Long reining

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poiuytrewq

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I'm long-reining a pony to help him with confidence/napping and ridden issues. We have progressed from being terrified of the line round his back end and very nervy to confidently walking, halting trotting circles on both reins, serpentines and circles etc. I rein him out round fields and have taken him on a very quiet little lane. Going on the roads is difficult as he naps and id really have to turn back on myself at some point and obviously this would be far from ideal.

Ive been trawling the internet a bit tonight looking for any more difficult or just different things I can introduce to keep things interesting but not really finding much.
Just wondered if anyone else had any hints, tips or idea's on how else I can work him?

I especially need to work on him accepting pressure on his sides (riders legs freak him out a bit) and getting some better bend as from behind I can see he's quite stiff and one of his tricks is to run out through his shoulder when ridden.

Off to bed but will check back here tomorrow and hope for something new to try out tomorrow!

Thank you :)
 
Buy a book on BHS Trec and set out some of the obstacles. My mare and I had great fun long reining over under and round them. I then took her to a training camp and she was great when I rode her through them. There are also some good clips on YouTube of equine agility which had different challenges. Like you I did this because my mare was nappy and it helped so much. Good luck :)
 
You could use some cones to go around and make different shapes out of. Another is using poles to make a maze, or a line of raised poles, small grid that would just make him pick his legs up and engage the hindquarters.

Include questions like rein-back and leg-yeilding. Leg yeilding with the long reins will help with the pressure on his sides... If he doesn't quite get it you can ask someone to help you by walking alongside him and putting pressure on his side with their hand where the leg would be placed for leg yeilding.

Long-reining on a square instead of a circle, or walking behind him, will help him with bend as he will have to recognise when to stay straight on the sides and only bending on the corner. This is good so if his bend isn't great you can get quality bend in the corners instead of rubbish bend all the way around a circle.

:)
 
poiuytrewq said:
Excellent thanks- not quite sure how to leg yield?
Click to expand...

As you would when riding, use the 3/4 line and make sure he is straight before you ask for the leg yeild. As I said before it's usually a good idea to have someone with you for the first time/s to use their hand where the leg would be to ask for the leg yeild - usually the horses get it quite quick and wont need the helper for long.

To ask him to leg yeild to the track use your voice to encourage him and put pressure on his side with the inside line - it will touch his side to encourage him sideways and forwards.

Place yourself so you walk nearer the track where you're aiming for the horse to go and open your outside arm slightly so that the outside line guides and supports him back to the track.

If he gets confused walk him on straight again before asking again... always best to start out just getting a few steps at a time if he finds it hard.

Hope that helps :)
 
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