Free walk on a long rein - how do I do it??

[black_n_white]

So quick bit of back ground..... My horse is 4 1/2 and I've had him since the end of September. He had been backed a few months when I got him and will be 5 in May.

So far I've been working on getting him to move forward off my leg, bending the right way - lots of turns and circles and getting his hind end stepping underneath him. With this, working in an outline just sort of happened and he now works fairly consistently.

I have just started taking him out and about and have done 2 prelim dressage tests recently but I am struggling with free walk on a long rein. How do I actually ride this and get him to take the contact forward and down and not just stretch his neck forward and poke his nose out?? Am I dropping the contact too much?

This is the first youngster that I have brought on and I want to do things right.

 

[Scribbles]

Yep - free walk should not be about "letting go" - it should be about the horse actively seeking a contact it self. Have you tried doing lots of soft suppling work, and slowly letting out the rein, whilst maintaining a contact.

You sound like a lovely caring owner

 

[pinktiger]

i think as long as you have the horse stepping through, and between hand and leg you should just be able to 'give' a little more and he/she will stretch /follow the contact down and be able to over track as well!

 

[catembi]

Caught a snippet of Carl Hester on Horse & Country tv & he said that instead of chucking the reins at the horse, you should move your hands wider apart, lengthen your reins a *bit* rather than to the buckle & ride into the contact.

 

[lucretia]

the trouble with most people when the ride this is that they try to do to much. the movement is free walk ON A LONG REIN which is not the same as on a loose rein so you must maintain a contact and the horse must stretch his head and neck dowm and forward towards the bit. the best way to do it (personally i think the correct way, but i was told on a jugde grading once that i was overmuch concerned with the freewalk....!!!) and the most simple is to move your hand forward to wards the horses mouth to lengthen the rein and then as you finish the movement bring the hand back smoothly. this should stop unnessecary fiddling with rein length (and then interfering with the contact).
when you are schooling get into the habit of giving the horses a few steps on a long rein every so often. if they have been working correctly chances are they will just take the rein offered and you are there.

 

[Acrane]

Remember to keep the horse marching on - not having a rest.

The horse needs to stretch so out from the shoulder and down. As long as its free dont be overly concerned about the nose going to th floor.

Keep the connection as it will make the transition back to medium walk much smoother.

Aim to be just short to one side of the marker to give you time to have picked the reins up for the end of the diagonal (if required) and be prepared for the next movement.