Suppling exercises....

kerrie_jay

kerrie_jay

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Hey, I have an ex racer who is just learning to soften and come into an outline however he is much better on the right rein than he is on the left where he is really quite stiff. It's much harder to get him to bend on the left rein whereas he seems to do it naturally on the right. When he does bend he does soften and come into an outline on the left rein but it takes a lot longer than on the right. Has anyone got any suppling exercises I can do - I say now that I've never really done dressage before so don't know how to execute all the shoulder-in stuff
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so explanations of how to do them might be useful too! Thanks in advance.
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Kerrie
xxx
 
Someone once TRIED to show me how to get them to flex their neck to the inside while keeping straight on a circle and said it was good for suppling lol goodness knows what it is called or if its right but she seemed to think it would work!!
 
suppling a horse is pretty much about slowly but surely moving around the stiff part, a little bit more each time.
so....you need to be actively asking him to bend to the stiff side, just as much as he can manage at first, and rewading him by letting him stretch down forward and straight, and over a matter of weeks building up how much flexion you ask for.

turn on the forehand and leg yield will give him the idea of stepping from inside leg to outside hand with gentle inside flexion but really the only way to get it, is to use it!!!!
make sur ethat as you flex him to the inside with your hand, that your inside leg asks the inside hind to step under him, so he's flexing his ribs and staying active behind, too.

vary it-ask for true (inside) flexion then counter (outside) flexion on a circle, but make sure the shoulders dont move (harder than it sounds) and make sure you are offering the inside hand and allowing him the opportunity to carry himself in the bend once you have asked for and established it.
 
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nah, once you know the feeling your after its not as complicated as its sounds!promise!

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Tis true. Just take a small step at once (literally) and build on it. Lots of serpentines, loops, figure of eights with correct bend will help too
 
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