The Language of Feet

forward thinking horses get stuck easily so encouraging these horses to move forward comfortably is very important. The horse that lurches forward and stops is half stuck all the time so he will be hard to teach until he can go forward easily.
The horse that wont go is just as stressed as the horse that cant stop. Both are close to their limit for stress so anything you try to teach will not be fully understood. In either case it is likely that you will have to abandon your lesson plan and concentrate on helping your horse find some kind of comfort in moving his feet.
If we can be aware of what the horses feet are doing we can help him. If he is too fast we need to be less assertive. If the feet wont move at all we may need to be more assertive but also less concerned about where he goes. We dont care where he goes as long as he goes. Eventually the horse will find a rhythm and then some balance and things will get much easier. We can learn all we need to know if we just watch the feet