The Nuchal Ligament and other PartsHorse

The Horse is put together in a truly marvelous way. He is built with springs in his legs, and fire (or rain, or a mouse) in his heart. His heart is his own. His neck is built in such a way that it's easy for him to lift, when looking up from eating.
See? Got it in there, again. I believe it's un-natural to have a real low head carriage. Very Not Natural.) Sort of, um, cow-like. Raven was kinda like that. Very weird. He's the horse I got "roots in his feet constantly growing" line from my Fictional, never-endingly edited um, Fiction.

Anyway, the Nuchal Ligament is the, well, ligament that runs from his poll to his withers. He can learn to stretch this ligament, and thereby all the parts of his body, for preparation for higher schooling. He can definitely raise his neck, and bend it at the same time. Hey, I'm in rebuttal mode. I read somewhere the horse can't lift and bend his neck at the same time. Um, WHAT, really? Jeeeesh. Pasted quote here "Because a horse can't really flex his neck to the side AND bring it up." (okay, okay, Dressage in Jeans wrote it). But, I stayed quiet, being polite and all, as you know.. Dressage Queens. They get one idea in their head,and bam, it's law.

There is only one nuchal ligament. This is the ligament I speak of, that can only flex/stretch/bend so far, before it's a waste of time to the young horse. He has no need for a rubber neck. Bad Hands teach him this, by cranking his head this way and that while he moves forward. The important part about the Nuchal Ligament is that it is the top of the crest of the neck, the top line, if you will. Notice there is only one. One line. The Nuchal Ligament, will, "flip" over the highest part of the crest of the neck, when his head is bent/turned to the right, say, just enough to see the corner of his right eye, head not twisted, but turned. Watch his crest, behind the bridle. You'll see it, or feel it. That's ALL you need, in the way of flexion, for bends and turns, with correct training. That is. That takes time, but it's so worth it. Way easier to ride a line than a corkscrew....:) Watch how straight most great horses move. Especially when turning. Whoa..

You'd be amazed how little bending of the head is required for this to happen. And that is all the bend that is required. Really. Anymore, and you have a rubber-necked green horse. Which is NEVER easy to fix. The line is broken.

I believe horses were built to travel forward, in gently flowing broad roundish patterns only they can remember. To tie a young horse's head to his knee & his chest is cruelty, and stupidity, and lacks sound basic anatomy knowledge. Same with cranking one side of the side-reins way tighter, to "bend" the horse. Draw-Reins, used without touch or timing. No. He learns he can be a rubber-neck. They can be dangerous. To over-bend and over-flex the neck early, is the short recipe for disaster. Later, for supple-ing, of course. MUCH later. Much, much... Stretching the horse long and low in dressage has a purpose. But too much is also a waste of time. I think it encourages heaviness in the hands, if over done. They want to look up, or eat:):)

Anyway, I was looking all this anatomy stuff up, and brain remembered a little plain dark bay mare, TB, that I rode for a bit. She ended up bred, and her foal was a psycho, from birth. The mare had twinned, and the brains went with the still-birthed foal. Sheesh, haven't remembered THAT for a while!
She was 15.1 on tip-toe, weedy, little head, short+ewe-necked. She moved like a 17 hand horse, huge mover. Very sound little girl. I put a friend who'd only ridden a few Arabs on her, skeered the heck out of her. I was too tall for her really, but she was such a sweet mare. Oh, oh, deja vu again.

Her name was Elizabeth. Lizzie to her friends. She jumped like a gazelle. She could jump 4 feet from a standstill. I was still very dumb then. I asked her to do that aforementioned move. She did it. I was trying to "cure" "her" habit of rushing fences. Yeah, lose the rider, Liz.

She had steeple-chased and polo-ponyed before I rode her. Fallen at both. I'd met her at F/W barn. She never fell, with me, but I leaped off her once, when she aimed my knee for a jump standard.
BailOut Time. Yes, at a fancy show. Yes, I ended up back at those same show grounds, years later, now Peter's place, teaching. Thank god no-one remembered that:)

It was funny to be able to clearly remember myself, at that show, years later, as I taught people not to ride as I once had.

It doesn't matter what build the horse's neck has, it has a "breaking" point. A bending point, for turning. They show off with their necks & heads of course, but they don't turn their heads a lot when they move on their own. Just enough to turn.

Ewe, Bull, Camel:) Cow. Oops, my "I am not making sense" meter is ringing.
They all have this nuchal ligament. It is a very important one, for the horse. Lots of people break it. Some people actually mean to, hopefully most don't mean to. Some nurture it for the miracle it is. Some just naturally, cleverly accept it. Some have bred the neck lower. (shudders)

The line of the horse. Right in front of you. Why turn it into a corkscrew? Or a ski-jump? Boy, I am rhetorical today, am I? The line is behind you, too.

Does anybody know I'm talking about how the horse carries himself the easiest? Does anybody even care, about Time.. (musical interlude)

To GoLightly. Something else I learned from him. Christilot too, when I'd watched her riding, years before. The flip of the nuchal ligament, at the top of the crest of the horse's neck. This idea finally came together for me with Lightly. This discovery will always come from going forward. Going Lightly.
(sniffles)

Thanks for being there.