Help!

[NZhorserider]

Harriet's leg is finally better, so I jumped at the chance to ride her instead of grumpy Razzie - who has actually hurt herself now! I swear that all the horses are hurting themselves!

Harriet is a 4 year old 15hh hanoverian x tb mare. She is usually really nice to ride, but she was horrible yesterday.

*She won't go into corners off the dressage arena. I tried just trotting down the long side, walking the corners and gradually getting her to trot into the corners, but that wouldn't work.

*She drags like a Great Dane! I ask her to bend left, she drags me off to the left with her head turned and basically trotting sideways! We were doing a little bit of jumping (not very high because she's young), but she wouldn't line up straight. It's kinda hard to jump a horse when she's trotting on an angle!

I was getting really frustrated. Why can't this horse move straight???????

When she drags off, I use a strong outside leg, but it's not working! How strong should it have to be? I am using quite a lot of force, but it doesn't even make a difference.

Then she doesn't use her back end when she trots, she drags it along. She also leans on my hands.

*sigh*

Grace

[flapjacks]

My advice is partly from experience and partly from what i have been told or read!
But here it is: if you are on the left rein going around a corner and her head is bent a little to the left, give a little with the right rein so her head can turn and then close your hand around the rein and keep it firm so that she can not turn from the neck, but just from the head. You are not pulling back, but just staying frimly in place. I also think the right rein should be touching the neck.
Most important is that if she cuts the corner, immediately circle her back and do it again. Do it as many times as it takes, but if you let her get away with it even once, she will keep doing the same thing. I've been told so many times that everything we do with the horse is training, so if you let her get away with cutting the corner, you are basically training her to do that.

Also was told at a riding clinic that to get the horse to move to the outside of the ring, put your weight on the outside seat bone and squeeze with your inside calf. This is because the horse will try to move under your weight to get balanced (so would move to the outside) and the squeezing of the inside calf is because the horse should move away from pressure. So this, combined with above about reins, is what i have been taught.

It seems to work if i can get it all together. I'm pretty sure that the stuff about the reins came from the Sally Swift book. I hope this helps!

[Tootsie4U]

if she's had a bit of time off, she'll need a few days/weeks to get back into the routine. Dont' worry just yet :) I love hanoverians

[Kerry's Partner]

Is she really only four years old?

If so then I think she's doing VERY well indeed. I know that in different parts of the world and in different breeds we train them earlier etc. BUT, if she's being used to help us humans to learn to ride, bless her, I just wonder how much training she's had herself if she's only four.

To me it sounds like both of you are doing your very best already, I'm not sure how much more you could expect of her really.