Part-4

As Valor developed more awareness through Equine Hanna Somatics, we began incorporating the BTMM (Balance Through Movement Method) pillars into his training sessions.

It was clear that he had a good relationship to connection and it was relatively easy for him to find pillar one. That gave us a foundation to begin carefully introducing pillars two and three.

A large portion of this work initially happened at the halt.

Rather than focusing on bigger movements immediately, we spent time improving his ability to organize within stillness first.

One of the early priorities was mobility through the poll, specifically ensuring he had enough extension available through the atlanto-occipital joint to allow a small degree of true lateral flexion.

From there, we began exploring subtle weight shifts between the shoulders.

This helped him begin organizing the shape of left and right bend while also improving his awareness of balance between the front limbs.

Once that became more available, we could begin shifting the center of gravity slightly up and back through engagement of the pectoral muscles.

Before asking for larger outward movements, he first needed the ability to organize and stabilize through adduction.

Only after those pieces became more established did we begin progressing into movements involving abduction.

One exercise we used frequently involved halting, stepping backward a stride or two to offset the front limbs, and then asking the outside forelimb to step into abduction.

This helped open the shoulders and improve mobility through the front end, while also encouraging him to ground more effectively into the hind limbs for stability.

What I found particularly valuable about this progression was that each piece prepared the next.

Once those building blocks became more established, we began carrying the principles of the pillars into lateral work.

He is currently practicing shoulder-in and haunches-in, which continue to improve his coordination and engagement through the body as a whole.

What this process continues to reinforce for me is that healthy movement isn’t forced.

It develops when the horse has enough awareness, stability, and preparation to organize the movement from within.