Encouraging a horse to stretch - Free walk on a long rein

[Lippyx]

Hi all!

Toby is doing so well, and has come on leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. I was looking at the pictures from his advert and comparing them to the pics of our first show at Christmas, and what a difference, especially in his head carriage!

Which leads me to my question, how do you encourage a horse to stretch "long and low", and practice free walk on a long rein. If I just loosen the rein contact, he tends to hold heads in the same position (at least he doesn't rely on me to support his outline!!!).
I've tried trotting towards the end of a schooling session, and slowly letting him "take" the reins, but he just does not want to.
I know he isn't stiff, as he did go through a stage of burying his head.
Any one got any ideas? We have our first dressage comp in March, so would like to have some sort of free walk on a long rein!!

Also, any other walk/trot schooling exercises? I do leg yield (on the 3/4 line and on a circle), shoulder fore, transitions, circles, anything else?
I only canter him on each rein towards the end of schooling, as that needs a bit of work, so want to get him established in his walk and trot first.

Thanks guys!!

Lx

 

[Sleipnir]

Did by "burying his head" you mean he used to go with his nose to the ground? If so, it doesn't mean he wasn't stiff - it is very likely he was fallen a lot on his forehand, which is often linked with being stiff, not being particularly supple. If a horse resists stretching or just plain won't do it - he's stiff. Personal experience - I used to think that my horse "doesn't understand stretching", and that's it, until I got a chiro work on him. He got his shoulders, poll and withers loosened, and a blockage removed in his hips, and voila - the horse is suddenly stretching and using his hindquarters like a dream, with the help of appropriate schooling, of course. You should get him checked (and his saddle as well), if you haven't already.

 

[Lippyx]

Did by "burying his head" you mean he used to go with his nose to the ground? If so, it doesn't mean he wasn't stiff - it is very likely he was fallen a lot on his forehand, which is often linked with being stiff, not being particularly supple. If a horse resists stretching or just plain won't do it - he's stiff. Personal experience - I used to think that my horse "doesn't understand stretching", and that's it, until I got a chiro work on him. He got his shoulders, poll and withers loosened, and a blockage removed in his hips, and voila - the horse is suddenly stretching and using his hindquarters like a dream, with the help of appropriate schooling, of course. You should get him checked (and his saddle as well), if you haven't already.

When he buried his head it was more like he tucked it right in to his chest, almost between his front legs if that makes sense?
His saddle has just been fitted, and he has the back lady and dentist booked in for next Monday, so hopefully that will help, especially if he is stiff, like you say he might be. Very interesting!!

I have just started doing "carrot stretches" after his schooling sessions, and seems to be OK with them, although it took him a while to work out what I was actually doing with the carrot!!

 

[Sleipnir]

When he buried his head it was more like he tucked it right in to his chest, almost between his front legs if that makes sense?

That's tension, escaping pressure on his mouth/evading contact. It goes hand in hand with a tense jaw, neck, poll, and, subsequently - back - there's no stretch in this movement.

Carrot stretches are a great idea, though! And good for you for having booked a back lady and a dentist already.

 

[Lippyx]

That's tension, escaping pressure on his mouth/evading contact. It goes hand in hand with a tense jaw, neck, poll, and, subsequently - back - there's no stretch in this movement.

Carrot stretches are a great idea, though! And good for you for having booked a back lady and a dentist already.

Right, makes sense now. Glad I have booked the back lady now, I only done it as a little "treat" for him after seeing a friends horse having a session, and loving every minute of it! Looks like it could prove an important treat for him!! Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[Sleipnir]

Great! I hope your horse will be ready to offer some stretch soon. It's important not to overdo it at the beginning, though - muscles have to be worked up to a certain ability to stretch, just like we can't do different yoga positions when our muscles are not ready! Ask the back lady for advice and demonstration of simple stretch and massage exercises you can do yourself daily. Apart from the chiro, I employed an equine masseuse who uses the Masterson method, and I highly recommend it if you can find a specialist who uses it - it has really improved the well being of my guy, and I have learned many useful tips on how to help my boy become more relaxed and supple.

 

[blitznbobs]

Work a horse thru his back properly and he'll be glad of a stretch. when riding a free walk start by asking a longer stride think of pushing his head and neck into the next county and leaving his bum in the last. and when he is reaching forward for the contact let it out very slowly so that you still have a contact but on a longer frame and still ask for the frame to be round. Now continue this down til he is on the end of a very long rein. When the horse does stretch down I tend to pat the horse on the top of the neck so eventually this can be a signal to stretch if they are not free walking like I would like. but it is best to practice free walk at the end of a schooling session and if a horse won't stretch down at this point you need to think morea bout what you are doing in the rest of your session cos they should want to stretch at that point.

 

[_GG_]

I would try and get a decent and reputable dressage instructor to come and assess how he is working. I always teach a horse to take the contact forward by lowering my hands forward and down as I allow the reins to lengthen gradually AFTER a good session where the horse has been working well through its back. When this has happened, the horse will take the opportunity to stretch with open arms and by the association of the lowering of hands, the horse learns and eventually, you can dictate the horse taking the contact forward and out through your hand position. I never try and do this with a horse at the beginning of a session. I much prefer to use a horses natural reactions and actions to train and so I wait for the horse to display what I am looking for, reward it and associate it with the aid I wish to use for it.

If A horse has worked for 20+ minutes in a nice head carriage, but doesn't automatically want to have a little stretch of the head and neck when allowed, then I am afraid I believe that 9/10 it is because the head may have been in the desired place but the back wasn't working properly.

So, when the back lady has been and ruled out anything wrong there, I really think some expert eyes on the ground would be useful in assessing how the horse works. He may, like many horses, have just learned how to hold himself to make you happy without actually having to work too hard....this being supported by the fact that he has previously displayed evasion of the contact.

It's not a reflection on your riding, some horses are able to give great feel to the rider despite not working properly, but after back checked, it would be my first guess as to what is going on.

Hope that makes sense x

 

[Lippyx]

Thanks for the tips guys, I really appreciate it!! I have slackened with my weekly lessons, due to Christmas etc., so plan to get back into them in the next week. I also plan to book a lesson with a local Dressage pro, just to see what she thinks and suggests etc.

I will have a chat with the back lady, as I want to see if there are any exercises I can do in between visits.

It all makes sense what you guys are saying. Sometimes he does get tense (he does lack in self confidence) and have recently worked out he could also be worrying about the schooling whip I normally carry. When I have forgotten to take it, I get better results from him, so am now riding him without one, to see if he relaxes more (I never use it on him, its just habit that I have it when schooling).

Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!!