What’s the Difference Between Jaw and Poll Flexion?

A lot of riders aren’t clear on the difference between flexion at the jaw and flexion at the poll, and how to ask for each of these positions.

Keep in mind that a horse can flex three ways–to the left, to the right, and “in”.

When a horse flexes to the left or right, he’s flexing at the poll. When he does this, you’ll just see his inside or outside eye or nostril.  I call this position +1 or -1 because you’re bringing his head 1 inch to the inside or the outside of where his head would be positioned if his chin was directly in front of the crease in the middle of his chest.

You’ll ask for flexion at the poll to the left or right with an indirect rein aid. To give an indirect rein aid, give a quick turn of the wrist so your thumb points to the center of the circle, your fingernails point up toward your face, and your baby finger points up toward your opposite shoulder. As you turn your wrist this way, bring your hand very close to the withers, but don’t cross over them. As soon as you’ve turned your wrist, return to the “starting position”where your thumb is the highest point of the hand. Be sure you support with your outside rein as you do this so you “catch” his poll rather than bend his entire neck.

When a horse flexes “in”, he flexes at the jaw, and he closes the angle at his throatlatch. You’ll use a completely different rein action to ask your horse to flex “in” than the action you used to ask for flexion to the left or right.

Ask your horse to flex “in” by moving the bit in his mouth. Be sure you only use ONE rein to move the bit. If you alternately saw on his mouth with your left and right hands, he’ll just bring his face closer to his chest.

We often flex the horse’s jaw. In fact, his jaw must be flexed for him to be completely on the bit. BUT, the danger lies in flexing the jaw BEFORE you connect him over his back. If you flex his jaw first, he’s not really connected. His face is just “in”. The danger here is that you can fake yourself out.

You might think he’s correctly on the bit because he feels soft in your hand when his jaw is flexed. But if you go to do something like a transition, you’ll find out that he’s really not connected at all.

During the transition, he’ll raise his head and neck and look hollow because all you have control over is a flexed jaw. He wasn’t honestly on the bit to begin with! You need to ride your horse from back to front. Close your legs and send your horse forward through your outside hand to get his back round. And ONLY after you’ve sent him forward through your outside hand should you flex his jaw as the final ingredient of putting him on the bit.

Click here for more on dressage horse poll flexion.

Tips To Supple Your Dressage Horse’s Poll

If your dressage horse is supple at his poll, you should be able to flex him laterally to the left and right. If you’re not sure if he’s locked at the poll, ask yourself some questions:

• Will he easily flex to the left or right with one quick turn of your wrist or does he stiffen against the action of the rein?
• Does he tip his head on small circles or lateral work with a bend like shoulder-in?
• Are his ears level when you ride either to the left or to the right?

If he stiffens against your hand or tilts his head when you ask him to flex left or right, you probably need to supple his poll.

Here’s a 2-part “poll suppling” exercise to help your dressage horse.

Part 1. Start in the halt on the rail so you can check that you’re keeping your horse’s body absolutely
straight. If he’s straight, his body will stay parallel to the rail. The most common mistake is to bend the
neck. Your horse can bend his neck and still stay locked in his poll.

Think of moving his face only one inch to the left and one inch to the right so you can just see his inside
eye and/or nostril (this is also called position left and position right or flexion and counter-flexion).

Do this by keeping your fingers softly closed around the reins and turning your wrist as if you’re unlocking a door, turning the ignition key (right hand) to start your car , or scooping a spoonful of sugar out of a bowl. (DON’T vibrate or saw left/right on the reins. That will only flex his jaw and close the angle at his throatlatch.)

When turning your wrist, keep your hands stay side by side. If you’re suppling the poll to the right, in the moment that you turn your wrist, your thumb points to the right, your fingernails face upward, your baby finger points diagonally toward your opposite (left) shoulder. Once you’ve turned your wrist, return to your “starting position” with your thumb the highest point of your hand. That is, don’t hold your hand in the position with your fingernails facing up. (This action of your wrist is called indirect rein.)

Your hand comes close to the withers but it should never cross them. Also, be sure you support with the opposite rein so he doesn’t just bend his neck. If you’re next to the rail, you’ll easily be able to see if you haven’t supported enough with your opposite rein, because your horse’s neck won’t be absolutely parallel to the wall anymore.

Part 2. Once it feels easy to get position left and position right, pick one of those positions, and put your hand forward toward your horse’s mouth to put a little loop in the rein. If you’ve suppled your horse’s poll successfully, he’ll stay flexed in that direction and not “boing” back with his face in the other direction. For example, flex him left, give the left rein, and see if he stays flexed left without your hand.

Once you can supple your dressage horse’s poll at the halt, go to the walk. When you can do it in the walk both to the right and to the left (flexion and counter-flexion), ask in the trot. Once you can get the answer you want in the trot, go to canter. Don’t expect to get anything in a faster gait that you couldn’t get at a slower gait. Also, if you
have success in the trot, but not in the canter, go back to the trot (or walk or even halt) until you can do the second part of the 2-part exercise successfully.

Click here for more help on suppling dressage horse’s poll.