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Get a friend or trainer who knows what to look for. Have
them watch you riding your horse. Every time the horse is "using
the hind end" they tell you, "now". You feel what it feels like.
Eventually you learn. (It's taken me a couple of years to do
so consistently.)
Mostly, the feel is that the horse is just really moving out smoothly.
Rather than being a spastic nut case, he is getting down to business.
I tell Drake "Use your back", which is my way of reminding myself to
use the correct aids to get Drake to use himself.
Let's look at a this from the uneducated view point (In other words,
those of you out there who practice dressage regularly can delete
now:-)
What you want the horse to do is "carry" himself. You've all seen
horses that seem to stumble down the trail, falling on his face
almost. This horse is not carrying himself. You can practice this
youself. Slump down, look off into space and sort of wander. If you
come to some obsticle, you'll probably fall. You can't make changes
very easily. Now, stand upright, bend knees slightly, tilt pelvic
forward a bit (tuck your tail between your legs sort of thing:-),
tighten your tummy, make your back almost straight, take a breath,
relax your shoulders, and *move* forward. How long can you walk like
this? Just a short time till you are tired if you are unused to it.
But, it is much better for you, and once the muscles learn their task,
you'll be able to walk this way for hours.
For a horse with a rider, you want the horse to propel himself forward
using his rear end. The front end will seem to float and barely
touch the ground. (Yeah, maybe in a hundred years, for me.)
When the rear legs come forward, the stomic muscle tighten which in
turn raises the back. Try it yourself. From the lower abdomin,
tighten your stomic. Can you feel your back changing, rounding out
a bit? Same with the horse. But this is hard work. So instead,
the horse will move the back legs forward only as far as necessary
to get moving. What we want to do is get the horse to move those
back legs even further under the horse (reaching forward). But -
with an untrained horse, asking for this usually causes the horse
to rush forward or even change gaits.
So, how do you get this? Start at the walk. And use the arena not
a trail. Walk in circles. This causes the horse to bend around your
inside leg. The horse's inside back leg must also go under the horse
a bit to maintain balance and move forward. This causes him to lift
the stomic a bit, and lift the back as well. The tighter the circle
the more difficult it is for the horse. Start with a 20 meter circle
till you begin to feel the horse starting to use himself. If your
horse is walking around with his head in the air, you aren't doing
it correctly.
Walk spirals. Take that 20 meter circle and slowly spiral in to a
10 meter circle. Go around a couple of times, then spiral out.
Do not use your reins other than a guiding outside rein. You
must develop your legs. If your legs are weak, your horse will
be weak. If your legs are one sided, your horse will be one sided.
I'd suggest that Linda who has a horse that tracks off, is probably
very stong on one side and weak on the other.
Use the rail of the arena. Walk along the rail, then pretend to
start a 10 meter circle. Just as the horse takes a step off the
rail, walk forward along the rail, but keep the horse's body bent to
the inside. At first, you'll only get a step or two. As you work, you'll
get more till you can "shoulder in" the entire length of the arena.
With this exercise, you should have 3 tracks - the inside front
foot will make one track, the outside front and inside rear will
make a second track, and the outside rear will make the third
track. The inside rear will be doing a lot of work.
Cheryl was talking about that strung out trot:
>He also has a horrible trot, all strung out, but when I ask him for
>collection he smoothes out some. He needs practice. He also dosen't use his
>rear end.
This is exactly why you want him to use the rear end. If he doesn't use the
back, his trot will be strung out and rough to ride. When you have
done the above exercises at the walk, and feel the horse is ready,
do the same exercises at a slow trot. Again, use the arena rather
than open range where the horse might get excited and forget everything.
Also, Cheryl said that this horse is tripping. While it could be
the shoeing, I've found with Drake that as he has learned to use himself
better, the amount of tripping has decreased to almost zero. He still
trips if he starts rubber necking at the birds.
>Then last but not least he gets behind the bit. How do I get him to start
>using his rear end and use the bit. I am starting giving, softening
>excercises this week. The same ones I used on Jihad to make him give to the
>bit. So what do you think gang? Does lack of rear drive keep him off the
>bit or is this a separate issue?
I've not mentioned accepting the bit, because it is harder to explain
and even harder to do.
You should have contact with the bit and the horse. How much contact
depends on how much instant control you want. If you are working
at dressage, you want the horse to feel the slightest cue. So,
you take a light but full contact with the reins. My instructor keeps
saying that light is like a silk thread, if you pull too hard it will
break. But the horse can feel every move you make. On the trail,
you may want to ride with a loose rein with a trained horse, or a
tighter rein with a green one, or when you know something is coming
up.
This horse may have many reasons for not accepting the bit - previous
owners yanked the bit, held tight, never used it, etc. What you'll
need to do is determine how much rein you need, and keep that regardless
of what he does. So, say you think you need a pound of pressure.
No matter what, keep that pound of pressure. Tell the horse "This
is what I want." After a week or more of riding, ask the horse to
maintain that amount of pressure even if you do something different.
So, you ride with a pound of pressure. Then you let out a fraction
of an inch, or an ounce of pressure. The horse should seek out
the bit to maintain the pressure. The horse is "reaching for the bit".
In most cases, this will cause the horse to reach down a little
and stretch the back. If the horse doesn't do this, you have to
quickly get the right pressure back and then ask again.
A snaffle bit, not a curb or any shanked bit, is a requirement here.
You'll need to be able to maintain a constant even pressure, which
is much more difficult with a curb where the weight of the reins will
effect the pressure, along with every little movement.
Now, for everyone trying to get their horse to use the back end,
you must have contact with the bit. If the horse is evading the
bit, by throwing the head, tucking the nose, etc., you will not
achieve the useage you want. You need to ride the horse from the
back to the front. Which means you have to get the horse to use
the back end, get his back up, and get into the bit. You tell the
horse to move his back end by you using your legs correctly. And
your use of the reins and bit will tell the horse, move that back end
but don't go any faster or break into a new gait.
I've probably confused more than one of the new riders here.
Your best bet is to find an instructor who can teach you what is
right and wrong. It is very difficult to teach yourself.
I rode for 20 some years before starting taking lessons. I
could not believe how much I had yet to learn. There are some
folks who are naturals at riding. But for most of us, it is hard
work.
-- Wendy\|/ /\ -O- /**\ /|\ /****\ /\ / \ /**\ Here there be dragons / /\ / \ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\/\/\ /\ / / \ / \ / \/\/ \/ \ /\/ \/\ /\ /\/ / / \/ \ / / \/ /\ \ / \ \ / \/ / / \/ \/ \ / \ \ / / \/ \/\ \ / \ / / \ __/__/_______/___/__\___\__________________________________________________
Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000 Hewlett-Packard Company e-mail: wendy@fc.hp.com Mail Stop A2 Telnet: 229-2182 3404 E. Harmony Rd. AT&T: (970) 229-2182 Fort Collins, CO, 80525 FAX: (970) 229-2038
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