High head carriage/Muscle under neck

[Smurf1]

I need help/advise.

The total babe of a pony I have on loan - Murph (connemara) was persumably 'jumped' in his previous Irish life.. which I believe to be the cause of a build up of muscle under his neck and quite a high head carriage (see pics - ignore my naughty riding habits)

He does relax a little in canter (compared to trot) .. and I get the odd glimer of roundness here and there but nothing consistant. Ideally I think he needs to be working long and low.. which would build up the muscle in the right places and help him to accept my contact?

Ideas on how I get him working long and low when he already has such an odd shape?

At the moment he is ridden in a snaffle. I have tried lunging in a pessoa .. which didn't seem to make a difference.. (although I was worried about having it too tight)

Any suggestions appreciated

 

[Kat]

I know you say to ignore your naughty riding habits but in my view they are part of the issue. Your hands looked to be fixed in a low position on his neck, you are looking down, tipping forward and lifting your heel (possibly gripping up with your lower leg). I think that addressing your issues will help you to address his as it will be difficult for him to soften as things stand.

I would also check he is happy with his bit, you don't say what type of snaffle but I would make sure he's in something double jointed or ergonomic like a demi anky.

Then assuming that he's had the usual checks get some lessons to help you.

Things to help him build the right muscles would be feeding from the floor, doing carrot stretches, hill work, and pole work. You could also try lots of transitions and changes of bend to get him softening and stretching. You also need to make sure that he isn't running on and throwing himself out of balance so try slowing him down with lots of half halts too.

Lunging in a pessoa might help but you need to get some help to make sure you are doing it right. There are other training aids that might help too but I would get a decent instructor to help you before you go down that route.

Please don't think I am having a go at your riding, I'm just trying to help you get the results you want and from the photos it looks as though you need to help murph out by working on your position a bit. I know myself it is easy to get into a bad habit and that making the effort to sit up or whatever can make a huge difference.

 

[*hic*]

Echo that I don't think your riding's helping him and he's not helping your riding by being like that. What I'd do to address it is to hack hack hack out just in walk and trot and make no attempt to round him up but push him from behind and let him have his head anywhere he likes as long as it is below his withers. At the same time check your position and/or saddle, I think you're sitting way to the back of that one, so you need to make sure you're sitting in the deepest part of the saddle, upright and with head up but heels down.

It's not just a question of him losing the wrong muscles, it's a question of him developing the right muscles, he's going to find it hard work so don't expect immediate miracles, just keep him moving on, head low, whilst he's out and then when you start schooling him make sure you have someone on hand to keep checking your position so that you are not making life difficult for each other.

 

[Cuppatea]

just make sure you dont jam him in side reins or other restrictive devices to force him into an outline. There is so much muscle in the wrong spots it will hurt! Draw reins are better as you can adjust them slowly and gradually and even let them loose completely without having to stop and get off everytime. just make sure your hands are light!