Horse carrying head too low.... any tips?

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lindsay1993

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My mare carries her head too low whilst walking and trotting. Her previous rider schooled her to work very long and low. My instructor is trying to help me get her to raise her head to the correct point. We have cracked it in canter, raising my inside hand works and she immediately lifts her head to a sensible level. I'm wanting to do more jumping with her, she used to do a lot of dressage and it's not the route I want to go down as neither me nor the horse really enjoy it. A perfect example was yesterdays lesson. Approaching the first jump which was a bounce fence of about 2 foot. Instructor thought this would be a good idea as it would shock her into looking where she was going. We approached in trot with the usual head too low so she couldn't see where she was going, clattered over the first jump and leaped the second as if a lion was under it. Needless to say, this little shock worked and she lifted her head for the rest of the lesson. Instructor says I just need to play with my hands at different levels to encourage her to lift her head... raise outside hand, inside hand, both hands, wide hands, half halts, until she gets it. Seeing as we have cracked it in canter I'm hoping that it won't be too hard in trot and walk..... :rolleyes: Any tips or advice??
 
If her head is too low that means she is on her forehand - no wonder she can't manage any jumps. You need to work on getting her hinds engaged and stepping under, so that she carries more of her (and your) weight behind the saddle. Then she will be able to jump off her hocks instead of dragging her forehand over. It really isn't that much to do with your hands, more about exercises such as circles, transitions, rein back, serpentines. Maybe you need an instructor who understands the biomechanics a bit better? (She does okay in canter because by the nature of the pace she has to step under her own body, especially when she strikes off).
 
Thankyou for your reply. We have done a lots of different exercises. Loads of transitions, tight circles, leg-yielding, serpentines, really making her collect in walk and trot. What else can I do to get her working more from behind? I'm pretty new to schooling, as we didn't have an arena when I was younger. ;-)
 
i'd be tempted to loose jump her, so its fun for her and she can figure her own way out without interference from a rider.
 
I loose jump her occasionally. Her owners go mad as they think it's giving her too much freedom, but she loves it! Raised poles sound like a great idea. I've been following horse physio on FB for a while now. I did a few grids a while back and she really struggled at first. Once she got the hang of it she worked brilliantly. Will try these ideas out over the next few weeks. Thankyou.
 
lindsay1993 said:
Thankyou for your reply. We have done a lots of different exercises. Loads of transitions, tight circles, leg-yielding, serpentines, really making her collect in walk and trot. What else can I do to get her working more from behind? I'm pretty new to schooling, as we didn't have an arena when I was younger. ;-)
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Rein back to walk, halt to trot, half halts, 10s or 5s (ten or five strides of each pace then transition, another ten or five, down again etc)
 
If her head is low, and she has been schooled to work like that (ie long and low with hindlegs reaching well under her belly, she isnt necessarily on her forehand, some riders get their horses like this on a loose rein, to teach them to carry themselves over their backs. Work with a chambon/de gogue also promotes low head carriage and 'throughness'...... it isnt necessarily bad, but now she has learnt to stretch down, use your legs, half-halts etc to slowly and gently encourage a bit more collection, a shorter frame and higher head carriage.
 
Instructor has only said a couple of times that she is on the forehand and not when we're trying to correct the low head carriage, more when she decides she wants to canter as fast as she can!! When I have had a lesson with her previous rider, she has always encouraged me to make her long & low all the time. Yes her legs do reach well under her belly most of the time. My instructor is a eventer who has competed at 4* level and everything she has taught me so far has improved both mine & the horses skills, so I have no reason to doubt that she knows what she's doing. Yes, we have done lots of 10's & 5's at varying paces, square corners, narrow fences etc to really get her listening to me. I fear it may just be something that is going to take a long time to improve after many years of her being encouraged to work long & low.
 
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