Off the forehand

[Foxaunt]

Hello All!

I am now well underway with a fantastic instructor, I have lessons and ask for advice as often as I can, we are progressing nicely and my darling mare is like a sponge and absorbs everything. Great right? Well... I cannot grasp getting her off the forehand. Even the "difficult" things I've taught her, we some tiny improvement every time but this is just one area we are absolutely shocking at. We've stripped it right back to basics.

Conformationally, cleveland bays are not built for floaty uphill movement. It even says it in the breed standard I'm pretty sure. We have it stacked against us.

Does anyone have anything particular, a polework exercise, some lunging technique, anything, that helps? Our instructor is great, she can spot the difference and tell me when she's engaging herself properly but on our own I'm hopeless. Long suffering boyfriend is helpful but I think he would rather be encouraging and therefore will say "yeah, sort of!" when I shout "any better?!" even when I think he might mean "no"!

One other thing to note is that we unfortunately have no hills nearby! Thousands of acres of beautiful hacking and not one hilly bit! or I've yet to find a decent one.

Advice and criticism is as always very greatfully recieved!

 

[rextherobber]

Have a chat with your instructor, (I'm sure you already have), she should be able to tell you what the issue is. Get her to explain to you what you are doing when you do get it right
How old is your horse? Sometimes takes longer than you'd think to be physically strong enough to use the back end consistently. Polework and cavaletti are great as is hacking, even without hills. If everything else is going well, it can't be as bad as you think, surely?

 

[Foxaunt]

Have a chat with your instructor, (I'm sure you already have), she should be able to tell you what the issue is. Get her to explain to you what you are doing when you do get it right
How old is your horse? Sometimes takes longer than you'd think to be physically strong enough to use the back end consistently. Polework and cavaletti are great as is hacking, even without hills. If everything else is going well, it can't be as bad as you think, surely?

She's 6, she's done so much maturing in her nature over the past year but it's such a fundamental thing in our riding and I want to get her on the right foot. we should do more polework definitely! thank you

 

[littleshetland]

If she's 6 then it's probably going to take a while to get her to 'sit down' more.....ages in fact. CB's were bred as carriage horses' so she's going to be inclined to 'pull' rather than push from behind. Also, as I said, being 6, she's still quite young. Be patient with her and let her find her balance and develop strength behind slowly. Hacking and hill work will help. Don't rush, be very patient, just work on obedience and balance and it will come. Ive had 2 CBs in the past, and like all horses really, they take time. Good luck!

 

[scats]

I have a naturally downhill little horse and the best way to get her off the forehand is to have her very infront of the leg and very ‘jolly’. I always thought I had her infront of the leg, until I started working with current trainer and realised that she really wasn’t. I have worked hard on riding leg off and getting razor sharp reactions from her with very little leg. I have to have the feeling that she is really ‘taking’ me forwards. As a result, I have felt a noticeable difference in her power behind and her ability to sit.

 

[windand rain]

One thing is to lighten the contact so she isn't leaning which is very common in trying to get an outline. the outline should come from the back legs not from contact or the front. This is the issue with most that have had things like pessoa equiami etc on at any point. The lighter the contact the less boring down on the front. legs drive the upward movement not hands holding it

 

[wren123]

I do agree it is a lot easier with an instructor.
Things I used to do were lots of transactions at set points, think of riding forward into all transactions. Make sure whatever length rein you are riding your horse into it, so the horse is taking the contact forward. Lateral work is excellent for engaging the hind end. I used to try and think always of riding the horse up into the contact.

 

[tda]

Transitions, transitions transitions. All the time. And like windandrain said, don't hold the front in, let her find her own balance

Walk to canter was a great one for my mare

 

[holeymoley]

Another one for lots of transitions. That’s our party trick for a quick warm up before dressage, it really lifts him.

 

[Goldenstar]

She is designed to pull not push .
I would recommend you get posture and performance with is a great book that will help you understand how to physically develop her .

 

[Aperchristmas]

Lots of transitions, walk or halt to canter is great but she may not be ready if she's still maturing. I also find lateral work to be useful, but it needs to be done well to avoid making the problem worse. Your instructor will be able to help there.

 

[Upthecreek]

You need to be much stronger in the leg than in the hand and really send her forward when she leans on you. Think of using your hands to contain the power rather than pulling the head into a frame. Lots of transitions to keep her thinking forward and prevent her getting stuck on the forehand. Being the type she is she will naturally feel more comfortable using the power in her shoulders. Suppling exercises like leg yielding should also help.

 

[Snowfilly]

Lots of transitions and lots of work uphill - find some nice slopes out hacking and work on them.

And maturity has a lot to do with it, big heavy sorts often can’t physically do the work until they’re fully developed. You may need another year before she’s ready.

 

[Mule]

I find walk or halt to canter and canter to walk great for getting the hind end under.