"This young man has
maintained solid contact with his mouth, putting him on the bit
and collecting him -- all very nice I must say, I'm quite
impressed."
What he was doing is giving
the horse something to do, other than spook. For an insecure horse or one that
spooks or you haven't yet developed the trust/experience bond with, riding
WITHOUT contact on a loose rein and holding on to the horn is the worst thing
you can do. You are basically giving the insecure horse permission to spook or
buck or run-off or all those things that riders say their horses only do during
certain times (my horse only acts that way WHEN ...)... What that really means
is the horse isn't thoroughly broke and isn't ridden correctly. A horse
with head and shoulders free (because of no contact) and hindquarters free
(because of no leg contact) can go anywhere at anytime. If things are quiet,
he'll be fine. But raise the distractions, and oops, horse no longer under
control.
A horse trained to cue for
softness and relaxation via the head/neck because of the way you use your hands,
as well as one that will side pass/ move hindquarters at the slightest leg cue,
can be stopped in the middle of a mild to medium spook. And most likely won't
throw a major spook because he knows you are in command.
What works better than
freedom is what your friends are doing, maintain light contact (always
giving and yielding and looking for a place to release and reward him) and give
the horse a job (always giving more of a job the more spooky a horse is, and
less where less is needed).. As his confidence in you increases, you'll be able
to loosen the grip on the reins and give him is head when he is in a "relaxed
state". as soon as his head picks up and he is nervous, looking for a spook, he
needs another job. And a nice job to give a horse is some contact on the bit,
leg pressure, some bending exercises, etc.
Sounds like you don't want
to HAVE to do the work. Some horses need it and will eventually get
better. Others may never improve or need much more elevation of
distraction levels to bring out their worst and work thru it.
I've used this technique w/
my green and race-brained Arabian and now he is learning that I will let him go
at his pace as long as he is relaxed and confident. If he becomes pushy,
fearful, or spooky, he gets to do dressage down the trail. Or turn around and
stand facing the other way. At first his episodes of requiring rein contacted
lasted throughout a ride. Now he is down to just a few miles of needing that
confidence builder. I used to have to use a full neck bend (his nose to my leg)
to get a slow-down response, and now a simple lift of the rein can accomplish
the same thing. keep working at it!
