There are, according to Buck Brannaman whose style of horsemanship we follow most closely, multiple ways of moving the hind. 5, specifically. One of them, and in my opinion one of the most mystical, involves bending the horse using the rein only and simply… waiting for them to figure out that you’d like them to rock their hindquarters, please. Truly nothing speaks to a horse’s intuition and intelligence more than when they fill in for our unspoken desires (occasionally before we even know what those are ourselves), and it is certainly a little bit like magic when we ask of them something they have never been asked before and they find the answer.
Frosting, like all horses, possesses this ability to intuit. Here you can see the process in real time of her coming to the conclusion of what is being asked of her, a process that doesn’t take her very long at all. And then, once she’s learned it, replicating the answer is quick and easy.
