Re: Overbending

[Lucy C Trumbull <elsie@calweb.com>]

Kathy wrote:
> ...his nose is almost to the ground 

There was a discussion about this a couple of months
ago with some very good posts. You might check the 
archives on endurance.net - specifically for a post 
from Katja Halfmeyer on the subject. I think it was 
under the heading of bringing on young horses, or low 
head carriage. Not sure. I've got a copy stashed 
somewhere if you can't find it

Katja talked alot about how young horses start out that
way - stretched out, because that way they counter-
balance the unaccustomed weight of the rider on their
backs (and this is certainly true with my just-started-
mare, Mouse - at a walk she tends to mosey along peering
at the ground closely).

I think it was also mentioned that some horses will do
this to avoid some sort of back pressure - perhaps from
an ill-fitting saddle.

Sheila wrote:
> She also insists on smelling anything she perceives as a danger.  

This is another thing I attribute Mouse's low head carriage to -
you'd look at her and think she was myopic - every time the
trail gets a bit difficult, or a bit rocky, she lowers her
head close to it, to give it a good look.

(actually, I think this is just a ruse to get her head closer
to the grass so she can snatch a quick bite when I'm not
paying attention, but I'm going to pretend it's because
she's being attentive to the trail).

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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@calweb.com
Displaced English person in Sacramento, CA
http://www.calweb.com/~elsie

and Mouse who "never gets fed" (yeah, right, Miss Dumpling), 
so she has to grab mouthfuls when she can...
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