Suppleness tips for the very short coupled

[Equi]

My bear and i did our very first dressage test a few weeks ago and got a respectable 62.9% mark which i was thrilled about because he really did put in a good test compared to where we started when i got him. He was mostly a hacker so schooling was in no way his biggest selling point. He has improved massively in the months ive had him with our lessons but the comments on the dressage was mostly "needs more forward contact and suppleness though neck and body"

I totally understand the neck, hes got a habit of turning from the shoulder and never really goes into the contact but hes never been asked to and its a work in progress which i do find is getting a little better. Just needs more time. The body is the tricky part though because his arse is about an inch from his shoulder. Very stocky and deep with barely any back at all. Im just lucky i got a saddle to fit us otherwise i would be in a dire situation.

So how do i get what is essentially a solid wall to give more bend? Will i ever? Im not aiming to win gold medals or anything but i just think it will be easier for him when he learns that balancing is much easier when you can bend a little lol

Customary photo of the naked bear

 

[Caol Ila]

I’m very interested in hearing your answers. Been helping a friend with her very short coupled Connemara, who can sling around a 10m circle without bending at all, yet feels very balanced. She’s losing points for that in shows, but it’s tricky to convince this little guy that he needs to bend, when he can do all the Elementary level movements easily, without bothering.

 

[Equi]

We cant really do any circles very well yet but it IS getting better from the shoulder/neck point of view. But there is nothing coming from the hind end, its just following the front which is why i wonder if i ever can get the hind to be slightly bended away because he IS so short. But he has an amazing turn on the forehand, can go around and around for ages if i asked lol (i don't)

 

[Cob Life]

Mine used to go like a motorbike. He’s a similar build you yours.
We have done
- leg yields
- lots of 3&4 loop serpentine
-shallow loops (I also add poles to the bend of the loop if I want him to pick himself up more)
- fan of poles on a circle
- circles to make a figure 8 of 10, 15 and 20 m
- carrot stretches

He’s bendy enough now that he can do shoulder in, unlike your boy though I can not get him to do turn on the fore hand, he will turn on the haunches though

 

[Equi]

He can do leg yields if asked hard enough, my chiropractor has made my leg strength get a lot more (we are also 90% getting the correct lead on his bad side) he can do loops and serpentine but with no real bend, just swinging around and im trying to hold him with my legs and hands but i have an awful habit of letting the reins slip on my right hand. We work on our corners a lot and he HAS got better..hes a very "do it a few times then i know what you want and will anticipate" type but next ride he is back to how he was. I need to be on him from mounting til dismounting - no ambling about or he gets lost. Again a work in progress. I have been able lately to stop him totally falling through the shoulder but its still not anywhere near bending. Maybe its more time needed?

 

[Cortez]

Shoulder in, shoulder in, shoulder in. And then some shoulder in.

And when he can do that, travers and renvers.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

I’ve found reverse shoulder in very helpful for mine! The fence line helps stop them just going diagonal, and seems to help balance. Once you’ve used that to get some bend and explain what you mean to him, progress to your “proper” shoulder ins.

 

[Equi]

Shoulder in, shoulder in, shoulder in. And then some shoulder in.

And when he can do that, travers and renvers.

I can try but its hard for me to know if hes doing it or not lol i need to learn to use the mirrors more.

 

[Mule]

I can try but its hard for me to know if hes doing it or not lol i need to learn to use the mirrors more.

If you get someone to walk behind your horse when you are doing it, they can tell you when the horse has moved to 3 tracks. When he has, memorise that feeling in his body. That will help you know when he is doing it correctly in the future. If you are not sure about it, get someone to keep telling you when it's right until you can identify the feeling.

At least you won't get fooled by a long bendy neck with Bear

 

[Equi]

If you get someone to walk behind your horse when you are doing it, they can tell you when the horse has moved to 3 tracks. When he has, memorise that feeling in his body. That will help you know when he is doing it correctly in the future. If you are not sure about it, get someone to keep telling you when it's right until you can identify the feeling.

Ill ask teach to do this and learn me how to know it, shes been working on our leg yields (which neither of us knew he could do lol and when he did i almost screamed) but its only ever in walk, in trot it all goes out the window. we have a small amount of time before she leaves for maternity. When she comes back i absolutely want her to ride him again because he made SO much progress under her. But im just happy hes made progress with only me in the mean time.

 

[Mule]

Ill ask teach to do this and learn me how to know it, shes been working on our leg yields (which neither of us knew he could do lol and when he did i almost screamed) but its only ever in walk, in trot it all goes out the window. we have a small amount of time before she leaves for maternity. When she comes back i absolutely want her to ride him again because he made SO much progress under her. But im just happy hes made progress with only me in the mean time.

I find everything so much easier in walk. It gives me time to think and correct things before it all falls apart.

 

[Equi]

Yup me too. I could ride in walk forever!!

We are getting better in trot but i just have to keep checking us, but it is getting better. I have to keep reminding myself he has not done proper schooling before and when i got him my body was not right. Now im working on my body and his so its still all new..Teach first comments on him were " he is like riding a really sweet and willing 4yo " (he is 16 lol)

 

[Mule]

Yup me too. I could ride in walk forever!!

We are getting better in trot but i just have to keep checking us, but it is getting better. I have to keep reminding myself he has not done proper schooling before and when i got him my body was not right. Now im working on my body and his so its still all new..Teach first comments on him were " he is like riding a really sweet and willing 4yo " (he is 16 lol)

He's doing very well considering he's learning so late.

 

[tristar]

I can try but its hard for me to know if hes doing it or not lol i need to learn to use the mirrors more.

i know i am doing it right when i can feel the inside hind leg coming under the horse through my seat.

you are are right more time, time and practice, not force, i do a kind of half pass, dont worry about the bend too much just like to feel the hinds crossing, instead of leg yield to start with, as little hand as possible

and with some i do a lot of leg yield down the long side, 5 m off the track and back to the track and ride round the corners well at each end, i find loosens horses with short backs and gets them thinking forwards during warming up

 

[SEL]

Do you do baited stretches? All of mine are short coupled and when I do stretches regularly it makes a huge difference

 

[holeymoley]

Lots of stretching and bending while stretching to teach him he can move in neck other ways, not just forward. If his neck is stuck in the one place he probably doesn’t know or isn’t able to bend, you need to stretch it all out to make it more loose before trying to manoeuvre. Probably easiest done in hand to begin with. Also need to show him again by stretching, that his neck and shoulders are two different parts, I imagine from your description he moves the head neck and shoulders as a whole.

Once he’s learnt the gist of that and that he can move his neck without blocking then I would use transitions and shoulder in etc to get him more flexible under saddle but this will only work if he’s able to move everything independently.

 

[blitznbobs]

Lateral work all the way … think about riding everywhere in shoulder fore… not a huge angle just a teeny tiny bit… you can play with this on a hack… change the angle from one direction to the other lots of times … it will engage the hind quarters and make it easier to get bend all the time. Personalply I find a short horse easier to bend than a long one

 

[Cortez]

Do any of you have instructors? It's darn near impossible to do anything correctly if you're trying to teach something you don't know to something that doesn't know how to do it.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Shoulder in, shoulder in, shoulder in. And then some shoulder in.

And when he can do that, travers and renvers.

Was gonna say shoulder in as well

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I was always taught to start shoulder in from a 10 meter circle but get a good dressage instructor for some lessons, you need someone on the ground especially if you don't know how it should feel.

 

[oldie48]

Just thinking about your remark with regard to the contact, my current ride has a tendency to curl up behind the contact and being an older horse, can lack suppleness. I find spending the first part of the warm up encouraging him to take the contact out and down, really helps. I also ask for a good forward walk and trot and stick in plenty of changes of rein and then use smaller circles to bring him up and take more weight behind. Like a lot of horses he'll use a change in direction as an opportunity to drop behind the leg slightly so keeping the rhythm is really important. I also ride on an inner track so that I can flex him right or left and still maintain straightness without the fence helping me.

 

[Equi]

Thanks everyone I’ll work harder on these suggestions and hopefully by the next dressage have a bit more bendy

 

[rara007]

Watch some higher level tests- they’re not wrapping themselves round the inside leg like a snake, it’s true straightness (even on a bend) that’s key. You don’t get much shorter coupled than Iberian stallions. Plenty of lateral work but don’t get fixed on ‘bending’ too much, and mix in some counter flexion.

 

[Wizpop]

I would also consider starting the lateral work from the ground- that way he doesn’t have your weight to contend with and you can work slowly and watch what he’s doing. Would also recommend a good flatwork trainer as this should help loads. Maybe if you say whereabouts you are someone on here will recommend?
In the meantime, look on YouTube for in hand groundwork exercises which should give you some ideas- and keep up the carrot stretches! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Equi]

I do have a great instructor on site I’ve just been a bit lax in lessons lately as things have been crazy but I’ll have a lesson tomorrow and she can talk me though all these suggestions so I know what I’m doing

 

[GoldenWillow]

As another owner of a short coupled cob I'm going to add to general consensus of shoulder in/shoulder fore. And when you can move the front end around travers and renvers. Although we had it sort of installed I found inhand work helped both of us hugely. I also found a classical instructor who has changed and improved me so much and broke everything down into tiny bits which seems obvious but I'd never had before.

 

[GoldenWillow]

You mentioned that he's good at turn on the forehand, you can use a moving TOTF (giravolta) to set up for shoulder in. Do a 180 giravolta then as you will already have the correct bend step forwards into some steps of shoulder in.