Myth: Horses don’t Follow their Noses

Raise your hand if one of the first things you learned when you started riding was that horses follow their noses.

This is one of the biggest myths I work to dispel on a daily basis.

Imagine this: you are riding around the arena and start to turn a right circle. You pull the horse’s nose to the right with your right hand and look where you want to go. The horse looks right, but keeps traveling down the rail, half sideways with its left shoulder bulging out. The horse isn’t following their nose (click the link to see an example).

Another example: you turn your horse out with a friend in a large, flat turnout space. You watch as the horses gallop at full speed in large, curved patterns, all the while looking over their shoulder to see their buddy. This horse is not following their nose (in this video especially watch the paint horse, loves to look right while turning left).

So, if a horse doesn’t follow their nose, how do we steer? Horse’s are unique because they move on two axes, one at their shoulder (front legs) and one at the hind. This is what makes them so athletic, allowing for tight turns and big movements.

Horses can bend in their poll, jaw, neck, and rib cage, all of which can influence steering. Instead of thinking about your horse steering from their nose, controlled by your hands, think about them steering from the center of their body, controlled by your seat.

Here are some exercises to help retrain your muscle memory and brain to steer your whole horse instead of just the nose.

1. Cones

   Set up: Line up 5-10 cones evenly (5 or 6 paces apart).

   Beginner: Weave the cones at a walk on a long rein using your seat and legs only. Do this several times until you figure out how to use your core, pelvis, seat bones, and legs together to move your horse through the cones.

   Intermediate: Weave the cones at a walk or trot with your horse straight from nose to tail in each turn. Alternatively, weave the cones with the correct bend being careful not to let the horse over or under bend at each turn.

   Advanced: Weave the cones at a walk or trot with your horse counter bent in each turn. Alternatively, weave the cones at a canter keeping the right lead and right bend the entire time, repeat with the left lead and bend.

2. Figure 8’s

   Set up: Set out two cones ten paces apart.

   Beginner: Walk a figure eight around the cones being careful to stay the exact same distance from the cone at all times. No egg shapes! Also, make sure that the transition between left and right circle is straight and exactly in between the cones, making two proper circles, not an infinity sign. Have a helper move the cones one stride closer after each successful figure eight, making the circles progressively smaller.

   Intermediate: Trot and canter the figure eights with a halt or simple change at the intersection point of the two circles. Make sure the horse isn’t over bending or underbending at any point on the circle, and make sure the horse isn’t leaning on your inside leg.

   Advanced: Walk, trot, and canter the exercise with counter bend (and/or counter canter!).

3. Spirals

   Set up: Start on a twenty meter circle (guess if you don’t know). Ride the circle once or twice around and then start spiraling the circle down to the smallest circle you can ride over the course of 3 to 4 laps around.

   Beginner: Walk the circle on a long rein, using legs and seat to spiral in and out with slow, methodical control.

   Intermediate: Trot and canter the spirals keeping inside bend both on the way in and out.

   Advanced: Trot and canter the spirals with a counter bend the entire time.

Practice these exercises regularly to develop suppleness in both horse and rider, and remind your muscles that horses don’t always follow their nose!