Long and Low? The Kavalkade HO...

grhands

grhands

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Hi all. I used the Kavalkade HO on my 5yr old yesterday. He's very underdeveloped along his top-line and my teacher / trainer recommended it but she is on holiday at the moment. It is so bad that he even struggles with rider weight. His nose goes up in the air and he's tense and stressy. He's even jumped in the air a couple of times when I've been mounting, this has resulted in me hitting the deck. When I got the physio out she had to correct a tilted and rotated pelvis as well as a lot of other stiff muscles. So anyway we decided to go back to basics and essentially re-break him, really working him on the lunge and the long reins. He's doing very well, really starting to chill after a few minutes now, blowing his nose and relaxing through his back.

However I've seen video's of others using the kavalkade HO and when their horses tend to drop 'long and low' they more often than not say there. With Arthur it is intermittent. He'll drop down and when he does it looks super, like he's working everything he should be. However then he seems to back off it and lifts up again. I've tried taking up the slack however I didn't want to ask too much of him him on his first session so I only pulled it through four or five inches. Am I being to soft on him hence it not working properly or am I expecting too much from our first go? I did use the fleecey keeper between his front legs to prevent rubbing. Where should I attach the lunge rein when I am using the kavalkade? I attached it to the bit and over his head yesterday as I couldn't fit my lunge cavesson over the bridle :(

Any advice greatly appreciated, along with any other advice on building up his top line. Ta

Gemma
 
you'll prob find its a balance thing as well as muscles not being able to cope, so he will get into long and low, loose balance, head goes up, back into it, muscles ache so he moves head up. Will take a while before can stay in that outline.

Re where to attach lunge line i either use as you have or i use a lightweight cavesson.

Once he has the message you can try some poles on a circle in a fan, then raise one end (outside)

good luck it will take time though.
 
kezimac said:
you'll prob find its a balance thing as well as muscles not being able to cope, so he will get into long and low, loose balance, head goes up, back into it, muscles ache so he moves head up. Will take a while before can stay in that outline.

Re where to attach lunge line i either use as you have or i use a lightweight cavesson.

Once he has the message you can try some poles on a circle in a fan, then raise one end (outside)

good luck it will take time though.
Click to expand...

Thank-you, I have actually ordered a nice light looking cottage craft cavesson precisely for this reason. Does it just slip over the bridle?

I'm pleased it is something he will improve with, and I'm pleased I didn't tighten the lunge aid too much to try and get the outline that you expect. I couldn't find anything anywhere that stated that the stretching out you see and expect is something that will come over time.
 
I think maybe you're expecting a bit too much by way of length of time he stays in an outline. His muscles will start to ache quite quickly so perhaps just expect a couple of minutes on each rein and gradually increase the time. He's been "upsidedown" for a long time so it will take quite a while for his muscles to strengthen.
 
Yes remove noseband & cavesson fits under bridle. I've used something similar to the kavalcade (actually I just used a light lunge line with the clip removed) The horse does need to build up to longer time 'long & low' sounds like you're about right for level of fitness & work. They do find it very tiring to begin with especially if they are not used to being anywhere close to 'long & low'. It will take time to establish but will be time well spent.
 
Mari said:
Yes remove noseband & cavesson fits under bridle. I've used something similar to the kavalcade (actually I just used a light lunge line with the clip removed) The horse does need to build up to longer time 'long & low' sounds like you're about right for level of fitness & work. They do find it very tiring to begin with especially if they are not used to being anywhere close to 'long & low'. It will take time to establish but will be time well spent.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKCBzJpsdQY

Do you think things are going OK here? Please excuse all the clicking but it's tricky to maintain any kind of impulsion when I've put my stick down and picked up my phone! I can take criticism and learn from it without throwing a fit so don't worry (probably a silly thing to say on HHO)! This is his second 'go' with the kavalkade.

Ta
 
He's actually 16.3! He's but usually quite so sluggish but usually I have my lunge whip in my left hand to keep him moving forwards. Believe it or not he used to be a real firefly, he'd never relax on the lunge at all.
 
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