To improve the situation we started off at a walk. I put a nice thick
D-ring snaffle in his mouth (he dislikes bits in general but you cannot do
good work with a hackamore) and used a figure-8 noseband to keep his mouth
shut and the bit in place. Using a series of 6 cones set at about 4-5 walk
strides apart down a straight line, I first walked the line alongside the
cones to test for straightness (not good). Now, those of you who have taken
dressage lessons should get the answer to this right away. How do you
improve straightness? Yes, by working on a circle! Only when the horse is
soft and flexible to both sides can he also then be straight!
We worked on a 15 meter circle, tight enough to engage the hindquarters but
not so tight that I'd lose the hind end and/or the shoulder. Much of your
work needs to concentrate on the shoulder and the bend at the poll. Pop the
outside shoulder, let the head/nose lean to the outside and the hind end
will automatically fall inside. To control for this, set the outside hand
to a point about 3" below the withers, or better yet (if you are a novice at
this type of work) grip the pommel with the outside hand, NO LOOP IN THE
REIN!!!, and keep it there so matter what! With the outside leg resting
comfortably at the girth and the inside leg positioned slightly behind the
girth, open the inside rein to a "leading" position. You want to bring the
head around to the inside just enough to see the corner of the eye. Your
inside leg is the active leg, the outside leg is used only if necessary to
reinforce or correct a mistake.
Now, go on the 15 meter circle (use cones, draw a chalk circle, use poles,
anything as a guide line so that all you have to do is work on the exercise
first and understand the concepts). Your outside hand is the anchor, your
inside hand is the guide, outside leg passive, inside leg active--you have
set up a "box" within which you will direct efforts using the diagonal
aides. To encourage round and down, and flexing on the curve, squeeze the
outside rein like a small sponge (in fact carry one of those tiny tack
sponges in your hand with the rein to understand how much pressure you
need), and at the same time ask for the hind quarters to move over with the
inside leg, the inside rein/hand out just enough to achieve a nice bend. If
necessary, bring the inside hand/rein back a bit almost to your thigh. KEY:
keep both reins the same length--otherwise this becomes a meaningless exercise.
Now using your "soft focus" pick a spot about 1/4 of the way along your
circle and ask for a bend again...do this 2-3 times per 1/4 circle until you
achieve the desired result. If you are competent enough to carry a crop you
may to use it to reinforce (and speed up) the desired effect. Most folks
have enough trouble timing the squeeze with the leg. Now for your
position--inside shoulder back, eyes looking at the inside ear, seat bones
still square in the saddle (test by feeling how much pressure you are
putting on the stirrups--if not even then your seatbones aren't either).
Don't do the exaggerated head turn you so often see in the hunter ring--all
that does is pop the outside shoulder.
Remember, this is all at the walk. Once you have mastered the mechanics,
move on to a slow posting trot...and make sure it is slow because you have a
lot of different movements/aids to master for yourself before you can
successfully communicate it to the horse!
And patience must be your guideline. It took a full 20 minutes before Kasey
yielded the poll, relaxed and came round and down (we were doing this at the
trot).
Once I achieved some nice flexion, I moved on to the next exercise. Back to
the straight line of cones. We set up a nice active walk (I call it a
"parade walk"), started down the line of cones and as we approached the
mid-distance between cones, I asked for a leg yield for one stride...this
put him just to the other side of the cones, then continued down the line
repeating at each mid-distance. What this does is give you practice in
switching from right to left rein, without losing your position. Not all
horses will yield in just one stride--but you have plenty of room to work
and be patient. Intersperse this exercise with simply walking a straight
line down the line of cones--your horse will be "expecting" a cue of course
so he'll be attentive to your walk cues (see earlier lesson on how to
achieve a good, active walk).
Another good exercise is to do a 1/2 circle, change rein, then leg yield
back to the long side of the ring using the cones as guideposts for yourself.
The next day out on trail I noticed a remarkable improvement in Kasey. The
"bad" diagonal was significantly improved and his responsiveness to the leg
100% better.
Email me if you have any questions.
Diane @ Safe Haven (enjoying a rainy day...pasture needs it!)