"Stretch and scratch" anyone heard of this before?

sandi_84

sandi_84

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My friend was telling me about a move called stretch and scratch where you apparently "allow your elbows to come back across your ribcage till the horse chews the bit and then release your hands forwards to the withers to give them a scratch"
I have never heard of it before and to me it sounds a bit suspect but I would be open to education from more knowledgeable types.
According to her source of information apparently this helps with outline and getting them on the bit and rewards them for naturally dropping their head.

She asked me if I'd ever heard of it and at first I thought she meant carrot stretches! :o

Anyone heard of it before? Thoughts?
 
Auslander said:
Sounds to me like the edited version of "Pull its head in til it gives, then drop it". Not a technique that I would be using - ever!
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That's what I thought! But apparently this comes from a person who works for a top dressage rider :confused3:
Anyone else heard of it?
 
I do something similar I gradually turn the horses head right round to one side however I do not do it by doing the across the ribs with the hand you describe I keep my in a pretty normal place and just keep asking the horse to bend its neck until it yields right round it's not a pull just a very slow gradual request to the horse to keep turning its head .it can take me up to ten minutes to do one stretch it's done to mobilse the out side of the horses neck it's not to do with puttting them on the bit it's a gymnastic exercise once I have stretched them I slowly return the neck to the straight position I dont drop the contact that IMO is damageing .
What I do is more of a ridden carrot stretch .
I start them standing and will often have the trainer or the physio on the ground to help the horse understand .
Mostly it's done walking but I will sometimes do it in trot to and it's not relevant to all horses and they don't do the full stretch on day one I build them up over time .
I do however know exactly the move you describe it's not part of my programme .
 
Goldenstar said:
I do something similar I gradually turn the horses head right round to one side however I do not do it by doing the across the ribs with the hand you describe I keep my in a pretty normal place and just keep asking the horse to bend its neck until it yields right round it's not a pull just a very slow gradual request to the horse to keep turning its head .it can take me up to ten minutes to do one stretch it's done to mobilse the out side of the horses neck it's not to do with puttting them on the bit it's a gymnastic exercise once I have stretched them I slowly return the neck to the straight position I dont drop the contact that IMO is damageing .
What I do is more of a ridden carrot stretch .
I start them standing and will often have the trainer or the physio on the ground to help the horse understand .
Mostly it's done walking but I will sometimes do it in trot to and it's not relevant to all horses and they don't do the full stretch on day one I build them up over time .
I do however know exactly the move you describe it's not part of my programme .
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Yes I think I understand what you mean, I've seen the video of Tim Stockdale doing similar I think?
But no it's not a side to side flexion she's talking about, it's a pull back on the horse with both hands and forward to the withers.
So what in your opinion is this move supposed to achieve? I don't get it personally :/
 
Thinking about this again I don't get how you can get your elbows across your rib cage .
Not you as in you OP but as in anyone .
I thought I knew what you meant now I am not sure .
Perhaps it lost something as she explained it to you .
 
Goldenstar said:
Thinking about this again I don't get how you can get your elbows across your rib cage .
Not you as in you OP but as in anyone .
I thought I knew what you meant now I am not sure .
Perhaps it lost something as she explained it to you .
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It confused me a bit at first too but I think she meant that you pull your elbows back more as if you were almost trying to put your elbows behind you which in turn pulls the horses mouth rather than "across" as in cross your elbows like a yoga master ;) I'm not sure exactly how much pull is being used though.
 
I don't know what this is but I do kind pat/scratch my horses neck when teaching free walk as a signal to really stretch down. So If I scratch the side of their neck they let their frame go very long... But I don't know what the pulling bit is about.
 
Auslander said:
This doesn't necessarily mean that it is a good thing! You've noticed the Rollkur debate - right?
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Oh god yes I know it's not necessarily a good thing! That's why I said in my OP that it sounded pretty suspect to me :) I just can't get my head round it that top riders still advocate things like this apparently.
It just smacks of "winch the horses head in for false outline" but I was open to being told my thinking was wrong and why but so far I've not heard anything to change my mind that this is a dodgy manoeuvre.
 
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