Exercises to strengthen horses hind end jumping!

[emilykerr747]

Hi Everyone,
I’m looking for advice about how to strengthen my horses hind end for flatwork and jumping.

A bit of background - my pony is 14hh, slightly croup high and slightly straight in the back legs but nothing major. At the moment we are jumping BE80/90.

It’s been a comment I’ve had in my flatwork lessons that my horse doesn’t have a very active hind end and I’ve been working on some lateral work to help try bring his hind end underneath him. It seems like his hind legs move out behind him in a lateral motion rather than stepping more underneath and activating and elevating the trot.

However I really notice it in his jumping, especially right now as we are still coming back into jumping after a winter break. From reviewing his videos I can see that when he takes off for a fence, he doesn’t have a huge amount of power behind and often flattens with his front end but his still very careful with his back feet. Last season when we moved to 90 he struggled with large oxers and often took off the front pole with his front feet. I also notice that sometimes when he gets in on a difficult stride he dives over the fence on the forehand. His jumping canter isn’t as active as I’d like it to be and I know that’s probably where he’s lacking this power when jumping! As we’re still building his strength I’d really like some ideas on how to work on this correctly to build him up. I know his confrontation is probably working against him but if there’s anything I can do to help him would be great! Thank you.

 

[claret09]

walking. i have done a lot over the winter to strengthen my boy and it has made a huge difference, we have been doing 30 minutes plus every day for the last four months

 

[Goldenstar]

The best exercise for this is canter work and pole work in canter .
The shoulder fore in canter also helps .
Two pole exercises
Two poles ( planks are good for this ) about five or six stride apart canter over them and work out how many strides then increase and decrease them so if it’s six in the horses natural canter try to get seven and then and so on .
four poles set evenly on a circle work to get the horse so He will take round all pole without stretching losing balance or it all falling apart you won’t be able to do all four at once at first it takes time so just ride a time round the ones you are missing out.
hacking over uneven ground in walk up and down slopes any rough uneven ground you can find the horse need to stretch its neck forwards and out and down as it tackling the rough ground not plonk it right down . You need to use a light seat for this type of work .

 

[maya2008]

On my downhill pony, you need to pick up the front end, in order to engage the quarters.

 

[sbloom]

Croup high and straight legged is usually postural, more so than conformational, and you may find you can improve it a lot, especially from the ground. The pelvis tilts forwards and that's what makes the hind legs functionally straighter.

Have a look at this - it's all from gentle groundwork, lifting the thoracic sling as a focus but lots of other stuff going on

https://www.facebook.com/cherokee87/posts/10223815237221887

, her page is https://www.facebook.com/wildmagicllc. It's quite a shift to look at horses this way, but for those that really want to get stuck in and do the very best for their horses this sort of work is incredible. Other programmes such as Ritter Dressage, Manolo Mendez, Straightness Training and many others all offer options, but the links are to one I discovered recently and am blown away by.

A few weeks of this as your main focus and your ridden work will be so much easier (though you may need a new saddle by that point as your horse will be functionally so much better!).

 

[bouncing_ball]

Croup high and straight legged is usually postural, more so than conformational, and you may find you can improve it a lot, especially from the ground. The pelvis tilts forwards and that's what makes the hind legs functionally straighter.

Have a look at this - it's all from gentle groundwork, lifting the thoracic sling as a focus but lots of other stuff going on

https://www.facebook.com/cherokee87/posts/10223815237221887

, her page is https://www.facebook.com/wildmagicllc. It's quite a shift to look at horses this way, but for those that really want to get stuck in and do the very best for their horses this sort of work is incredible. Other programmes such as Ritter Dressage, Manolo Mendez, Straightness Training and many others all offer options, but the links are to one I discovered recently and am blown away by.

A few weeks of this as your main focus and your ridden work will be so much easier (though you may need a new saddle by that point as your horse will be functionally so much better!).

What actual groundwork exercises does she do with the horses? I’m following her on Facebook and have listened to some podcasts by her. It’s £150 to join her master class. I’m not sure what sort of exercises she suggests? We do classical in hand work already, lots of backing up and raised walk poles from the ground. Wondering if she adds something that’s different that would aid our groundwork?

 

[sbloom]

It is different, it's about connecting (she has three "pillars" and connection is the first) with the horse on quite an emotional level so they release, in fairly dramatic ways in many cases, then onto engagement and integration, pillars 2 and 3. I haven't had a chance to really look into it properly so I can't say much more than that, though it'll be in US$ so I thought it was a bit less than that. For the cost of 2-3 sessions with someone hands on I think it could be a brilliant option for some. I don't think there would be any of what you're currently doing.

 

[sbloom]

I've clocked that they do use backing up but only after the release/connection work is established. Backing up is a tricky one, some practitioners don't like it at all, but if a horse is truly straight amd relaxed then I can see how useful it could be. Others use it for most horses which I don't think I'd be on board with. Poles the same I guess, relaxation and correct form/being able to push up in front are everything.

 

[rara007]

I’m sure you’ve checked he’s sound…?

 

[sbloom]

What actual groundwork exercises does she do with the horses? I’m following her on Facebook and have listened to some podcasts by her. It’s £150 to join her master class. I’m not sure what sort of exercises she suggests? We do classical in hand work already, lots of backing up and raised walk poles from the ground. Wondering if she adds something that’s different that would aid our groundwork?

https://www.facebook.com/cherokee87/posts/10223834144814565

 

[TPO]

Worth having a look at Gillian Higgins and Horses Inside Out.

I was at a lecture demo on Thursday, after having her books for years, so it's fresh in my mind.

As well as being a semi anatomy lesson she was very consistent with her ethos (hope that's the right word!) about correct posture, straightness and strengthening.

From what I understand its free to sign up online and that's give access to free webinars. I like her books too