Tips for rein back? & groundwork for dressage?

[Sol]

Started doing some work on Dante's rein back today, with the intention of actually doing something about it, rather than attempting and just giving up
At first he wasn't keen on the idea at all, and just resisted, but I kept going and trying not to hang onto his mouth at all and just pull him backwards, as this seemed to be what he was almost daring me to do. Got lots of bizarre wiggling side to side, then he decided to /run/ backwards (and not stop) which was a bit scary tbh, and we also had compete hissy fits where he just exploded upwards Whenever he got really tense, I'd let him just stand, give him a pat and ask again and send him forward as soon as we got 2-3 backwards steps as otherwise he does get tense and then starts to run...

In the end we got about 4 nice lots of straight, even-ish strides and then forward into walk or trot and I let him have a trot round and stretch
But, I did find he felt much more forward & free after doing the rein back, even if he did claim that it was VERY traumatic However, I wondered if there's anything else that I can do to help him realise that it's not all that bad?
Just to clarify, I don't over use my hands (just 'blocking' any forward movement) and keep my seat light, move my lower leg back slightly and I'm trying to do almost no more than 'think' back, or it does send him loopy...

Quick q. to finish - do you find that groundwork helps when schooling a horse for dressage? I've noticed Dan is rather ignorant on the ground at times, ie. not quick to move over if you want to move him in his stable or back him up etc. It seems to show in his flatwork too though! I'm not 100% if groundwork would help, how to go about it, or if I'm just going a bit crazy myself


Thanks again
Sol x.

 

[Rachel1]

If you have a horse that's a bit nervy or stressy in the rein back it can really help to have someone standing on the ground, and at the same time as you apply the aids they gently push the horse back from the shoulder and say 'back' at the same time, like you would if you were standing on the ground with a horse and asking him to move back in the stable for example. It helps give the horse the idea and means your aids can be a bit more subtle so you don't get into the scenario of having to use too much hand etc. Don't worry if they wobble a bit at first, when they get confident in what you mean and step back more freely they stay straighter anyway. Hope that helps x

 

[Sol]

Thanks The only problem would be finding someone who would be confident enough to stand on the ground and ask, he IS more than happy to go upwards rather than backwards if he feels like it :/
That and he has a tendancy to ignore people asking him to go back from the ground Something I've tried to work on but he does just ignore me, no matter what I do. I don't think he really sees the point in it

Will give it a go though! I don't want to over-do it, but want to repeat the rein back a few times per session at least for a few days, to see if he relaxes as he gets used to it, and then do somthing entirely different and forget about it until another day. Does that sound ok?

 

[trendybraincell]

Perhaps, as you suggest, more ground work yourself would makes thing easier for you. The Welsh Cob's first reaction to rein back was to go vertical. When I seriously started dressage, my then trainer, was excellent with his rein back. She would, as Rachel1 says, stand beside me and ask him as well as pushing or tapping his shoulder, he was very quick to pick it up using this method.

 

[Sol]

Thanks, I definitely DO think that we need to do some more groundwork, except it really isn't easy (I have tried) as I honestly can't make him take backing up seriously :/ He just sort of looks at me as if to say 'why? I could turn round and walk in that direction, so why go backwards?' I even tried tapping him on the chest with the end of a whip, instead of my hand (he's scared of them usually) - he ignored it. Completely.

In fact, I think he might just have a chest with no sense of feeling, as he's also content to run into the back of other horses come to think of it...
Do I just have a weird horse?!