Maesfen
Extremely Old Nag!
I wish that all of you breaking in young horses before they are fully developed would read, inwardly digest and put into practise what is written here. It would save so many young horses from injury and misery if you did.
On young horses, when to sit the trot and how to develop a good canter...
"Sitting trot makes young horses hollow.
When a horse is only three or four, his bones are not completely formed. The young horse is naturally a little on the forehand, muscles are not yet fully developed....... If we sit the trot on the young horse (as some riders do because they believe it makes them appear a better rider) before the horse has developed the correct muscles, we will start to jam the vertebrae together, the pelvis will lock, and stifles and hocks may become sore from too much leg action.
The horse will become sore and fatigued, his back, ribcage and withers may hurt - making saddling and girthing unpleasant resulting in the horse quickly developing into a leg mover instead of a body mover.
It is a chain reaction that cannot be ignored. Only when the horse has found his natural balance under the rider, and has found his rhythm and timing, can we start the sitting trot.
This is also true of canter when often times a horse of any level can benefit from a rider using a light seat or even a ride in two points while doing anything from a canter to a hand gallop.
A good rider must be guided by what he feels beneath him and how he can release the horses tension and better its alignment. He should experiment using feel and timing, and analyze his horses responses to guide him instead of working by rigid theory alone. "
Excerpt from "Developing the Basics and Understanding Straightness Better by Manolo Mendez, Specialist of in-hand and Classical Equitation with C. Larrouilh" published in the April 2013 issue of Baroque Horse Magazine
On young horses, when to sit the trot and how to develop a good canter...
"Sitting trot makes young horses hollow.
When a horse is only three or four, his bones are not completely formed. The young horse is naturally a little on the forehand, muscles are not yet fully developed....... If we sit the trot on the young horse (as some riders do because they believe it makes them appear a better rider) before the horse has developed the correct muscles, we will start to jam the vertebrae together, the pelvis will lock, and stifles and hocks may become sore from too much leg action.
The horse will become sore and fatigued, his back, ribcage and withers may hurt - making saddling and girthing unpleasant resulting in the horse quickly developing into a leg mover instead of a body mover.
It is a chain reaction that cannot be ignored. Only when the horse has found his natural balance under the rider, and has found his rhythm and timing, can we start the sitting trot.
This is also true of canter when often times a horse of any level can benefit from a rider using a light seat or even a ride in two points while doing anything from a canter to a hand gallop.
A good rider must be guided by what he feels beneath him and how he can release the horses tension and better its alignment. He should experiment using feel and timing, and analyze his horses responses to guide him instead of working by rigid theory alone. "
Excerpt from "Developing the Basics and Understanding Straightness Better by Manolo Mendez, Specialist of in-hand and Classical Equitation with C. Larrouilh" published in the April 2013 issue of Baroque Horse Magazine
