Re: RC: Re: Training ride today

[sharp penny <penelope_75647@yahoo.com>]

      Sue, 
your advise is right on the money. GIMICKS or "quick
fixes" never work in the long run. Once the "Prop"
comes off the horse realizes it and reverts back to
his old ways because he was never taught the correct
way from the beginning. When you encounter a problem
in the training you always back track, find the hole
in the training, work on correcting that, then when
its learned you procede. Needless to say this is a
long continous process which many people don't have
the time or patience for. Sooo out comes the "quick
fix". 
      I'm new to endurance but have been training show
horses for 20+ years with several Pinto national
championships under my belt. I'm very impressed with
the knowledge on ridecamp, esp in the areas of horse
health. Looking forward to learning lots from you
guys!

Penny 


--- Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com> wrote:
> >... At the canter [he] ends up with his nose in the
> air after a couple of
> >hundred feet... He's had plenty of
> >practice at the canter but not in the woods.
> >
> My guess on this situation would be that the horse's
> muscles aren't quite
> strong enough yet to keep him rounded and his back
> lifted for that long of
> a distance.  I was taught (and consequently train
> green horses this way) to
> ask them to do the hard exercise correctly (back
> lifted, back legs coming
> under) for a short stretch and then stop doing the
> exercise *before* they
> start to fall apart.  If you continue with the
> canter after the horse has
> started to tire, you will help develop the muscles
> in the wrong direction
> and the end result will be counter-productive to
> what you want to
> accomplish.  
> 
> Adding gimmicks to the exercise (tie-downs,
> martingales, side reins, draw
> reins, etc.) will be as counter-productive as having
> them continue doing
> the exercise incorrectly.  (Altho it may seem to be
> helping in the short
> term, it will be detrimental in the long term.)  The
> muscles strength and
> stamina will develop on the underside of the body
> instead of on the topline
> since horses will learn to lean or balance on the
> assistive device when
> they start to tire...and your goal is to develop the
> strength in the back,
> abdomen, and haunches, not in the underside of the
> neck -- or you will have
> a horse that will continue to throw his head up for
> lack of strength in the
> proper muscles and *continue* to strengthen the
> wrong muscles.  It's much
> more difficult to reverse this development -- we've
> done this with several
> horses here that had been ridden with gimmicks
> "holding" their heads down
> or had been previously pulling carts, etc....and
> it's a loooonnnngggg, slow
> process since they will opt to use the strongest
> muscles (the underside)
> until they become the weaker muscles and the topline
> becomes the stronger
> set of muscles.
> 
> The head will come down when the horse is using the
> topline correctly (back
> lifted instead of hollow) and using his rear end for
> push rather than his
> front end for pull.  Keep in mind that "practice
> doesn't make
> perfect"..."PERFECT practice makes perfect"!  If you
> do an exercise very
> well for 100 feet (or 3 times, or whatever) and then
> you do it very poorly
> for 600 feet (or 20 times, etc.), which way has the
> horse had the most
> practice???  Pulling the head down will NOT develop
> the correct muscles.
> The ability to lift the back and use the abdominals
> will bring the head
> down naturally.
> 
> Now, having said all that (!), a collected canter in
> the arena is a bit
> different than a forward canter for a long stretch. 
> With a proper
> collected canter, the horse's head will be down,
> face will be vertical with
> the neck and back lifted, and the haunches very
> rounded...with a canter
> down a long stretch on the trail, the horse's head
> will be a bit forward of
> the vertical -- not high in the sky, but not nearly
> as low.  This is to
> allow the body to lengthen (the front legs can't go
> out further than the
> nose), maintain balance in a lengthened frame, and
> have better visibility
> of the terrain further ahead.  The key to look for
> here is whether the
> topside of the neck looks rounded or the bottom side
> is bulging and
> rounded.  If he hollows his back, throws the head
> up, and goes on the
> forehand, give him (his muscles) a rest before
> continuing...and don't
> overdo.  TTT!!!  
> 
> Sue 
> 
>   
> 
> sbrown@wamedes.com
> Tyee Farm
> Marysville, Wa.
> ARICP Certified Riding Instructor
> Recreational Riding II, Dressage I 
> 
> 
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