Could i have some advice please?

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As im going to be getting my new horse:) at the weekend hopefully!! As she is 4 5 in May and she can be a bit behind the leg sometime and finds the transitions to canter difficult she will do it but finds it hard.

I was wondering any excersises to make her go off the leg i was thinking of lunging her with a rider on her so she gets used to goin forward in canter with a rider ?

Any help will be really good thnxs
 
I would lunge her (pessoa is a good idea but only for a short period each session) until she finds her balance - she's still a baby. Do lots of trot to canter transitions - she'll soon learn "trot on" and "hup" mean trot or canter and you can then progress to using the voice commands when riding so she understands what you want, then when she learns to canter transitions ok with you, use your legs to then replace the voice command. Tapping your whip on the strike off hind before asking for canter can teach them which leg you want to lead too.

Good luck.
 
don't forget at 4 she's still a baby and canter may well be hard for her so keep it to short bursts and don't make too much of a big thing out of until she's strengthened up on the lunge first.
 
I don't like the pessoa - but if you want to teach your horse that constant jabbing in the mouth is the norm I suppose it has its uses!

I would lunge with a chambon to build up the muscles she needs and then its jsut practise, the more she does the better she will get.

Don't overdo it initially - remember what your muscles feel like after a session at the gym.
 
My horse loves the pessoa, he's got a dry mouth (not a foamer) but in the pessoa he's really frothy so seems to like the bit playing in his mouth - a pessoa would only jab in the mouth if the ropes are too tight in which case the horse will overbend to relieve the pressure. (ie too tight by trying to force horse into a position, which is NOT what the pessoa aims for)

A chambon puts pressure on the poll to get the horse to lower the head - a high head isn't your problem is it and doesn't help with balance of the horse at all so would suggest you didn't bother with one.

A pessoa works the horses entire body and develops the correct muscles - gets them to really use their back end as well as back, stomach and neck...(not just neck like a chambon). Use the beginner position and keep it to 5 mins on each rein in the pessoa at canter - build it up very gradually and you will be amazed at the results. I was!
 
The pessoa forces the head into a position, it doesn't reward the down and out stretching. Therefore pessoas encourage a hollow back position, with hurried unbalanced hind action. Yes there has been a lot of hype about them, and they do appear to instantly get the horse going forward due to the hind strap.

Largely fashion and the lastest fad.

The chambon is the only 'gadget' which is hard to mess up with; so therefore before thinking of roping your horse together with the pessoa perhaps start on the basics first!

http://www.sustainabledressage.com/tack/gadgets.php
 
I also avoid Pessoas, I have seen too many horses in a fixed outline in them & lacking confidence in the bit.
The chambon is the only lunging aid I would recommend. Because it encourages the horse to lower it's head down and forwards, it stretches along the topline, the horse has to step through more actively with it's hind legs and take longer more swinging strides.
If you really think it only works on the poll, then I'm afraid you haven't seen it used properly.
To the original poster. If this was my horse then I would do the minimum of work in the school anyway, 10 minutes at the end of a hack, when horse is going forward freely to run through a few canter trot transitions, if this is a stuffy horse then I would be inclined to canter out of hacks and just get it going forwards freely & enthusiastically.
 
My boy (and I) hate chambons - in fact I had to stop using one (before I had the pessoa) as he overbends, grabs a rope with his teeth and pulls chambon & bridle off in one swift move. However doesn't seem to mind the pessoa at all - I can only say that given the great results I've had (only use it on the beginner position though) I can only assume people are doing the ropes up too tight, hence the jabbing/hollowing. Easily done as Pessoa give you nothing in the way of instruction on how to tighten it appropriately. Oh well, each to their own eh. My horse seems happy enough in it.
 
I prefer double line lunging to the pessoa and normal lunging. My boy had the balance of a rocking horse before and due to various reasons we had to do a lot of lunge work - he can now canter in a 10 meter circle although which leg he strikes off on is still a bit hit and miss! He couldn't canter around the school without breaking into a fast trot!
 
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