help needed please

[Emshad]

a horse im excercising for a friend at the mo refuses work in a constant contact, and i feel like i am fighting a loosing battle with her. are there any excercises anyone knows i can do to help with this?? would be very grateful

 

[the watcher]

It really isn't that simple as there are many potential reasons for this. If you have eliminated ill fitting tack (including bit), teeth, spine any any other injuries as causes you could THEN consider exercises to improve outline and contact.
You also need to be able to eliminate your own riding as a possible cause for problems (sorry I don't know how well you ride), so a pair of eyes on the ground are essential.

the exercises would depend largely on how the contact is being evaded, I say this with hesitation as I am of the school that believes that if you engage the hind correctly and ask the horse to work over the back, collection and outline will effectively take care of themselves and that we are too tied into worrying about where the head is

 

[Emshad]

Thanks, she is also very crooked in canter. she works nicely from behind and through her back but the way she evades the contact is to throw her head up (she is ridden in a martingale) as high at she can. back and teeth have all been checked and she can work in a contact but looses after a few strides. i warm her up throughly before asking for a contact and make sure she is engaged before i even ask for a full contact.

 

[the watcher]

This may simply be a horse that is too weak to maintain the contact at the moment, or one that is being asked to flex to a point that is uncomfortable. Impossible to say without seeing it. Are you able to lighten your hand even slightly and accept that for the time being you might need to use a lighter contact.

Is this a very recent problem, does it happen with every rider? How do you respond when the horse throws it's head up. If you ask for contact in lateral work, or use side bending to encourage a contact does the same thing happen?

Do you have any pics or videos? Not that these are any kind of replacement for an instructor or eyes on the ground, but might give us more of a clue of what is going on

 

[redski]

I agree with 'the watcher's' comments. I would also look at crookedness in the horse i.e. does it have a dominant side. I have been researching this and came across a book called 'Correct Movement in Horses - Improving straightness and balance" by two Germans. Its very, very interesting and deals with the whole falling in, falling out issue and its ramifications. Really recommend it but is a bit too complicated to precis for you here but simple when you read and then apply it on the horse.