any tips on improving downward transitions? please..

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alfielola05

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hiya, my mare is very forward, i ride her in a kk ultra with no flash or martingale, her teeth have been checked. She has come on loads schooling wise but downward transitions are still very fraught, she either leans, tosses her head, opens her mouth or just plain ignores me some of the time. Does anyone have any schooling tips/ideas for me? im reluctant to put her in a stronger bit as i do feel it is a schooling issue but just not sure how to proceed. will be getting lessons sorted as soon as i am not so skint, but any ideas in the mean time much appreciated :)
 
Hi,

I would take this as being a balance issue and you're right in thinking a stronger bit won't help. I would use my schooling sessions to include lots of transitions both up and down, as well as trying something like a pessoa to help her balance.

Normal lunging may help but I find a pessoa invaluable in fixing balance issues. Someone else on here will probably be able to suggest more interesting ridden exercises but I would use lots of circles to make her more supple and strengthen muscles which will help her carriage and ultimately her balance. I would start with walk to halt transitions and get her doing a balanced halt and then move on to trot/walk and once these improve canter/trot. Just my opinion and I'm sure someone more experienced than I will be along shortly! :)
 
If you decide to buy a Pessoa there are some reasonably priced versions on Ebay, but might be worth trying to borrow one first as some horses aren't keen on the fluffy bit around their back legs!

Good luck with it all. :)
 
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