The Horse Geeks Podcast – Where we look at horses and riding from the inside out

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Topic: Long and Low as a horse posture is at best confusing for most riders and horse owners! Is it good? Is it bad? Does it benefit the horse or harm? And the instructions we get are all over the place! So this podcast takes a look at why horses seems to like this posture or choose it, what the benefits are mechanically for the body if this posture is temporary and what the drawbacks are for the body if this posture becomes too habituated for our horses. We also look at the human equivalent of long and low in order to better understand the changes in the body that occur when this posture is dynamic. When we cue or leverage our horse to lengthen the neck or lower the head, then there is very little if any benefit at all for our horse. The posture does not create stretching. The posture should only be the dynamic result of releasing muscular tension. The muscles lengthen and restore suppleness first, then our horse falls forward into long and low. Ultimately we want long, but not low with the posture of long and low only a temporary step in the process of improving balance when needed.

Guest: Deb Romero, certified Alexander Technique Instructor
www.optimalposture.org

The workbook series mentioned is only available at: https://kirstennelsen.com/shop/

Host: Kirsten Nelsen, professional horse trainer

Developer of Training for Optimal Balance
https://kirstennelsen.com/

The post Horse Geeks Episode 130: The Posture of Long and Low appeared first on Kirsten Nelsen.