Your Horse’s Three Buttons

Two questions I get constantly: how do I teach my horse to move her shoulders, ribcage and hind under saddle — and where does my leg go for each?

I call these three movements the horse's buttons. They are how you gain control, and they are the foundation for everything more advanced: bending at the walk, spins, sliding stops.

Ground first, always

I teach almost every under-saddle exercise on the ground first. We start horses with groundwork, so working that way is familiar to them, and it gives you a starting point.

Before you take these under saddle, have these solid on the ground:

• Hind — lunging; disengage at a standstill; disengage from a distance
• Ribcage — lateral flexion on the ground
• Shoulder — yielding the forequarters, from a distance and with touch

Then lay the foundation under saddle: lateral flexion and one-rein stops for the hind; really, properly perfect lateral flexion plus cruise control and disengaging under saddle for the ribcage; and for the shoulder, flexion, cruise control, one-rein stops, rollbacks, side passing and vertical flexion at every gait.

Notice the pattern. Lateral flexion appears everywhere early on, and these three movements appear everywhere later.

The hind

Start here. No spurs for the teaching stage — bare heel.

In the beginning your buttons are very spread out; whenever you teach something new you exaggerate the language so the horse is not confused. Laterally flex him, and on the same side reach your heel back to the flank. Press lightly with the calf and count to two. If nothing happens, use the end of your mecate reins and lightly spank side to side until he disengages.

You want the same thing you got on the ground: lead foot pivoting, inside back leg stepping over the outside. Do not release until you get one correct step. When you do, release the leg and the spanker, then immediately bend his head to your toe and soften him before you let the head go.

Repeat until you no longer need the mecate end and he can do a 360 both ways. Then add spurs and refine, slowly moving your cue away from the flank until it is feather-light and sits by the back cinch.

The ribcage

My favourite, because it gets a horse genuinely soft. It brings their mind back on the trail, softens the whole body, and underpins lead changes.

I do wear spurs teaching this — it helps them find a starting point. Do not start until your lateral flexion is flawless. If the horse is not soft through the head and neck you will run into trouble.

Laterally flex him and gently roll the spur on his ribcage, right where your heel naturally falls, until he walks forward in a circle with his head bent to your toe. You may need to ask for less bend at first so he understands he must keep moving.

This is hard to teach and it takes time. Lazy, cold-blooded horses especially struggle to walk forward and bend at once — it takes real coordination and strength. Aim for a starting point in the first session, not mastery.

Adjust to the horse. Lazy and sticky: ask for less bend, use the mecate end to get the feet moving. Hot and nervous: ask for more bend and keep the spur on the belly until he relaxes.

Once the walking circle is solid, change arcs at the walk — which sets up lead changes — then serpentines, then trot and lope.

The shoulder

This comes much later, and because so much preparation sits in front of it, it ends up being almost a by-product of everything else. By the time you are side-passing, the shoulder movement is largely there.

To refine it, apply pressure and release as always: set him up, cue by the front cinch, release when he is correct. You can help early on by also putting pressure on the shoulder, since he already learned that on the ground.