Round or forward - but not both together

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EllieM

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My 6yo TB mare has been improving consistently in her schooling until recently. She accepts contact and will come round, but then backs off and looses all her forwardness. Similarly, she is happy to step out and drive from behind if she can stick her head in the air. It's getting to the stage where I am working much harder than she is. We do get glimpses of lovely bouncy round paces, but I can't get her to maintain this.

Any tips?
 
Hard to say anything without seeing you ride.

So this is all theoretically speaking. This issue can occur when (a) the horse isn't really "round" but has simply learned to put its nose down in response to pressure, but isn't lifting its back or flexing its hind limb joints. The neck of the horse is very flexible; they can arch their neck and still be tense through their back, on the forehand, and have their hind end in the next county; (b) the rider is doing something with their hands and/or body that blocks the forward energy. When you ask your horse to go on the vertical, do you feel as if you have to hold her head there? Are you bracing in your wrists, arms, or back? If you have a feeling of heavyness, of having to pull your horse into the outline, you're essentially riding with the handbrake on.

The good news is that if the horse comes on the vertical when you take a contact, she at least understands how to give to pressure, which is more than can be said of a lot of horses. On a horse with a good foundation, you should be able to ride forward into an elastic contact and the horse will soften. Until the horse starts developing a topline, however, they won't be able to maintain a correct outline for any length of time, as it takes a lot of strength for them to do this. The horse needs to be relaxed and soft (and you too) and go forward into aforesaid elastic contact. I'm happy if a greenie will go along in a steady rhythm with their head in the "normal" place they would have it if they were trotting in the field in a relaxed manner (so not in the air like a deranged llama, which tenses all the muscles in the neck and back and makes their lives and yours fairly unhappy), and simply accept a very light, following contact. The outline will come from there.
 
Does she understand being round and forward when lunging or long reining?

Might help her to build the muscles to carry herself and learn how to work forwards into the contact.

And if you can ride something else that is already schooled up it will really help you to develop the feel and try to replicate it on your horse.
 
It sounds like she is finding it difficult to ride into the contact, and this is making her shorten her stride and not travel forward properly. Like the other two posters have suggested I think that this is because she hasn't developed enough of the necessary muscle i.e. topline to be able to do this properly. She sounds like a lovely and willing mare, and you say you have experienced some lovely and correct movement, so I think you just need to carry on doing what you are doing, with an emphasis on moving forward into a soft outline. It will all come eventually.

Are you lunging her at all? Two sessions a week in a pessoa/EquiAmi would really help.
 
Just as an addendum... do continue to encourage your horse to be forward and in front of the leg, even if she's sticking her nose out. Many years ago, I made the mistake of thinking "round" = my horse shuffling along behind the leg, but appearing to be in a frame. Lots of young horses, when trying to figure out what you want, might work out that it's not very difficult to arch their neck and lose impulsion, and far harder to do so while maintaining impulsion. Thus, I rewarded the behaviour and had a rather unenergetic, flat, behind-the-leg horse with her nose pointed down, which didn't bode particularly well for dressage shows where judges may have noticed this. It became a habit I then had to fix when I got a better trainer. I learned a lot about dressage and training from the fixing process (clouds and silver linings), but really, it would have been better to train the horse correctly from the beginning.
 
Thanks for your comments. I have just started lunging her once a week in a Pessoa, and again without the Pessoa before my weekly lesson.

The frustrating thing is that she seems to have gone backwards. Two months ago things really clicked and she was going beautifully, but recently she has become very inconsistent - some days she just seems to die under me. I have been advised to be firmer with her and insist that she works forward and round, as she may just be objecting to having more asked of her (she is quite a laid back horse), but i am a bit uncomfortable with the strength of aids this at times seems to need.

Do you think this could be a young horse phase, or perhaps linked to the time of year (she has lost some of her top line over the winter)? I have had her saddle refitted and increased her feed (bulk not hard).
 
It sounds like lack of muscle to me and if she's lost some of her top-line - there's your answer!
If it is your RI who says that you need to be firmer with her, I'd look for an instructor who actually understands what she is teaching and if its just fellow liveries etc - take no notice.
 
That's really helpful - I hadn't really put the two things together before. Hopefully the spring grass will help her muscle up a bit more, together with the lunging, patience and continued schooling, then we may get back on track.

Does anyone have experience of using soya oil to help give energy without hitting up? Or any alternative suggestions for helping her keep her muscle during the winter?
 
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