Lowering the head carriage

[TheFarmIsFull]

What are your tips and tricks for helping a horse lower its head carriage and build strength through its back?
Back in my schooling days I was always taught to use gadgets such as side reins, martingales and do intense schooling until you got your desired results.
I have a new project who carries a high head carriage and always has (ex racehorse), he will spend the next 6 months as a farm hack and I’m looking at ways I can help him build strength and bring his head down, even if it’s nose pointing out and head down it doesn’t need to be a frame, but I’m not wanting to spend all my time in gadgets or going around and around in circles and I’m sure people have better ways these days.
I thought maybe a shadow roll over the nose and lots of hill riding?
Body work is booked to see what that can bring.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Hill work, pole work and riding from the seat/legs, rather than the hands.

 

[Zuzan]

Action-Reaction as taught in the Ecole de Légèreté

 

[Leandy]

Pity you didn't acquire better basics than needing gadgets to lower the head. You need to acquire the skills to do this by riding from leg to hand, pressure and release, to encourage a correct, elastic contact and connection and acceptance of the bit. This can be done anywhere and not just in the school and is the basis of correct riding. The best thing you can do is get a good instructor to show you. You will need to be disciplined and consistent in your approach and it will come.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Yep, would second hill work. Keep to a walk to encourage him to stretch, and try to encourage him to relax. A horse on high alert is like a damned giraffe to ride, and no fun at all! Is he happy to ride out with an alpha horse that he respects, so that he isn't looking for tigers?

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

Pity you didn't acquire better basics than needing gadgets to lower the head. You need to acquire the skills to do this by riding from leg to hand, pressure and release, to encourage a correct, elastic contact and connection and acceptance of the bit. This can be done anywhere and not just in the school and is the basis of correct riding. The best thing you can do is get a good instructor to show you. You will need to be disciplined and consistent in your approach and it will come.

Thanks. I have had many lessons and have the skills required. I have been riding for many years.
I was stating that basically the gadgets were the easy rushed way i was taught. Riding as you have stated helps and he can do some great work however as soon as you stop “driving” him his head comes up. It’s how he apparently had always carried himself as a racehorse. I don’t want to be having to ride like this all the time. I have RA and am pigeon toed so it’s also very hard on me. But he needs to strengthen up through his back to help him be able to naturally carry himself better

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

Yep, would second hill work. Keep to a walk to encourage him to stretch, and try to encourage him to relax. A horse on high alert is like a damned giraffe to ride, and no fun at all! Is he happy to ride out with an alpha horse that he respects, so that he isn't looking for tigers?

Giraffe is what he is!
He’s actually great and isn’t on high alert he’s just set in that way from working with his head in the air and being strong as a racehorse, I think once we strengthen him through his back we will start seeing a different way of going forward. I was thinking hill work on a long rein to encourage lengthening would help. Definitely at the top of my thoughts for helping him.
We do have an older girl to hack out with anyhow which will help the whole relax side of things

 

[Leandy]

I wasn' t meaning to be rude but it sounds as though you know what is required but want another short cut that isn't gadgets and not to have to worry about how he is working all the time. The only way to build up the relevant musculature and way of going is consistently working in a correct way and the only way to speed this up is to be consistent in insisting on this way of going. Pole work in the school will also help. Whilst I agree that hacking on a long rein and hill work will help strength and relax, it will not habitualise him into a more correct way of working over the back into a contact without schooling him as you go. If he is naturally an "upside down" TB type it may not just be a learnt way of going from his racing days, but in fact where he feels most comfortable. It depends what you ultimately want to do with him though but pootling along on a long rein is going to be of limited value.

 

[Mule]

Alternately raised cavaletti in walk are great for building core strength. That makes it easier for them to carry themselves correctly. It takes more muscle engagement to do the cavaletti in walk as it doesn't have the propulsion the other gaits do. They also stretch out and down when going over them.

You use about 6/8 poles. Raise the first pole on one side and the second one at the other side and keep going. You should have an even number of poles. You can do this in hand as well as ridden. In hand the idea is to do then 10 times daily. I would do it less when ridden. When ridden get in a light seat and have a very loose contact so they are free to use the neck.

Also, leg yielding on a circle. When the horse takes the contact, give the outside rein so it can stretch out.

Another one is lengthening and shortening the walk. It's great for muscle building too. When lengthening lower your hands and give a bit forward with the reins to allow the neck to stretch out.

These exercises done everytime you ride will make a big difference. I would be careful not to overdo the raised cavaletti because it's pretty strenuous in walk. Maybe 5 or 6 times when ridden.

 

[JackFrost]

Numpty in hand method that seemed effective with my head-up youngster was to teach the word 'down' with a treat given on the ground. After that, horse seemed to understand it is allowed to lower your head and this seemed to transfer into other work. Also horse will copy me if I do a head down walk alongside in hand. We are often telling our horses to keep their heads up, perhaps some of them just need to learn that down is ok and a nice place to be.

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

I wasn' t meaning to be rude but it sounds as though you know what is required but want another short cut that isn't gadgets and not to have to worry about how he is working all the time. The only way to build up the relevant musculature and way of going is consistently working in a correct way and the only way to speed this up is to be consistent in insisting on this way of going. Pole work in the school will also help. Whilst I agree that hacking on a long rein and hill work will help strength and relax, it will not habitualise him into a more correct way of working over the back into a contact without schooling him as you go. If he is naturally an "upside down" TB type it may not just be a learnt way of going from his racing days, but in fact where he feels most comfortable. It depends what you ultimately want to do with him though but pootling along on a long rein is going to be of limited value.

I do agree with what your saying in terms of how to get the results desired but at this point it’s more about building more strength through his back and in turn helping lower his head “naturally” . I know this comes from having him carry himself correctly and he has had schooling recently and he can move well but he was weak through his back and had become a bit tender over it as expected from lack of strength and having to carry himself in a new way. I think of it Like going from jogging to yoga, the muscles have to adjust.
So I was thinking of working more towards building more strength through other ways and we will work on the rest later and bring it all together. His future won’t be as a show pony but of course having those basics established adds value should he ever need a new rider.

 

[sbloom]

Groundwork - best form of education and, on the back of good bodywork, will do the mobilise-activate-strengthen work which is what you need. Have a look at the Topline Syndrom videos on Equitopia (well worth joining for a month to watch those and others). It will always be easier for a horse to learn to lower the head and then work into better posture, with a lifted thoracic sling without the weight of a rider on top.

 

[soloequestrian]

My project came like this. I did six months of hacking which involves lots of hills here - he learned that he could drop his head in all paces. He was much better in the school after that, didn't feel the need to hollow.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Once the horse understands what leg means then more leg into an elastic hand

 

[Trouper]

I was told to forget about the head and start at the bum. Only when his hind quarters and back and core are strong will he be able to drop his head. At the moment it is the only thing which is giving him balance so don't force that away from him until you have the other areas stronger. Second all the above non-gadget ways to achieve this - particularly pole work.

 

[maya2008]

Most paths lead to the same conclusion if you have enough knowledge. Different horses often respond to different things, so there is no one true answer. Helpful, I know!

My experience:
- The German method involves more lunging and in-hand work first to be truly successful. If you lunge and long-rein with side reins until the horse understands, then you can get on with steady hands and your horse will know what to do when you gather up your reins. Not everyone likes to lunge (or has enough knowledge to do so correctly) or agrees with this method, and of course once you are on board, you need to keep your horse moving forwards into your hands, so they don’t invert and just have their head tucked in with back dropped and hind legs trailing. Much less likely to happen if the prep work was good though.
- If you’re not a fan of lunging, the method with flexions where they respond to the corner of the mouth being stimulated (as taught by Philippe Karl) is very kind and easy to do. Again though, you have to do some groundwork first. I have found this to be the simplest and easiest way to teach a horse, and it gives you a nice soft contact from the very first moments. You do need to be much more careful to read the horse’s body language though, because they haven’t done the lunging to build up muscles in that frame, and the muscles required need to be built up gently, with frequent breaks. Otherwise you will still end up with an incorrect ‘frame’.
- regardless of the method you start out with, your horse will probably prefer one or the other going forwards. I have had horses started with the German method who absolutely detested a strong contact and for whom anything but total lightness made them tense - and those who were started with lightness who very much prefer a firmer contact. Horses have their own personalities, after all!
- Horses are not mind readers. If they have never been taught that lowering their heads is a thing, most will not do it naturally ‘just because’. Of all of mine, only my current 3yo has automatically dropped their head and tucked their nose in, in response to a contact.
- Tension from the rider or from the environment, slightly off saddles etc will always mean that they cannot relax and work correctly. I hack all my 3 year olds and do basic schooling, core strengthening etc without any particular frame being required. After six months of this, at 4yo, they then find it easy to hold a correct frame and work through properly from behind. They have the muscles needed to be successful, and have settled in their work and in the world around them.

 

[Zuzan]

..........
- If you’re not a fan of lunging, the method with flexions where they respond to the corner of the mouth being stimulated (as taught by Philippe Karl) is very kind and easy to do. Again though, you have to do some groundwork first. I have found this to be the simplest and easiest way to teach a horse, and it gives you a nice soft contact from the very first moments. You do need to be much more careful to read the horse’s body language though, because they haven’t done the lunging to build up muscles in that frame, and the muscles required need to be built up gently, with frequent breaks. Otherwise you will still end up with an incorrect ‘frame’.
.............

This leaves the impression that Phillippe Karl / Ecole de Légèreté doesn't use either lunging or in hand .. which is very inaccurate.

Yes the flexions help, but the key is to teach Action - Reaction as a specific aid to lower the head.

 

[maya2008]

This leaves the impression that Phillippe Karl / Ecole de Légèreté doesn't use either lunging or in hand .. which is very inaccurate.

Yes the flexions help, but the key is to teach Action - Reaction as a specific aid to lower the head.

In this specific case (of teaching a horse to lower the head), I switched to PK’s methods specifically because I could no longer lunge (hip issues, pops them out for some reason). I have backed several horses now using flexions from the ground and then under saddle with no lunging at all.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

My pony has recently been doing loads of just walking on hacks as there are a few liveries on rehab that needed a safe escort to keep them calm. It has completely transformed her. I reckon it’s been maybe 8 weeks of 4-5 30 mins walk a week.