Help to get a horse properly forward
In order to participate in the forums and post comments, you need to be registered on Horse Hero. Please make sure you are Registered and Logged In to get involved!
|
|
|
noble
09 Jul 2011 19:10
|
We have a horse working at medium level who has forwardness issues. He also is reluctant to take enough contact. When purchased he was very overbent so we are anxious for him not to go behind the vertical. Difficulties with work on three and two tracks (not enough position). Feel sure these would improve with more forwardness and more contact. Easier said than done.
|
Horse Hero Guru
22 Jul 2011 00:03
|
The right balance between hand and leg can be difficult to achieve. It is easy to make it look as though the horse is working in the correct outline by pulling his head back towards you, but as soon as the horse is asked to do more physically demanding work the problems in this approach become apparent as the correct muscles have not been built up.
You say that your horse is reluctant to go forward, does not take enough contact and was previously ridden overbent. This implies to me that he has learnt that bit contact can be painful and is best avoided and, quite possibly, that his early training at least was done by pulling him back by the bit rather than pushing him forward in to a contact.
As with all problems, I presume that you have checked that there is no physical problem – the teeth, back and saddle have been checked, the tack fits and the bit is the right size and thickness for your horse’s mouth.
The only way to get a true and consistent contact is for your horse to take it up himself by being pushed from the back to the front. If the power is truly coming from behind then lateral work becomes much easier for the horse to perform, so I suggest that the best thing to do is to do lots of work on a very light contact to encourage your horse to move forwards without any restriction then allow him to seek the contact he wants rather than forcing him in to one.
|
|
|
|
