Brakes and Youngster

[Lucy J]

Although pregnant I rode Ciara at the weekend, first time I've ridden in 10 weeks, although my friend has been riding her. She was very good and was lowering her head and working well, however she was much keener than usual, wanting to speed up in trot and break into canter. I know to an extent this is due to all the good feed and stabling, however she is not fat or overfed.

she used to be quite lazy, but the new school is bigger and wider with a better surface and she is obviously much happier in it.

question is, without resorting to a stronger bit or pulling on her mouth, how can I teach her to respect my commands to slow down? don't get me wrong, she doesn't run away, but takes a while to slow down and I need her response to be sharper. we do lots of transitions, and I use voice commands, but i feel I am resorting to having to pull to slow her down, and I don't want to get into this habit as she is better in her mouth now than she has ever been.

she is in a full cheek loose ring fulmer snaffle. and has been backed for about 12 months now.

any advice appreciated.

[Danae]

My suggestion would be a.) work heavy on transitions b.) get some ground poles c.) get the Mary Twelveponies book There Are No Problem Horses - Only Problem Riders and learn about doubling.

a.) when working on transitions, do alot of trot - halt - back, that way she will have to concentrate on working.

b.) ground poles are going to help shorten and lengthen her strides. She's going to have to keep a steady gait in order to get over those ground poles.

c.) Mary Twelveponies teaches about doubling. Although the book is very good, the doubling teaches a horse emergency brakes without craning his neck around into a circle.

I seriously wouldn't recommend going to a stronger bit, try a few training things first and then consider it. Thanks and good luck (congrats too!) :D

[Rakeli]

Agree with what Danae says but you can also use the bit without pulling back. If you hold the reins mainly on your thumb and first finger, squeezing the others ( the EE way ) then when you want to stop use your seat. If she dosn't listen, then close your fingers, this shortens the reins but dosn't pull on their mouths.
If you do use a stronger bit, depending on what it is, than it can be kinder to the horse (CAN BE!!) as if you have to pull hard in a weaker bit and only close your'e fingers to stop when using a stronger one, it can be gentler on your horses mouth. A friend of mine uses a stronger bit for a week or so if he gets 'bolty' then returns to her french link. This works for her.
Keep doing the transitions too, but it will probably take time, espiecially if she is young and/or not been ridden for a while. Also, you say that she used to be lazy. If she used to stop anyway, she might not understand wht you are asking her to do when you ask her to stop!