Teaching Long & Low when being ridden

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Event_girl

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As title says really - how do you teach a horse to stretch down and work long and low while being ridden?

She does it when I lunge her but I can't get her to do it when I ride?

We are going to have some lessons soon but advice would be great too! Thanks!
 
Obviously have her on a long rein (although still keep a contact, no loose washing lines) encourage her forward into the rein with your seat/legs and then lightly stroke one side of her neck. She should respond by stretching down. Lots of praise and make sure you 'go with her' if you like (move hands slightly forward) the first few times if she's a baby. She'll get the hang of it!
 
A lot of it is about balance and confidence.

Be careful not to throw away the contact, gradually let it out.

Be careful not to tip forwards yourself

Be careful not to rush the horse, in fact slowing down the gait usually helps. In the short term be willing to sacrifice the forwards-ness and allow the horse to find their balance in the long and low. Then gradually build the activity and forwards ness.
 
Once she is comfortably going down and forward into the rein you can use gentle squeezes down the reins to ask for a bit of roundness. Once she is doing this, I would keep her going forward and GRADUALLY, bit-by-bit take up the rein until you're at normal rein length, all the time pushing her forwards into the contact and asking her to stay round by making gentle squeezes down the reins.
 
ihatework said:
A lot of it is about balance and confidence.

Be careful not to throw away the contact, gradually let it out.

Be careful not to tip forwards yourself

Be careful not to rush the horse, in fact slowing down the gait usually helps. In the short term be willing to sacrifice the forwards-ness and allow the horse to find their balance in the long and low. Then gradually build the activity and forwards ness.
Click to expand...

^^^^ This.
 
It can be easier to teach at the end of a ride when she's tired. Or when going up a steep hill. Eventually you'll be able to ask for it at the beginning as part of the warm up. When you want to pick her back up again, just remember the "golden rule" of legs before hands, so she doesn't grind to a halt or lean on the bit. As others have said let reins out, and pick up again, gradually.
 
I teach long and low at the end of a ride, if they've worked quite hard their usually more willing to stretch. If I want long and low I widen my hands, move them more towards horses neck and gradually lengthen the rein.
 
Depends on why it isn't doing it in the first place really. The key is having them forwards enough to want to stretch down themselves, so would generally work on it on hacks so they are more likely to be forwards. How I do it very much depends on why it doesn't already know how to under saddle. A recently correctly backed youngster just needs to be in a nice forwards rhythm on a rein long enough & generally they get the hang quickly. Something that's used to having its head pinned in, I will ride on the buckle if needs be till it realises I don't want to play tug of war with its mouth, then its just a case of keeping it forwards & having a contact that allows it to stretch. Really the key is being forwards enough to want to stretch itself.
I only start raising the head when its consistently long & low in all paces, which requires time for them to build the correct muscle. Then, I will introduce it for just a few minutes at a time, slowly building up to long & low being the warm up only. Then do the same again raising the same slightly more, just a few m
 
Stupid phone!
Just a few minutes at a time again until after long & low to warm up the horse can carry itself like that consistently. And then so on till arriving at an upright competition position, which can take years rather than months to build the correct position for.
 
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