your horse to the outer edge of the yard. Then, backing away slightly, use your arm extension tool to point at or
C OAC H I N G W I T H C H R I S T I N E
The benefits of join-up
flick towards the horse’s rump, coupled with verbal encouragement to walk on. Staying in walk to start with is great, but if he breaks into a trot that’s also fine. Station yourself roughly in the middle of the yard. To keep your horse moving, stay positioned slightly behind the girth area and hunt him away with your eyes. Work the horse up and down through the paces, primarily in trot and canter.
Joining up with your horse is beneficial on many levels. It’s a great way to build relationship and rapport with a new horse or youngster, writes CHRISTINE ARMISHAW.
This is hard for the horse and the more intense the work is on the outside of the ‘group’, the more he’s going to want to be allowed back in. Change direction every couple of laps and do lots of transitions. To change
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direction, put your whip into your other
oin-up provides a window into your
them to the outer limits of the group
hand and move towards the outer
horse’s personality, offering insight
– not great if there’s genuine threat of
edge of the round yard a little ahead of
into the way he’s likely to respond
predators about. After a time, the ousted
your horse, simultaneously raising your
to training. It allows you to focus on the
horse will show through body language
arms and becoming ‘bigger’ with your
way your horse is speaking to you and
that it now accepts the dominant horse’s
body and presence. Sometimes, simply
the influence you have on him, based
authority and will ‘ask’ to be allowed
positioning yourself ahead of the horse’s
on where you position your body, how
back in the herd. This is the concept
shoulder is enough to turn him.
you move, and even where you direct
we are borrowing during the process of
your gaze.
human and horse join-up.
In a herd situation, being in the group
How it’s done
individuals. All the while you are
is safer than being on the outside. If
In a round yard with good footing,
watching for signs your horse is ready
a horse has been socially disruptive,
carrying a long whip or carrot stick to
to come back into the ‘herd’, specifically
another more dominant horse may drive
use as an extension of your arm, lead
a lowering of the head and neck, fixing
16 | E Q U E S T R I A N H U B I S S U E 4 • 2 0 2 2
Join-up takes roughly ten to twenty minutes, but can differ between
