Engagement
So what is engagement? What makes it so important for our horse’s soundness? And how can we achieve it? Or even recognize it?
In the short version, engagement is the horse’s ability to carry its own weight and transmit this energy forward to lift the front. In other words, a horse that engages well will unload its front legs because of its well-functioning rear end. A well-engaged horse is therefore the key to a horse that can last as a sound top-level working horse for very many years.
How can we see it?
In direct terms, engagement is the way the horse initiates the movement. The definition of engagement is the lowering of the hip, simultaneously with protraction of the hind limb and the stretching and lifting of the upper thoracals and the low cervicals. In the hind, this will look like a lifting of the loin, a lowering of the hip, and a hindleg that reaches far forwards. In the front, it will look like the withers grow taller, at the same time as the head (muzzle) reaches downwards and forwards. The horse will get a nice rounded curve to his neck and his loins. The nose/head will move towards vertical, the degree of vertical position depends on the conformation and type of horse, as well as the degree of engagement.
Engagement
Disengagement
When the horse in movement raises his head, it’s a clear sign of DIS-engagement. This is especially seen in transitions upwards or downwards, as this is the time when the horse needs to engage the most. So instead of raising his loins, stepping well underneath himself with the hind legs, lifting his withers, and stretching his head forwards and downwards, he does everything the opposite way. The rider often fights this by having a stronger hand in the transition. Unfortunately this is only hiding the symptoms, and teaching the horse to compensate in other ways instead, usually by over flexing his neck or going behind the bit, or even pull stronger against the rider’s hands, requiring stronger aids and thereby creating a vicious circle.
Teaching the horse to engage
First task of the rider is to learn to feel when which hind leg is protracting. When he can feel this, he can start teaching the horse to step further with its hind legs (= engage more) by giving a soft unilateral leg aid at the moment the horse’s hind leg is in the air. Do not give an aid on each step, but only when the horse is not engaging well enough. This work always starts in the walk, which is by far the best gait to teach engagement. Engagement can also be recognised as a correct leg-to-hand reaction from the horse, and the work in walk will be transmitted to the other gaits automatically. A short moment before or after the leg-aid has been given, the rider might give a soft short-lasting half-parade in the inside rein. This short rein-aid act like this: In the phase when the horse’s head moves forwards and downwards (which is the same moment as the hind limb is protracting), the aid can be given (a closing of the hand around the rein). No later than when the neck is half-way down, the hand must give in and let the neck stretch further than it did before (meaning you got more engagement than before, the hind limb steps further). This is ideally done without losing the contact altogether. When the horse is educated further, this stretching into the hand can and will be transmitted into a more rounded topline, creating collection, extension or the passage. I don’t mention the outside rein here, because some horses will tolerate and need this from the start (horses that are already engaging quite well, having a correct curve to their spine), while other horses will disengage more if the outside rein is at all present (horses that have a downwards curve to their spine in movement, or horses that already learned to avoid the rein-aids by overflexing or going against the hand).
I find it best to start teaching the engagement on a circle, because the circle gives you some of it for free. To be able to walk on a circle, the horse will use its abdominal muscles to protract the inside hind limb more. This lifts the loins and in that way the circle of engagement has already started. But there are also several things that can go wrong on the circle, as you in particular need to be able to control the outside shoulder, the inside hind leg as well as the correct bending throughout the body. If the rider is not very well educated, if he is unbalanced, or if he doesn’t understand the integrated way of giving aids at a circle, it might be best to start on straight lines, or at least get instruction by a well-educated rider.
Forcing one component of the engagement, as is too often seen as a pulling of the head towards the vertical, does not teach the horse to engage, but rather to find other ways to compensate for the lack of engagement. The rider must learn to recognise that the horse disengages when he goes against the hand. He should work on the actual problem – the lack of engagement in the hind limbs, instead of fighting the symptom in the front. A mild degree of controlling the head position is ok in the transition, but as a rule of thumb – never ask for more than 5-10% of what the horse naturally offers.
To be able to move in an engaged way, there are several prerequisites, as healthy body, joints and hooves – but it is not the goal of this article to cover all these aspects. But overall- if it is too difficult for your horse to move engaged, he/she is probably struggling with health or mental issues that needs to be adressed.