Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 01:02 PM 9/17/2006 -0500, Alice Yovich wrote:
> I was reading the post on Clinton and admit that I like some of his
> techniques, but I'm helping a friend train a horse and he's doing something
> that I don't quit know how to fix as a result of the clinton
> anderson/parelli type techniques.
>
> This horse is very green, so that's part of it. He yields very well to the
> bit: ie: he puts  his head on your knee when you put pressure on the knee.
> But the horse doesn't actually steer. When I ride him in the arena, he can't
> seem to leave the rail. When we take him on the trail he uses the trail to
> know where to go, but his rider doesn't have a lot of control over him. if
> you put pressure on the "inside" rein in an attempt to circle him, he gives
> to that rein, but keeps leading the same direction with his shoulder.
>
> this isn't my first time to work with a green horse, but I used mostly
> dressage techniques with my horses as I didn't really know much about
> natural horsemanship, so I don't quite know what to do.
>
> it's a very disconcerting ride...suggestions anyone?

Perhaps what is happening here is that the horse has
giving to the bit down pat but lacks what they call
disengaging the hindquarters.  When you tip the horse's
head into a turn the horse should follow its nose or
yield its hindquarters enough to straighten its body
or line up behind its nose.  As long as the head is tipped
in the horse should continue to turn if it has been
trained to give to pressure with disengaging or surrendering
the hindquarters to the directional signal.

Of course there are other features involved such as
using leg and seat bones as influencing cues.  It is also
very important to look where you want to go which also
sets your body to work with rather than against the horse.

What can be done?  Ground work where the horse is
taught to MOVE into pressure not just acknowledge
it.  Longeing and ground driving is great.  Move the horse
forward then firmly (without jerking or being rough)
ask for an a turn while insisting it use its hind quarters
to come around.  You want to turn and hold the head
while driving the hind quarters in the direction of the
turn.

This horse is ripe for bolting and really shouldn't be
ridden until it has been grounded in the basics.  Actually,
this horse is being ridden beyond its capabilities and
is an injury looking for a place to land.

Marv "FREE DOG!  FREE DOG!!  FREE DOG!!" Walker
Horse Info & Training Videos ~ http://MarvWalker.com



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