Jericho
Well-Known Member
... and I have to say she was like a different mare!! I have always tried to be very light handed with her and not pull against her when she resists and have slowly been working on improving seat and voice aids as she obviously has some issues with the bit. The moment she feels any pressure, she crosses her jaw and sticks nose up and out, regardless of what bit she is in even from walk to halt and witth the lightest of pressure. Canter work out hacking gets faster and faster and stronger and stronger. Generally her schooling is nice - she can do a very decent prelim and can work lovely from behind and from the leg but I always get the feeling that she has been held 'in' with the hand because she has tendency to lean and will poke the moment she feels less tension on the rein. Hence she gets tense and hurried although it looks 'correct' (ie her head carriage looks OK with nose on the vertical etc etc) I know its not. I have tried to work very loosely with the bit but any contact just starts the tension and I felt after 18 months with her (albeit once or twice a week) although she has improved something still wasnt right so I started thinking about taking her right back to basics.
so I decided to take a different look at it and purchased a very simple side pull bridle (not a Dr Cook as I think she wouldnt have liked the overall pressure on her head).
Anyway, I put the bit in over the top with reins just tied loosely on her neck just as a security blanket in case it went wrong but i didnt touch them once. We did some lovely trots and canters on the hack without any resisttance from the front end. She really was just chilled out and then when we came back I schooled her for a bit in the field and she was really listening to my seat and legs aid when bending and downward transistions. Even when I really wrapped my legs round to engage her back end she actually didnt just run on but started to work in a good long and low outline.
Now I know its early days but its a positive beginning. Would be interested to hear from others who have had a similar experience and how to build up to using a bit again and without the issues (as ultimately our thing is dressage and we need a bit for that!)
Thanks for reading x
so I decided to take a different look at it and purchased a very simple side pull bridle (not a Dr Cook as I think she wouldnt have liked the overall pressure on her head).
Anyway, I put the bit in over the top with reins just tied loosely on her neck just as a security blanket in case it went wrong but i didnt touch them once. We did some lovely trots and canters on the hack without any resisttance from the front end. She really was just chilled out and then when we came back I schooled her for a bit in the field and she was really listening to my seat and legs aid when bending and downward transistions. Even when I really wrapped my legs round to engage her back end she actually didnt just run on but started to work in a good long and low outline.
Now I know its early days but its a positive beginning. Would be interested to hear from others who have had a similar experience and how to build up to using a bit again and without the issues (as ultimately our thing is dressage and we need a bit for that!)
Thanks for reading x
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