Ewe neck

[jollyholly]

Hi! I am training a horse that seems to have ewe neck. She has always had it and when I look at pictures of her mother it seems she had it too. Therefore it seems to be confirmational. She has a very clear under neck, but she is also a cribber so it may not help her case. Is it possible to get rid of it or is it simply impossible since it is confirmational and she is a cribber? She actively competes in dressage, but does not get the highest scores. With the under neck and the dip at the withers we rarely get more than a 7.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

As a start, I would try to avoid situations that make it easy/encourage her to crib. We bought a mare that was believed to have been tethered before being sent to sales livery. She had a ewe neck but removal from the situation and correct riding sorted it out in time.

 

[jollyholly]

As a start, I would try to avoid situations that make it easy/encourage her to crib. We bought a mare that was believed to have been tethered before being sent to sales livery. She had a ewe neck but removal from the situation and correct riding sorted it out in time.

We have tried that without success unfortunately. We have taken everything out of the box that she cribs on so now she is cribbing on the wall

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I'm sure you are not, but please also don't be tempted to use any sort of short martingale, draw reins, chambon to change the shape of her head/neck, as any horse that has a developed under neck is likely to revert to the most natural/comfortable position which will be to use that muscle to brace against it and thus worsen it. They very much can look 'on the bit' but still be using entirely the wrong muscles to be so.

The cribbing definitely don't be helping so you may never get her perfect, but will she work long and low? Like, I mean exaggeratedly so

 

[jollyholly]

I'm sure you are not, but please also don't be tempted to use any sort of short martingale, draw reins, chambon to change the shape of her head/neck, as any horse that has a developed under neck is likely to revert to the most natural/comfortable position which will be to use that muscle to brace against it and thus worsen it. They very much can look 'on the bit' but still be using entirely the wrong muscles to be so.

The cribbing definitely don't be helping so you may never get her perfect, but will she work long and low? Like, I mean exaggeratedly so

No, I don't use any of those. I also only ride on a snaffle and not a double bridle since that's what she prefers. I constantly try to ride her round and get her to lift her back. She can work long and low. Sometimes she throws her head up in the air, but then I just try to calmly get her back. I have trained and competed her up to PSG, but I notice especially in the pirouettes that she really struggles to put her weight on her hind legs.