How to Flex the Horse correctly with Kirstin Kelly. 

Thanks so much Elsa for your lovely feedback. I absolutely loved getting your message

@@KirstinKellyEquestrian My pleasure ! I love your vids because you don't talk about the perfect theoretical horse from the book... You take horses as they are stiff, hot etc... And find exercises to help them. It really really helped me organize my rides

Elsa Lavaine that’s so fabulous to hear 👍

Thanks Shanon, yes riders are fixated on bending the neck but flexing the horse at the junction of head and neck while keeping the neck centered is the real challenge and creates softness over the poll.

Awesome thanks for the lovely comment

She doesn't want the horse to flex at the neck, in fact she is trying to avoid that if you listen to the narration. She wants the horse to only flex at the atlas/axis not at the neck. Generally in dressage this is the only place where you want flexion. There are some schools that would bend a neck as a suppling exercise, but we can very easily teach them bad habits doing this. Usually if a horse bends the whole neck they fall out on the outside shoulder and we lose any engagement.

Hi Jacquedaw, perfectly explained. Great job Kirstin

@@jacquedaw Okay then we agry. In Danish the ''neck'' is the poll. But then I say it in an other way- this horse never bend in the poll- with Atlas and the 1. vertebrae. Because the head is not free- it is hold in by reins.