Long reining and pole work

Armas

Armas

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So for those that are interested and enjoy watching the progress. Yesterday Armas was off work and today we did a long reining session with pole work. This is the second pole working session he has had in the month.
Tomorrow I will take him out for a light hack and he will spend the day in the sun relaxing.


[video=youtube_share;Z6fVXBOqE4k]http://youtu.be/Z6fVXBOqE4k[/video]
 
Why do some people long rein with the reins through the girth?

I have always been taught to use the stirrups, with them fastened under the tummy or the roller rings. I've seen this a few time and always wondered. There must be less immediate release going through the girth?
 
In comparison to the last time the trainer had him cantering on a small circle on the long reins, it looked much easier for him today, which is encouraging. Armas is also starting to get a bit more of the 'jump' back into his canter, which is nice to see.

The pole work and transitions seems to really suit his brain - he looked like he was responding really positively to the challenge. Out of interest, how does the distance between the poles today (for the trot work) compare to the longest distance that she used in the last session? In any case the hind leg movement in the trot (particularly over the poles), was actually quite good today - he's almost staring to move like the PRE he is! He is still a bit post-legged behind in the walk, so it was nice to see him go over the poles in the walk - he obviously found that exercise hard today.

Have fun hacking tomorrow :D

ETA: P, I've never seen anyone put long lines through the girth - that seems like a bizarre thing to do:confused3:
 
What DD said :D

Looked like a good exercise for him again this time. Do you think she will do a bit more with the poles?

Re the lines through the girth - I thought they were threaded through a low pair of D rings at the bottom of the roller - when she was trotting round before using the poles you could just see the rings slightly flapping so it looked to me like there was a fair bit of clearance around the rope part of the long lines, for them to slide easily. He certainly doesn't look held in by them to me :) IMO he consistently produces the best frame on the long lines :)
 
Ah its really nice to see him working in a bit more of a relaxed manner :-)

I thought they were through D rings too? Never heard of putting them through the girth!
 
Ah, I think it's my eyes then! There are a couple of people at our yard who thread them through the girth, that's the only other place I have seen it. I'll just put it down to numptyism!
 
Persephone said:
Ah, I think it's my eyes then! There are a couple of people at our yard who thread them through the girth, that's the only other place I have seen it. I'll just put it down to numptyism!
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How bizarre - surely they just get wedged in and don't give much if at all. You haven't asked them why have you?
 
He looked very happy throughout this session, was moving freely through his back and stepping through in his hind from trot to canter, in a way I've not seen when he's ridden. his trainer has an increaingly good connection with him, which is lovely to see. Fingers crossed, you are making progress but I'd still like to see his trainer doing this kind of work ridden, just to confirm that he will maintain this lovely relaxed frame, which he tends to lose in ridden work.
 
The long reins run through rings on the roller, she varies the hight of the long reins depending on what she wants Armas to achieve. The roller has various rings at various heights.
He was working well today thinking about what he was doing and was listening to her commands most of the time.
Long reining is an integral part of his training lateral work collection and pole work are all on the list. We may start to do two LR sessions a week rather than just one, as I feel they are extremely beneficial.
Its just a shame that she does not do in hand work as that would be the icing on the cake.
Milliepops s I agree with you he does have a better frame whilst on the LR. As he starts to build muscle hopefully he will look the same under saddle.
We did vary the length between the poles today but I can not remember what it was last week of the top of my head.

P.s Shot from a couple of angles to keep Milliepops happy !
 
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It's a roller or surcingle, not a girth. It has rings at different heights. There are different schools of long reining, this is how Armas's trainer does it. My Andi Brio is having long reining once a week from a trainer, she was taught many years ago in Germany and puts the reins on a higher ring, and has the offside coming through and over at the saddle area.

Brio is improving too, interesting to see Armas also sometimes hops up into trot when rushing, it's apparently a feature of having a stronger front end than back end. B has nearly stopped which I'm thrilled about.

Enjoy today's hack!
 
nich said:
It's a roller or surcingle, not a girth. It has rings at different heights. There are different schools of long reining, this is how Armas's trainer does it. My Andi Brio is having long reining once a week from a trainer, she was taught many years ago in Germany and puts the reins on a higher ring, and has the offside coming through and over at the saddle area.

Brio is improving too, interesting to see Armas also sometimes hops up into trot when rushing, it's apparently a feature of having a stronger front end than back end. B has nearly stopped which I'm thrilled about.

Enjoy today's hack!
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Had a lovely hack thank you ;-) I think long reining is a very useful tool if done correctly and I can see how it is helping my boy.
 
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