Why does Manolo sometimes work in slow-motion asking horses to do a movement for example a square corner turn at the walk in a very deliberate and controlled manner? Why does he start by teaching all movements in-hand first and always at the walk? Why does he only ask for new movements in walk and then graduates to trot and canter when the horse understands well what he is asking, and why does he go back to trot or walk if the horse is having difficulties understanding and performing the request or has a history of being physically or mentally blocked? This article while meant for humans is excellent in explaining how the brain and body receive information and why slow movement is better to develop coordination and skills. Thank you Paula Josa-Jones for bringing it to Carolines attention. It also puts into words what we have described as rebooting in our articles which is resetting the horses central nervous system. A short extract but we encourage you to read the whole including the added post on Proprioception. Why do we care? Because if you want to make your movement more efficient, you have to be aware of when you are working too hard. If you slow down and thereby increase your ability to sense differences in muscular effort level, you increase the brain’s ability to sense and correct any potential excess and unnecessary effort. Another reason to move slowly and gently is to allow yourself time to approach movement in an exploratory and curious manner, and to put a great deal of attention on the subtle details of the movement. Becoming more coordinated is essentially a matter of rewiring the neural circuits that control movement, which is an example of a very fashionable process called “neuroplasticity.” So, slow gentle movement will make your movement map clearer. It can also help make it broader, covering more territory, because slow movement is the best way to explore new movement territory. Your Central Nervous System (“CNS”) is inherently threatened by new movements, or moves you haven’t performed in years. It’s not going to let you go there unless you go slow and easy. bettermovement.org/2010/why-practice-slow-movement/?fb_action_ids=10152166256173920&fb_action_types=og.likes
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 18:11:39 +0000
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