How to Help a Horse Learn to Balance

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

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16.3hh, 7 year old, long backed (6'9", sometimes 7' rugs), DWB mare. Not a lot of mileage schooling wise due to a slightly wonky pelvis (bony irregularities on it), but doing far better now, starting to muscle up along the top line, although we still have a ways to go :cool:

Have a new instructor who is encouraging working her long and low, as well as staying off the outside track to help her to learn to balance herself (she's becoming a school fence hugger!).

But, I'm now very conscious that she's not so balanced (Dizz, not the instructor lol). We used to do a lot of hacking, but that's fallen by the wayside for various reasons. We did, back then, have nice long canters down open tracks, which did her the world of good. However, time and work being what it is, we can only do that now twice a week at the most.

So. Any suggestions/exercises for helping m'long rangy lass to balance herself? She has a big shoulder, but not much bum - think Greyhound :cool:. She is now starting to overtrack, when I can relax and let her work naturally :rolleyes::cool::D
 
I would use, transitions, and lots of them, within paces as well as from one pace to another.
I would make sure she is alert and listening to you all the time, she needs time to develop her muscles, so again patience will be a key.
Make sure she is in front of you leg and goes forward immediately when you ask.
It is also essential that she does't lean on you hand during downward transitions so be patient and use half halts and you body and seat to help warn her you want a transition, collect her gait and then perform the actual transition.
She needs to learn to wait for you.
Due to her size and lack of muscle, short periods working her hard, attentively, followed by stretching etc will help her. When you work her low don't let her run or fall on her shoulders, think slow and forward in a bounding stride. Rhythm...
Shoulder fore is a really important exercise as well and will help to correct any straightness issues and also allow the beginning of collection, so you can start to ride her forward into a more balanced stride.
She really needs to be elastic in your hands and not leaning, and this is what can take time to develop in big rangy horses and babies, so be patient and very vey aware of you contact on the reins at all times.
As you say one of the best things is hacking and hill work, even turn out in a steep field is an excellent way of improving balance, and jumping and gridwork etc
(add on walk pirouettes and rein back also will help!)
I hope some of this is useful? pm me if you want.
 
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Thank you Mik! :D. Very much appreciated :D

I like my new instructor, which is good as I feel I've lost the plot a bit. All confidence and knowledge has seeped out over the years as we've gone from a spinning dingbat to a potential field ornament to now, well whatever now is :cool:. Sometimes I sit on her and wonder what the heck to do with my arms and hands I've been so used to fielding her quirks, but without materially correcting them as I wasn't allowed to school her. It's all got into a bit of a mental pile up :eek:

Sorry, rabbiting on, just having one of those.

Thank you again for your help M :D. I'll attempt again to get a vid onto Photobucket and pm you the link :)
 
Happy to look, hope I can help. I am sure your new instructor will get you on a plan of action. It is so nice to have someone on the ground otherwise we all end up a bit lost sometimes.
I think the worst thing is feeling that nagging doubt, 'did I do, correct etc that well'.. and of course 'is it me', your instructor should sort that soon and get you on track.

Just go in and be positive and have a clear plan of action, that you can change fast, should the need to be flexible arise, as it always does!!! And always finish on a good point, never think, Oh i'll just do that again .... make sure she can do what you ask her in the last mins of the session so you both come out satisfied, do the new stuff earlier and praise for any improvement! It doesn't matter if it is a good halt or a nice trot transition.
 
Lunging on a slope, or so part of the circle is on a slope.
I realise it is really hard to find somewhere to do this, especially in winter, but if you can it is really helpful. Aim for a steady even pace round the circle so not rushing 'down' and crawling 'up'. Maybe using loose lunging aids to encourage her to stretch and use her back.

Apart from that what Mik said! Especially the bit about getting lost/confused - reading a good book or a decent lesson or even HHO can give you the light bulb moment you need to forge ahead.
 
M - thank you again :D. I'm so used to being good at what I do, this lack in myself is getting to me :rolleyes:

B-B - yes to hacking :D. Can do a fair bit the next couple of weeks, but after that it will probably be weekends only. We have lots of hills, though that is mainly roadwork. :)
 
Hacking twice week will still help- have you got hills? We take the young ones out up and down hills inc some very steep ones on a fairly long rein and they soon learn to sit on their bums (down)/ use their bum(up). Also walking over all the fallen branches, little drops, hollows etc.
 
FF thank you :D. The school is flat, the hilly fields are being rested, but I'm sure I can find somewhere :D. Yes, lots of hills. Will go back to as much hacking as possible! I have the Mary Wanless book, Ride With Your Mind, and 101 Dressage exercises, plus a few others that were unearthed recently (house is being remodelled), so I will get reading!

LL - lots of hills, roadwork though so no dips, but I'm sure that if I look I can find something :D. Her shoes are off, otherwise her hinds slip on hills, but now she should be fine to do it :D
 
I would really avoid lunging on hills with the wonkyness. I think it would probably disrupt the pelvis at this stage. :)

What kind of balance issues are you finding? Is it that she sometimes feels a bit unconnected and wiggly infront of you? That's what my girl does as an evasion from working from behind, my instructor says this can only happen when the horse is not truely infront of the leg so lots of transitions letting her travel forward never blocking when asked. Is she worse in walk, I find that walk is the pace that shows this up most for us so I concentrate on riding her forward into the contact at all times never really letting her lollipop along like the wonky donkey she is lol..

If its general weakness then I think just lots of short schooling sessions, not much canter and as much hacking that winter allows are your best bet :) I did lunge but not too much as I felt 'gadgets' wouldn't help her cause and we also have suspensory history to add to pelvis wonkyness so I thought I could possibly be doing more damage than good.

Merry Christmas btw :D
 
Ta RtC :D

I think that because she is long, with a big shoulder, a deep chest, and a scrawny behind, it's bascially just holding herself together - add the tack and me on top of that and she tires muscle wise, though stamina wise she can keep going :D

I Pessoa her once or twice a week as in that she really does stretch down and round and overtracks nicely. The vets have okay'd it :)

I'm thinking, from the advice on here and from my reading, short sessions, with lots of nice chill out and stretch down pieces; doing the exercises that were recommended for helping her stretch down (when I last asked for help on here :D); doing the exercises from the book 101 Dressage Exercises to help with flexibility; and the ridden work on the hills :D. Add these to my lessons and we should hopefully, with a large dollop of patience and hard work, get her to the point where she can move herself comfortably and well :D. We've already seen such a change in her way of going since we started working properly (August/September 2011), plus the change in feed to Top Spec Balancer, that I am hopeful the future is reasonably bright and rosey and that she will stay sound (secondary damage to rear suspensories, but so far not proving an issue so long as we stay out of deep going :)).

Thank you again folks for your helpful words :D :D

And Merry Christmas to you too m'duck :D
 
i rate the lunging on a slope too - great for fittening and building muscles as well as balance.

Big advocate of pole work for balance too- single poles as well as rows. Poles on a circle, raised poles. Poles raised only at one end.

Just over a year ago i brought a horse back into work and she had lost so much balance from being a field ornament (and having a foal in that time too;)) - started with a lot of walk, couldn't trot more than half a 20m circle without losing balance so would trot 1/4 of a circle, walk a few steps and back up to trot. and keep repeating. Spirals in walk using leg yield to get back out again. Lots of changes of rein - serpentines and 3circle exercise - eg start on right rein, ride past A, 10m circle at K, ride to B, circle left 10m, ride to H, 10m circle right, change the rein and do it the opposite way round. Start in walk with trots across teh changes of rein and gradually increased the amount of trot until she could manage the whole exercise in trot.
Introduced poles after that on a circle - so for 3 steps of the circle its pole-pole-pole, if they are positioned on a curve you can walk and trot over them and do lengthened strides and collected work as you just move towards the narrow or wider end.

ETA: sounds like you've got a lot of things to work on - so you certainly won't be getting bored and neither will your horse. love the 101dressage exercises book :D
 
MrsMozartletoe said:
Thank you C :D. Hopefully the Dizz won't get bored :cool:


I'm being really thick, but I don't get the three circles :confused:. I'm ok 'till the second circle and it's circle left...
Click to expand...

Alas - a picture :)
Means you get a change of rein half way through but you do 2 circles one way, and one the other so best to change rein after 3 or 6 :)
10mcircleex.jpg
 
Well... Rode for the first time today in just over a week, have only ridden once a week for the last 3 weeks thanks to work and cold, but today was pants.

It was planned as a short session, which is good as hopefully my pantness didn't do too much damage!

I got confused. Long and low after so long of trying to hold her together :cool::eek:

The good bits were - I remembered to stay off the outside track, I did the Coss three circles :D, both ways and she was good :D, I did the side neck stretches (gawd that horse can flex when she wants to lol), I did the extensions in trot, and we had a couple of canters that did not involve being bobbed off with :cool::D.

I think I'm going to see if I can have three lessons over three days, to get it sunk into my thick brain!
 
That sounds like at least some of it was productive then :D. Love that 3 circle exercise - can be used in all paces once they are fitter/more balanced and listening to the aids (that last bit is the bit i have to work on with the one i'm riding!)
 
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