On the forehand

[Mbronze]

I have a bit of a problem with my mare at the moment. After an injury during her recooperation my physio told me to ride her long and low which i did to help develop her muscles that had been damaged.
She is now 100% and i am trying to ride her 'properly' with a slightly higher head carraige and using her back end etc.
Although she has now really gone on the forehand and i am really struggling to stop her leaning on my hand, she is currently ridden in a loose ring snaffle with a flash and i don't know whether i should be using a slightly stronger bit to stop her leaning....??
I am doing lots of transitions with her at the moment, but she still looks rather croup high..
Any HHO suggestions would be most welcome!!!!

 

[helenhorse]

i understand you having had tghe same problem with one of mine! I had my instructor analyse us both in canter on a circle and my mare was on the forehand, so what she suggested i do which might very well solve your problem is:-
When asking for the transition, sit in advance, bring your outside leg back behind the grith and inside leg on the girth, ask for the canter but do not squeeze as this will prolong the transition and she will just end up running and leaning on you, so you want a nice tap or prod up into the canter from your leg. Now, what i tended to do was keep my hands low and quiet and i had a tendancy to lean forward as if im goin down stairs! So what she told me to do is do that leg movement, hold my hands up and appart, turn my hole body and hips into the direction and push your seat bones back into the saddle so your really putting all your weight into the centre of the saddle and make sure your body/posture and centre balance is up right, strong and do not tilt forward. This will hopefully, bring her up more into your hands and off your leg better because this will make her hind quarters and hind legs step under her when doing the transition up (remember to sit up and look up) and thus making her light on the forehand and up hill. But you must also ensure that the downwards transitions are balanced and that she melts into the trot with her quarters engaged and she steps under herself instead of falling back into trot with her legs flying every where.I hope i have made sense lol. If you want more of these sort of tips then im happy to shaqre them with you
good luck

 

[djmissj]

why not try riding her really forward off the bit(on a looser rein) in intervals so she has to use her own balance and not rely on your hands...also try some small one strided raised poles to an upright so she has to put her back end underneath her a bit more and look up ??

 

[Bert&Maud]

You don't say how old she is? If she is still growing she may actually be higher behind at the moment, in which case it's natural for her to be on her forehand. My 6 year old is the same at the moment. Transitions, and lots of half halts, ensuring that she is responsive to your forward leg aid, will really help. Also, the saddle you are riding her in will make a difference, I currently have an event saddle as it's the only one that fits him properly, but it does put me in a forward position which also doesn't help. Ground poles also help, I have Clare Lilley's book, "Schooling with Groundpoles" which has some really good exercises for encouraging the horse to use it's hindlegs more efficiently.

 

[Dressagebabe]

We ask our horses to halt then rein back before moving off your leg again if they start to lean on our hands, even if you are in trot or canter, you need to be quick as sometimes you can go along allowing it until they get very heavy then you realise so you must pick up on it immediately. I can find myself halting & reining back 6 or 7 times on a few circles then then after this time the horse realises that leaning means rein back so they soon pick the easy option and stay light.

 

[helenhorse]

i agree to a certain extent that you should be using half half halts but you know, a half halt can be anything from a subtle tickle with the reins to 'slow down you f****ng b*****d!!!'
do you know what i mean, and i have found that if you ride on a circle and give and take with your inside rein and rise higher and slower, and sitting deep in the saddle with your weight running through your calf and heel will lift her up to you. I did this and soon i could loosen the contact and she would stay balanced and light on the forehand without leaning.
good luck lol