Exercises to encourage prompt upwards transitions?

[soloequestrian]

Feels like a numpty question but... I'm really struggling to get my mare to respond to aids to transition upwards. She is a big warmblood and she rides like an ocean liner - once we get going she feels amazing but it takes quite some time to power up. I've always had TBs in the past and they seem to just tune into aids so I kind of feel like I've not had to think about this before! She has got much better recently at downwards transitions - previously once we were going that was it, we were going! I'm wondering about exercises that will encourage the up without having to be mean to her?

 

[sbloom]

I woild focus on balance, all other things being equal. She's likely not connected front to back and slowing and shortening in the walk especially would enable her to fi d better balance. Make sure your weight and leverage is where it needs to be for her to lift you easily and think about facilitating her to make a good transition rather than making or even asking her. Only "ask" when it feels like it'll be easy for her. The more I do my job the more I think we should work this way and never try and battle through. Mills Consiliant Horsemanship is having interesting conversations about this on FB.

 

[Skib]

Our RI taught that a transition is all in the preparation. It sounds counter intuitive but in order for the horse to get its hind leg well under (to transition up) you need rein contact to compress the horse a bit from front to back.
A good exercise, riding large is to walk 5 strides, trot 5 strides, alternating trot and walk. Then you can do the same with trot 6 and canter 6.

It isnt just the physical side, the horse should be shown the context. Horses have brains. If the horse is practising transitions, it will expect more transitions. If the horse is cantering long distance and you come back to trot or walk it will easilly transition up to canter again. But if you have walked half a mile it wont suddenly realise you want to canter.
I was also taught to do trot canter transitions on a 20 m circle, trotting half the circle and cantering the next half but I am useless at circles.

 

[LEC]

Have to be sharp off the leg. Focus on that and then look at the transitions.

 

[sbloom]

I would argue that anything that compresses the horse into a stronger rein contact (well, compresses full stop really) doesn't lead to better balance and therefore cant lead to better (correct, functional) transitions. A lot of the current critical discussion on top level dressage addresses this compression as being a harmful part of modern training, but I think most of us have had a LOT of training that takes this approach and its hard to find trainers to help us with a more functional way of training the horse that doesn't compromise it so much.

Always look to why a horse doesn't make good transitions, or good whatever else. Which basic is missing? Am i just aiding or am i setting the horse up to succeed in helping it use its body better. Balance is at the bottom of almost everything so is often what we need to address.

 

[soloequestrian]

Yes, she/we are still definitely finding our balance. I ride her bitless and attempt to give her plenty of scope to use her head and neck. We are working on suppleness and roundness in her neck too and that is changing - she is very mobile and experiments with different positions. I wonder if I need to think more lateral moves straight into upwards transitions...
Being sharp off the leg is what I'm looking for, I'm not sure where that differs from getting a good clean transition? I could smack her into being sharp but that's what I'm trying to avoid, I want it to be a nice experience for her that she wants to repeat rather than dreading.

 

[sbloom]

If you can work out the exact issue then you'll be closer to solving it, if she's crooked and that's stopping her making a clean transition then yes, the right lateral work might help, but if the tempo is wrong, if the stride is too long, if in any way you put her off balance then it'll work against you. The more I see the more I think stability is key, and I'd be looking to how I sit and how I work the walk especially to find solutions (NOT a trainer, just comes from the small amount of balance focused work I do with customers, and the reading I do these days, as I no longer ride!).

Have a look at Annie Dillon Horsemanship for a fantastic but only in hand programme, or Diana Waters Responsive Equine for a course that tackles the walk both ridden and in hand, their pages do share quite a lot of tips, and there's a ton of stuff on equitopiacenter.com to help you assess her and find ways to move forward.

I should say that it might sound pedantic but, again, my understanding over the years, working on roundness is usually not fully allowing expression with the head and neck, and roundness in the body comes from deceleration behind and pushing up in front rather than lifting the back through the core, in basic work, so roundness isn't really a goal. Might be a matter of wording rather than understanding but these are all good conversations!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

It sounds like she is probably a bit on the forehand and is not using her behind to push through, I would do some lateral work as it often lightens them in front and gets the hind end working.

 

[millitiger]

What are her transitions like with groundwork?

 

[SEL]

Are you straight? I sometimes find if they've started swinging the quarters in then transitions go to pot because they're wonky. Mirrors helpful.

Then I set up a pattern. Can be poles, cones, whatever. Start by walking it, then trotting it, then once the horse understands the pattern mix up the walk and trot. Keep the tempo consistent and they start to find their own balance. Once you've got the straightness and a consistent tempo the transitions flow more easily.

 

[Jango]

How are her transitions on the long reins without a rider? If you don't already long rein I'd incorporate at least one session a week and do lots of work getting her transitions really accurate off the voice. You can then translate this to ridden to help her get the idea.

 

[soloequestrian]

Her transitions are pretty sluggish all round! I think there's a lot in the idea of her feet not being in an ideal place at the time I ask - she is probably too strung out most of the time. I'll have a play with that and maybe see if I can use some of the exercises suggested to build a bit of anticipation.
I terms of roundness I suppose I'm looking for 'not hollow' and not bracing her neck, so lateral softness more than longitudinal - if her neck is bending softly in the right direction she does tend to round it up too but she moves her head up and down in that roundness so playing with her balance a bit (not easy to describe very clearly!).

 

[sbloom]

Her transitions are pretty sluggish all round! I think there's a lot in the idea of her feet not being in an ideal place at the time I ask - she is probably too strung out most of the time. I'll have a play with that and maybe see if I can use some of the exercises suggested to build a bit of anticipation.
I terms of roundness I suppose I'm looking for 'not hollow' and not bracing her neck, so lateral softness more than longitudinal - if her neck is bending softly in the right direction she does tend to round it up too but she moves her head up and down in that roundness so playing with her balance a bit (not easy to describe very clearly!).

The brace comes from the tension, the lack of balance, remove the brace by asking for roundness and compensation (to not fall forward) has to happen elsewhere in the body. Bend is rooted in correct rotation of the ribcage, not the neck and in fact many trainers taking on the training approach of the old masters will use no neck bend at all.

Keep focused on reducing incorrect/excessive rotation, helping her to decelerate better behind and she'll then start to push up in front which is your roundness but correct.

I don't often get into this nitty gritty on here as it's seems to criticise, and to be so far from how most of understand training, but it has transformed my understanding of how horses can be helped to move better.

I share tons of stuff from these types of practitioners on my FB page of that's helpful.

You could also be working directly on emotional downregulation, connection etc, but so much of this goes hand in hand with better functional movement as that in itself can shift that tension, perhaps more so.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Our young mare has gone from ultra sensitive to the leg going on to completely fine and then stopped responding so…and this was only last week…the first 20 minutes of her schooling session were transitions with intense activity making the mare having to think and concentrate on the rider. Walk, trot, walk, halt,trot, walk, trot slowly then faster, back to walk etc etc. This was done whilst on various circles/diagonally across the school etc not just around the edge of the arena. Every quick transition was vocally praised and a quick touch to her neck. She got the hang of it and went on to canter transition work. We ve never schooled with a whip.

 

[sbloom]

This just popped up on my feed https://www.facebook.com/share/p/KwJKxCwQ3enBah6U/ and is kind of relevant.

 

[catkin]

Lots of changes of gaits and within gaits. Perhaps count the strides 'up and down' - ie 5 walk, 5 trot then 4 then 3 then back to 4 etcetera etcetera. Changes of direction help too and make the exercise more interesting. Start with walk and build up to all gaits.


I find that counting the strides out loud helps and it seems to keep a rhythm which my pony likes - perhaps pony finds that I'm 'off his case' a bit
(he's also learnt to count to 20 in at least 3 different languages )

 

[4Hoofed]

Are they fit and strong? “Denser” horses take more fittening and it takes them longer to get strong!

I’m another one for the 5 and 5, I like to do it out hacking as well keeps everyone awake and makes them quite attentive when ridden especially if you have limited routes as takes some of the routine out of it as they don’t know when the next transition is coming! I incorporate it into my hill work as well. Loops and demivoltes into/out of transitions can really get their hind leg underneath them, and gets you focused on where you both are.

 

[soloequestrian]

The brace comes from the tension, the lack of balance, remove the brace by asking for roundness and compensation (to not fall forward) has to happen elsewhere in the body. Bend is rooted in correct rotation of the ribcage, not the neck and in fact many trainers taking on the training approach of the old masters will use no neck bend at all.

Keep focused on reducing incorrect/excessive rotation, helping her to decelerate better behind and she'll then start to push up in front which is your roundness but correct.

I don't often get into this nitty gritty on here as it's seems to criticise, and to be so far from how most of understand training, but it has transformed my understanding of how horses can be helped to move better.

I share tons of stuff from these types of practitioners on my FB page of that's helpful.

You could also be working directly on emotional downregulation, connection etc, but so much of this goes hand in hand with better functional movement as that in itself can shift that tension, perhaps more so.

I think this sounds interesting but I don't really understand it! Is there anywhere specific you'd recommend to read more?
Part of the issue feels like she's just not focusing on me at all (I posted about spookiness a few weeks ago). She is very much focused on the environment and most days I find it impossible to get her attention. Today she had a big sudden spook when a crow flew up from behind some thistles about 20 metres away from her and then we couldn't go near that side of the arena for the rest of the session. It's incredibly frustrating. On the odd day when she relaxes she is lovely.

 

[Jellymoon]

I have a big tank of a horse who was very unbalanced and it takes time, but he responds straight away to a very light touch now.

What I found worked with him was regular lunging so he got really good at responding to voice commands…and I could see what made him struggle a bit to go up a gear, so I could then try to stay out of his way rather than block him while riding..if that makes sense.

While riding, I would then use the voice commands for up and down transitions so I didn’t have to use too much hand/leg. This seemed to give him the opportunity to work out for himself how to do the transition, and then the response just came quicker and lighter.

Out hacking is also a good place to practice, as they are naturally more forward.

 

[sbloom]

I think this sounds interesting but I don't really understand it! Is there anywhere specific you'd recommend to read more?
Part of the issue feels like she's just not focusing on me at all (I posted about spookiness a few weeks ago). She is very much focused on the environment and most days I find it impossible to get her attention. Today she had a big sudden spook when a crow flew up from behind some thistles about 20 metres away from her and then we couldn't go near that side of the arena for the rest of the session. It's incredibly frustrating. On the odd day when she relaxes she is lovely.

Most of the French classical masters, the second method of Baucher, we've just "forgotten" most of it. Annie Dillon Horsemanship, Science of Motion and tons of other stuff I share is rooted in this approach.