okay, so in my rides both today and last night i tried giving him as much rein as he wanted - but he jabs? how can i address that? he'll jab forward, then sort of flatten out, then jab forward again?
i'm trying a bunch of different things i've read/heard/been instructed & the best thing so far is a sort of prolongued half halt on the outside rein, as advised by carly a couple of lessons ago... but it's just not consistent? like he'll reach out & then tuck his nose in & bop it around, then reach out again. is this a muscling issue? what should i do to make it more clear to him?
i really focused on giving him some inside leg today when he started plonking or 'running' and to pre-empt his little running fits (usually at the same point of the circle, how convenient) so i feel i'm recognising how to address that before he gets there. but yeah, any tips on what i can actually DO to help with long & low? i saw a girl schooling her horse today (the blonde with the chestnut at the beach in a post i mentioned previously) and he was BEAUTIFULLY stretched out & reaching for the bit. she had SUPER wide hands tho. i find wide hands helps?
to clarify - if i'm trying to *give* him rein, he doesn't seem to know what to do with it. is this something that will come with time & practice? i try to keep my hands 'loose' so he can take more rein if he wants it, but he does the jab thing & i end up with NO reins.
By 'jab', do you mean poking his nose forward like he's jerking with the bit? That seems to be a maturity issue with my experiences with Harper - the more she does with going on the bit, the less she jerks around. BUT! if she gets tired and is fed up with me asking her to collect, that's her signal that she REALLY wants to stretch out cos she's getting too tense. No idea if that's the same with Beej or not, but you might want to play with his reactions with that.
If I'm asking Harper to stretch out, I'm giving her steady contact with my outside rein and pushing her onto it with my inside leg, particularly to the right. I have to ride her like crazy going clockwise. I also conveniently (and inadvertantly) taught her the 'stretch' command - when she's going all giraffey and whatnot, I've taught her that when I say "streeeeetch", she drops her head and relaxes her back. I did that COMPLETELY by accident while working her in the Vienna reins, but oh am I glad I did it.
Anyway - steady contact with the outside, and I'm massaging her with my inside rein, just a light squeeze and release. As soon as she drops down, I relax my hands, praise her, and let her trot on for a bit and then ask her again - but I have to be sure to give her room to stretch down, otherwise she gets tight and curls. Don't keep your hands loose - you want him to reach for the bit on YOUR terms, not his, and feel the support that you're going to give him, not feel like when he drops his head, there's nothing there for him and he can just go do his own thing. He's giving you a clue that he wants to stretch out when he gets jabby and curling, so then you start asking him to stretch down with the safety blanket of an outside rein, and the light ask with the inside. You'll have to do it in stages, because you need to teach him what you mean. You may only be able to give him a few inches at a time, but if you teach him in bits he can understand, it shouldn't take too long. The challenge will be when you get him to stretch out and his 'roo friend stops by to blow his mind - getting him back on a loose rein may prove to be difficult lol
Wide hands can help, but it defeats the purpose if you teach him that wide hands = reach for the bit, because you can't do that in a show. He needs to be able to understand the cues with normal hand spacing.
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i'm trying a bunch of different things i've read/heard/been instructed & the best thing so far is a sort of prolongued half halt on the outside rein, as advised by carly a couple of lessons ago... but it's just not consistent? like he'll reach out & then tuck his nose in & bop it around, then reach out again. is this a muscling issue? what should i do to make it more clear to him?
i really focused on giving him some inside leg today when he started plonking or 'running' and to pre-empt his little running fits (usually at the same point of the circle, how convenient) so i feel i'm recognising how to address that before he gets there. but yeah, any tips on what i can actually DO to help with long & low? i saw a girl schooling her horse today (the blonde with the chestnut at the beach in a post i mentioned previously) and he was BEAUTIFULLY stretched out & reaching for the bit. she had SUPER wide hands tho. i find wide hands helps?
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If I'm asking Harper to stretch out, I'm giving her steady contact with my outside rein and pushing her onto it with my inside leg, particularly to the right. I have to ride her like crazy going clockwise. I also conveniently (and inadvertantly) taught her the 'stretch' command - when she's going all giraffey and whatnot, I've taught her that when I say "streeeeetch", she drops her head and relaxes her back. I did that COMPLETELY by accident while working her in the Vienna reins, but oh am I glad I did it.
Anyway - steady contact with the outside, and I'm massaging her with my inside rein, just a light squeeze and release. As soon as she drops down, I relax my hands, praise her, and let her trot on for a bit and then ask her again - but I have to be sure to give her room to stretch down, otherwise she gets tight and curls. Don't keep your hands loose - you want him to reach for the bit on YOUR terms, not his, and feel the support that you're going to give him, not feel like when he drops his head, there's nothing there for him and he can just go do his own thing. He's giving you a clue that he wants to stretch out when he gets jabby and curling, so then you start asking him to stretch down with the safety blanket of an outside rein, and the light ask with the inside. You'll have to do it in stages, because you need to teach him what you mean. You may only be able to give him a few inches at a time, but if you teach him in bits he can understand, it shouldn't take too long. The challenge will be when you get him to stretch out and his 'roo friend stops by to blow his mind - getting him back on a loose rein may prove to be difficult lol
Wide hands can help, but it defeats the purpose if you teach him that wide hands = reach for the bit, because you can't do that in a show. He needs to be able to understand the cues with normal hand spacing.
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