Ground work is the foundation for everything.
I can’t stress enough just how important ground work is to the horse/rider relationship. And if you are going to work with a horse on the ground, there are three ways to move them around. It’s important to know the difference if you’re going to use them effectively.
Pushing
This is when you move the horse out of your personal space. You can push them by pushing at their chest to move them backward, pushing at their shoulder to move their frontend, or pushing at their flank to move their backend.
Driving
This is when you are moving the horse forward by standing behind—or at least behind enough to see both their butt cheeks. Think of driving a cart or lunging.
Following
Following is when the horse follows your movement in order to stay at your side—either when you move away from them and they have to move toward you to follow or when you move toward them and they have to move out of your way to stay with you.
