on the forehand.... help

[serena2005]

iv come to a bit of a dead end with schooling at the moment, instructor is waiting to get his license, so havent had a lesson in ages.

anyway, the more schooling we do and the more balanced he gets he seems to feel more on the forehand. someone said this today " he looks like hes built down hill so thats how he carrys himself" if that makes sense. he has a very low set neck.
how do i teach him to carry himself better?

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

If i knew the answer to this my life would be so much better *sighs*
Rocks is THE most on the forehand horse i know
From experience people say transitions work, uphill transitions work for me but downhill transitions he completely leans through and made it worse!
One thing i found REALY worked well was leg yielding, lots of it! It got rock really concentrating and carrying himself beautifully.
Also lots of shapes and changes of direction!

 

[ginnyspinner]

My instructor made me do loads of leg yielding on a circle and shoulder in giving with my inside rein with virtually no contact to make my boy self carry without going onto his forehand and leaning on me for support.

It seemed to work for me but was bl***y hard work!!

 

[serena2005]

yer i have been doing some transition work. and he sounds like he does the same as your horse, he collapses down in to tranisitions.

as well iv started asking for a more of a working trot as he is more balanced which has seemed to make he more on the forehand, which i expected. but it seems to be getting worse.

 

[serena2005]

hes not that advanced to be doing shoulder in.. he can barely stay on a straight line!!! lol, iv started to try and get
him to flex his head inwards and he finds that hard enough

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Ah thats another ting Mogsy just said, use your outside rein as a constant contact using it to control speed and straightness, and inside rein ONLY for bend. I find i used too much inside rein and it made him lean even worse, so i literally just place him with the inside rein, then giv him it, that way he cant lean on it

 

[serena2005]

perfect explaination of rein conctact!! yes thats how i ride him, he dosent lean at all, he just sticks his nose out.

the only time he leans is in canter, he tells me iv got too much rein contact by leaning and twisting hi01s head, instructor always shouts to let go of the inside rein!!

0

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

lol so does mine its my major bad habit!!

 

[Parkranger]

We did loads and loads of tight circles etc in trot/walk so that the bending etc improved and tbh, he had 3 weeks off due to an injury and he's a different horse - sure it won't last though!

I also find that 20 mins a day is his max schooling time - any more and he just gets restless and stupid......

 

[serena2005]

i competely agree, mine had 11 weeks off and came back into work a different horse, much better surprisingly!

i usually warm him up for about 10ish minutes before asking for an outline... maybe i should ask him to work sooner

 

[Natalie_H]

My mum's TB is very much on the forehand, is built downhill, low set neck etc. I can only comment on her behalf in terms of what our instructor has taught. The key for him is the activeness of the pace before making the downward transition. He tends to just fall into the slower pace & poke his nose out. They are having success with ensuring the energy is there before making the transition, & sustaining this through to walk (if that makes sense??!). Also, lots of changing pace to keep him thinking. I have the opposite problem - upward transitions! Good luck!

 

[Natalie_H]

Also - Mum recently changed his bit which made a huge difference!

 

[serena2005]

[ QUOTE ]
He tends to just fall into the slower pace & poke his nose out. They are having success with ensuring the energy is there before making the transition, & sustaining this through to walk (if that makes sense??!).

[/ QUOTE ]

yes that makes perfect sense,
poking the nose out part, Herbie does the excact same thing!!

ensuring the energy part, i am trying to work at that with him, i think im just confusing him with it at the mo, i hold my leg on his side so he knows i want the impulsion, and kept the contact with my rein and say " and wwwaaalllkk" then as he goes to slow down squeeze a little just to make sure he doesnt collapse, sometimes it works, other times he just jogs.

thanks for the hints, its nice to know im not the only one with a badly built TB!! lol

 

[Natalie_H]

It will take perseverance but you will get there. Mum's horse now even carries himself around the field much better. It is always difficult when you are contending with a conformational problem, but you can definitely correct it to a certain extent from what I have seen! My instructor always says that his neck comes out of his legs LOL! but he is much better now!

 

[serena2005]

[ QUOTE ]
My instructor always says that his neck comes out of his legs LOL! but he is much better now!

[/ QUOTE ]

lmao, its so true though!!
where abouts in london are you? im sure you have told me before...

 

[Natalie_H]

South East London - but horses are at Mum's in Kent where I spend weekends. I think I have told you before when we were discussing farriers!!! BTW - he was shod today & farrier said his hooves were pretty good so very happy at the moment! Can't believe the difference he has made in only 2 months.