Re: Training ride today

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>... 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