Schooling advice please

Damnation

Damnation

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Right I have a lovely mare but she is sharp. The trouble I have with her is the contact and the leg. So everything mainly.

Basically I can't get my leg on properly. I can do walk trot canter fine but when I ask for more in the way of lateral work she just runs and evades my contact completely. I refuse to pull her because I think in the past somewhere she has had her head reeled in and no leg put on!

I try to get my legs on her by doing lateral work but she just panics and runs! Is there anything I can do in the way of schooling exercises to just get her to chill and let me teach her without getting out knickers in a knot!

Everything is all checked and up to date, teeth are being done Friday. Saddle fits, back is fine.

When I bought her she was in a grackle and hanging cheeck and this made her worse she doesn't like the pressure so she is in a loose ring snaffle with a lozenge and a cavesson noseband, which she does go better in but I want to go up the levels in dressage so I need a horse to accept my leg and contact!!

(Also in CR)

Any help appriciated :)
 
Start with a bit of ground work asking her to move over from the leg, as in turn on the forhand and use a very strong word at the same time.
Then when she does this without trying to go forward do the same but on her, have some one by her head, say over but instead of using your hand use the leg....so she gets the idea of moving side ways off the leg with out going forward.

For leg yield start on a 20m circle and move in and out on to smaller and larger circles using your legs, don't to straight lines until she gets this and excepts the legs, also when changing direction use your legs and body weight to move her not the hand...sounds like at the mo, she just doesn't get what you want her to do, she has legs on go forward in her head.
 
Thank you - You have hit the nail on the head!
She needs to learn sideways not run :)
Funnily enough she will do turn on the forehand and bits of legyield in walk and canter, its trot that is our main issue. I will deffo try the 20m circle thing until she gets the idea :)
 
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