BALLS (rolling down the trail)

[DVeritas@aol.com]

I am happy (once again) to see dressage and endurance mentioned in the same
post.  You will, not doubt, receive "beau coup" posts on what to do to enable
you and your horse to best incorporate dressage into endurance.  Close you
eyes and imagine a "soft" ball rolling forward down the trail...THAT'S what a
horse's forward locomotion can seem like should you correctly school to it.
It IS about LOCOMOTION (push from the rear, tightened stomach muscles (lifting
of the back), a soft poll with a nice working trot headset (do not "collect",
do not get behind the vertical) and work rythmically forward, catching the
horse's forward energy with soft and feeling hands (about the tension of a
stretched rubber band) using a tempo that you horse can easily maintain. 
    Remember, if you "SIT" the trot correctly, using the above methods, you
will strengthen your horses loin, sacro/lumbar region, hocks and ATTITUDE.
You will NOT tear the front end down, as all "it" will be doing is RETURNING
the forward energy BEHIND efficiently.
    Do not "SIT" the trot in only straight lines, break them into shallow
broken lines to ultimately arrive at Serpentine.  Do not "SIT" the trot
without being sensitive to you horse's stamina level...this work, if done
properly, is hard but pays MAXIMUM rewards.
    I'll stop...sorry to ramble.

    Frank Solano.
    (PS:  I do not like to "collect" young horses or overly-collect endurance
horses...you want them THINKING forward, looking for the next bend in the
trail....not afraid to move confidently into your receiving hands.....)