Finding the key

Nearly every rider has experienced a horse that pulls like a train – and it’s not an enjoyable feeling. Lucy Elder talks to those who have found the key to famously strong horses and how these blossomed into wonderful partnerships

- Lucy Elder

MOST riders will have heard the old adage of “if you don’t pull, they won’t pull” at some point during their time in the saddle. While grounded in truth, it isn’t always so simple. But there are steps that can help, starting with understanding, training and building mutual trust.

“It’s about getting to know them and building that partnership,” says Charlotte Alexander, who retrained the likes of Denman, Earthmover and Ulck Du Lin.

“If you are taking on a former racehorse at an older age, their bodies are going to be more set in a certain way. There may be only so much you can do on the schooling front, so it is about building up that relationship.”

She adds understanding the aids and how their bodies are built from their previous career is a good place to start, as is looking at your own way of riding and taking an individual approach with each horse.

Charlotte has found Neue Schule Turtle Top bits, teamed with an appropriate noseband depending on the individual horse, particularly suit her thoroughbreds as she finds them kind and effective enough to ride with a light hand.

“Schooling certainly helped Denman with his work, but did not make him any less strong as when the adrenaline was up he was gone. He was sensible and would pull up at the end, but he loved taking the mickey!” she says, adding he “loved being centre of attention and performing in front of a crowd”.

Flatwork was the secret to success with Ulck Du Lin, who came to Charlotte as a nineyear-old that “couldn’t canter a 20m circle”. He went on to event at novice and became “the most talented” team-chasing open lead horse.