Head down and Round?

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Compoboots

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Okay so when I first bought my 6yo ISH my instructor told me to feel my horses head down with my hands. She says that this makes him go "round"


But,from what I understand [bear with me here] Beaing "round" is when the horse engages his hind leg and takes more wight behind,which makes his back rounder and then he'll carry his head on the bit..


Surely forcing my horses head down into an outline won't cause him to engage his hind legs? If I don't keep feeling his head down he sticks it up like a total giraffe,so I'm guessing he doesn't have self carriage?


Basically what I'm asking is do other people "feel" their horses head into an outline? And can anyone explain this very complicated business to a very confused 14yo? LOL
 
No, forcing the pony's head into any position won't encourage it to go round. You need to create the energy from behind and engage the back and hocks, but not let it all go out the front door with washing line reins.

Is your instructor trying to explain how to half-halt and encourage the horse to seek the contact?
 
Yes I have done Half Halts,Leg Yielding,failed shoulder in and Bits of medium trot//canter

He's also very very heavy on my left rein,and doesn't take contact with the right half as much. I do try to keep the contact.


There are videos of me on my horse& my friend on him also on my youtube channel. DrooleyForDooley if that'd help
 
For the horse to come round and soft into the contact it needs to be active and engaged from behind, over the back and into a soft contact. To achieve this the fingers need to be closed on the reins and the arms soft with elastic elbows, the activity from behind is increased with lots and lots of transitions, smaller circles spiralling to bigger circles and back in to a smaller circle again all the time making sure the rhythm and temp stay the same and that the activity of the hind leg isn't lost.

The heaviness more on one rein than the other could be a number of things - all horses are weaker one side than the other though. You could be sitting not entirely straight, he could be more stiff that way etc. when did he last have his back/teeth and saddle checked as these can all contribute to being heavier in one rein than the other.
 
Thank you :) I do all of these things,and do my best to sit straight. He has gotten a bit lighter on teh left recently :) I was just making sure it was right,as he sticks his head up if you give him the reins and don't feel him down.

I got the dentist out to see him when I bought him in december,apparantly for his first time ever? He had said that he had no left jaw movement and that it would be fine after he had done it,although I didn't notice much change. He still does his best to avoid flexing his jaw left,he opens and twists his jaw,so I have him in a flash atm.
 
In order to be "round" the horse has to understand and accept/give to the rein , so yes it has to be forward from behind, but it also has to be educated to the hand.
 
you will just know if your horse is 'on the bit' such as lightness, willingness, will do whatever movements at ease and balanced plus it all coming from behind. The head is the final puzzle pretty much and people focus not enough on back end sadly.
 
I would suggest you need to get the power from the hind first (think of rear wheel drive car) and then worry about head carriage. Dressage is 90% leg with only 10% with hand. So many people have this fix about head carriage, if you do not have engagement from rear, your horse will be hallowing which is more difficult to fix............ Worry about power, then long and low and once muscle are built correct outline will happen :) :)
 
I am watching this thread with interest as my welsh D can be similar. However she tends to put herself in a pretty looking but fake "outline" where her head is in a nice place but actually she is coming back at you. If we push her on she tends to "run" and hollow (she has a sway back and Spavins which obviously cause us challenges too!!)

My instructor also thinks its important that we encourage her to bring her nose down and out as immediately her trot improves, it's slows but opens up a d she covers more ground as she swings across her back. We have been asking her using similar method OP talks of. As I say, if we encourage forward, all she does is hollow further and "run"?
 
My trainer will kill me if I leave his head alone though,if I keep contact but don't feel him down he looks like a giraffe :/ and if you give him the reins,he won't seek out the contact unless you feel left&right even more
 
Compoboots said:
My trainer will kill me if I leave his head alone though,if I keep contact but don't feel him down he looks like a giraffe :/ and if you give him the reins,he won't seek out the contact unless you feel left&right even more
Click to expand...

One of the signs of whether a horse is truly on the bit is that he will seek your hand forwards and down if you give the rein (which is why there is a free walk on long rein in almost every test). Ergo, your horse is not properly on the bit, as shown in the video.
 
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