every single situation that they are in, we must become extremely aware of any misalignments the horse may be dealing with. Whether we can see them or not doesn't make them real or unreal. If a horse is misaligned, that is very real to the horse. While a horse can be aligned through means of exercise and movement, it is important to be aware of how much demand we are placing on the horse. If you can realign the horse without the extra demand of carrying the weight of a rider or dealing with equipment, why not do it that way? Keep it simple, keep it drama free. Then, when the horse feels better, your lunging session or riding session will go a lot better, too, because you won't be dealing with misalignment on top of everything else.