Great observations, Ed. Not only the classical dressage
trainers and clinicians advocate this but just about any of the current "Natural
Horsemanship" advocates, including John Lyons, Clinton Anderson, Pat Parelli,
Dennis Riese, Buck Brannaman...and just about anyone else who knows horses and
horsemanship all stress the importance of flexing, flexing, flexing and hundreds
of repetitions to achieve softness and suppleness.
Allegra, if you are reading this, I would strongly recommend
going back to the very basics and starting as though the horse was not even
broke to saddle. This way you will be filling in the blank spaces that may have
been missed in her prior training. And you would be pleasantly surprised how
fast her progress will be as you will skim over much of the material and
exercises that she may be solid in. Do you have access to friends training tapes
so that you can follow the exercises? Any of the above mentioned trainers have
training tapes available and basically, although they may use differing methods,
they all are very much alike and can help you get where you really want to be
with your horse.
some of the best clinicians/horse trainers these days are
stressing the importance of the horse being soft, supple and responsive.
there are lots of good training tapes available that show how to train your
horse this way. one writer mentioned the importance of lateral flexion
and vertical flexion. this is the key to that headset you are looking
for, but is also the key to many other common problems with horses,
including control problems. this can be achieved through the proper
techniques. it takes patience and the willingness to work with your
horse. you will have to stick to it, and do lots of repititions. i
agree with the other writers, gimmicks wont give you lasting
results. draw reins, tie downs, etc. just give a temporary
fix. with the proper work, your horse can be soft, supple, and will
collect on the weight of the rein alone. however, dont be overly
concerned with headset if your! horse moves well and is easy to control.
some horse s just naturally collect more than others. but if your
horse is high headed, and flings his head back like you said, then these
flexing excercises are definitely for you. i have worked with some
horses that were like that and have had amazing results. but
again, it is work. you wont get it done in 15 minute sessions twice a
month, more like 45 minutes to an hour, 3 times a week. but it is worth
it. ed
