Re-training a SJer for dressage

[Jango]

Hello! I've just bought a lovely new mare, she's 9, she bred 2x foals and she's been show jumped for the past 2 years (was competing at Disco). Her canter is quite short and upright and tight. The walk and trot already felt good. Just wondering if anyone has worked with a similar horse and has any suggestions of exercises that have worked well to encourage softness and stretch in canter? Either ridden or on lunge/long reins.

My last horse absolutely loved a stretch and was very soft (needed more forward though) so I dont really have any tried and tested exercises.

She's just passed a 5 stage vetting, ive got my physio and instructor coming in Feb, but wanted to get cracking in the meantime ?

 

[oldie48]

Not had a situation like yours but tbh I think it should improve with time and good schooling. I suspect she might lack balance in canter even though she's been jumping for the last couple of years so anything that improves her balance will help. I've found that unless horses have been taught to stretch it's better to work them first then ask for a stretch in walk, once they can do that then move onto trot but don't ask for a stretch in canter until they are feeling pretty balanced. I find the ability to canter smallish circles or manage a good counter canter whilst keeping rhythm is a good test. fwiw, I think it's important to keep a proper forward pace with the shoulders lifted or they can just be on the forehand, which does nothing for them at all. I'm sure others will have suggestions but it does improve with just pretty basic schooling.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I found retraining my sj for dressage quite easy once I found the forward button!! His canter was lovely rhythmical but went no where. Once I had him moving forward it all clicked.

 

[humblepie]

I was going to forward as well with you standing slightly out of the saddle and then canter pole work. Sounds lovely and good luck.

 

[millitiger]

What does she do if you just give her more rein? Speed up, stay the same, drop her head etc.?

Does she accept your leg or is she just forward, as that will also be a key part.

 

[Bernster]

Hmm, not sure I can explain very well! Mine wasn’t an out and out sj but that was his main discipline for 6 years. He was a bit upside down, overdeveloped under the neck, tendency to be above the bit, and the canter felt rushed and unbalanced. Not sure how much of that was me getting to work out how to ride him but it was also partly his shape and muscle development.

It took a good while tbh of typical flatwork exercises - lunging, long reining, poles, lateral work, suppleness exercises (walk pirouette, shoulder in, leg yield etc), working on the rhythm as he would tend to rush, limited canter work initially (wall of death canter for a while until he got stronger), me learning to relax and not tense a that made him worse, lots of breaks…a whole mixture of stuff! Regular lessons and ins schooled him once a week. Regular saddle and teeth checks and regular physio.

Paid off in spades as he’s a total poppet. I love riding him and now we’re refining what we have as he’s got the basics all there now ?. Mind you, I’m a wobbly amateur competing at the lower levels so take that into account!

 

[sbloom]

I would go back to first principles, what does the horses apparent "confirmation" tell you about why she might be struggling in the canter? It's likely down to fundamental issues which express themselves in canter as that's the hardest pace in which to balance a rider.

If the horse can't release, and mostly keep released, the under neck muscles then the whole body is compromised, a really common reason for issues, but it will be part of a chain of further compensations. Bodywork and groundwork will get to the nub of the issue, schooling patterns and aiding are more likely to take away the horse's natural compensations and push them into worse ones, potentially (likely) the reason for the current epidemic of lameness and resulting injections etc.

https://www.facebook.com/stephbloom...ArFTGVYpYFWrhr8f5zmCtaWZTUP54GWDnQa1SV6ci8Q6l

I know this can be a slightly scary way of looking at things but it's a rabbit hole worth looking at.

 

[TPO]

Have a read of @Ambers Echo thread about Joe Midgley clinics/lessons

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Have a read of @Ambers Echo thread about Joe Midgley clinics/lessons

Lottie is an out and out shjowjumper. And we are rebuilding canter from the basics now. We have a long way to go but I am hopeful!

 

[RachelFerd]

I would go back to first principles, what does the horses apparent "confirmation" tell you about why she might be struggling in the canter? It's likely down to fundamental issues which express themselves in canter as that's the hardest pace in which to balance a rider.

If the horse can't release, and mostly keep released, the under neck muscles then the whole body is compromised, a really common reason for issues, but it will be part of a chain of further compensations. Bodywork and groundwork will get to the nub of the issue, schooling patterns and aiding are more likely to take away the horse's natural compensations and push them into worse ones, potentially (likely) the reason for the current epidemic of lameness and resulting injections etc.

https://www.facebook.com/stephbloom...ArFTGVYpYFWrhr8f5zmCtaWZTUP54GWDnQa1SV6ci8Q6l

I know this can be a slightly scary way of looking at things but it's a rabbit hole worth looking at.

I find some of these photos a little bit annoying - of course the bay horse looks more croup high in the first photo - his hindlegs are stood on 2cm of rubber matting, and he has been clipped in a way that accentuates his downhill shape. I'm not saying that the horse hasn't improved, just that the photos are a bit dishonest.

Same with the horse standing base narrow - I mean, I could get a horse to stand base narrow, and then place it's feet down differently and get it to stand less base narrow. They are all just a bit moment in time-y.

If there were some videos showing improved movement and way of going, that would be quite a lot more enlightening.

 

[sbloom]

If there were some videos showing improved movement and way of going, that would be quite a lot more enlightening.

Please bear in mind these photos are taken by the owners doing the work themselves, and were just to share in the group, ending up in a post where they said they'd be happy if they were shared elsewhere.

Look more closely, you can see the changes, we're just not used to looking at musculature and posture in that level of detail. The bay shows development in the traps, pecs (they are drooping in the before photo) and it's only in three weeks. The change in balance is more than 2cm. If you can stand your horse base narrow and then base wide and the pecs look that different you're a magician. I "know" Annie and Wendee online, no fibbing/exaggerating there I can assure you.

There are tons of videos in the group, and some individuals post them to their own profiles etc, search #btmm if you want to see more. The calibre of professionals that are seeing the value in this work, to the extent they're adding it to their tool kit for their customers, is incredibly high. My own bodyworker who does horses and humans is blown away by it, and she was already doing "standard" groundwork (pole work, lateral, baited stretches etc all of which she's now ceasing for many horses).

It's easy to be dismissive/sceptical, I get it, but I'm seeing the changes in horses doing this work all the time, in the flesh.

 

[sbloom]

I didn't realise this was now 7 years old, if we don't raise the bar on posture and compensatory movement patterns we'll continue to see issues like this - 100% dissected ridden horses showing significant elbow problems, barely discussed when we look at lameness and discomfort.

https://www.equinestudies.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-Elbow-A-Joint-in-TROUBLE.pdf