anybody got any 'long & low' exercises??

[el_Snowflakes]

hi all,

at the start and finish of our schooling sessions i give me horse a free rein. Now sometimes she just goes hollow but i would like to work her long and low so that she has a nice stretch through her back. Does anyone know how to achieve this? also, how long should i work her long and low before and after a ride (after say a 30 min workout) should i have the reins loose or should i maintain a contact?!

sorry too many questions!! :-S

 

[Booboos]

With long and low you should maintain the contact as you would normally but the horse should take its neck and head forwards and down. Becareful she doesn't come on the forehand though, the shoulders should still be 'up' and she should be nice and engaged from behind (not rushing though). It's difficult to describe how to do it without seeing how your horse reacts, but try to do it gradually and stay on a circle to begin with. As she becomes more confident in this frame you can move around the school a lot, doing a lot of changes of rein, serpantines, different size circles and changes of pace.

For me the length of the warm up depends on the work you do in between, the harder you work them in between the longer you should warm up and cool down. Typically I would do 15 mins warm up, 20 work and 15 cool down.

 

[Emily91]

You need to keep a contact, or your not communicating anything to your horse.

My Instructor gave me an exercise recently taking us right back to basics to get a longer lower outline. I'll try my best to explain it.

Move your inside hand out to your knee and hold a light pressure to turn your horses head slightly.

They should then instinctively drop their heads.

When they do this give with your inside rein and push them on with inside leg into a light elastic contact.

They will probably just fall in at first and you will find you are riding a tiny circle to begin with. But as they get the hang of it and you get a good consistent contact it becomes easier to to ride bigger circles and movements and vary the length of their neck.

Seems to work for a lot of horses I have ridden

Hope that helps