Bonfire's improving (photos from the weekend)

[Tootsie4U]

Bon's doing well, but I still struggle with my leg position. :(

It was a beautiful weekend and I was just dying to share these :D (evidence of CANTER below!!!)

[Tootsie4U]

His ears always look like that :rolleyes: I guess he'll grow out of it. :D

[Tootsie4U]

This is our biggest problem; He's not relaxed in the bridle. Lots of Lyons and Parelli to try to remedy this.....

[Tootsie4U]

Again, a nice forward trot but he's not at all relaxed. This was snapped just prior to the canter aid and thats why Im leaning a bit.

[Tootsie4U]

And lastly, evidence to show that we can CANTER! woo hoo

[Tootsie4U]

btw, the reins are loose and my arms wide on purpose! :D

[Ryoko]

awww welldone in your canter! what a good horsey! bonfire looks like he is doing well :D i'm starting to get problems with my feet as i go into canter too i think i push them foreward, i'm not sure though i'll have to ask my instructor what it is exactly and what i can do about it :rolleyes: bonfire is looking lovely brenin uts his ears back too when i ride him, i imagine its just his show of an "i dont like this" mood. hehe he aswell should grow out of this hopefully :D

[Showjumper]

Wow well done! And don't worry about the ears - it looks like he's listening to you :D As for the hands high and wide, I do the same with Dolly too - it makes it easier to guide her as she's still a baba :D

[Gemma16]

Ooooooohhhhh Gorgeous Bon.

His trot is so lovely and loose. You have both come so far. The only way is up now.:D

Well done

[Jay.o]

Oh, he's looking lovely!
Your school looks fantastic too, its really big which is great too :) Glad you and Bon are getting going now, you two have come on leaps and bouncds - well done! :D

[katieB]

Great photos, I love that saddlecloth too!

[kedwards]

You two look great!

[galadriel]

He does look like he's very focused on you :)

You're finding it easier to relax on him, hmm? That first pic looks very happy.

Is it just the color of his mouth, or is he clamping his lips (and maybe jaw) over the bit?

[Tootsie4U]

:) His ears and expression are more of "focus" than a sign of disapprovement. I think he's pretty content with his work and he gets quite excitable at canter! He loves it- might have a bit of TB in him :D

Gal, Yes, I agree. He is so tense in the mouth. Im not sure why; I have relatively steady hands and he has just switched from a french link to a single joint snaffle. Anything that you know of that might be affecting that?

[cvb]

Do you do lateral flexion work at all ? counter flexion on circles and stuff like that ?

The loose ring should stop him fixing the bit too much - why did you swap from french link ? A single joint will have a slightly stronger "nutcracker" than french link.

Do you feel at all thats he's starting to seel more of a contact from you, or does a more positive contact just get more tension and/or resistance ?

There's seems to come a difficult point when on one hand you want a longer lower outline to help the horse stretch and work through, and not restrict their movement, but on the other hand they start to seek a more positive feel (and leadership ;) ) from their jockey. Its a fine line to walk.

I tend to ride relatively long, because of Fi's western training. Went to a riding club lesson and got told to take more of a contact (after relatively little warm up), and half way through the lesson the instructor comments "your horse does have a lot of tension doesn't she" and also at another point advised me to stay rising/posting because my horse was not totally "through" in her back ! To add insult to injury, Fi had already dumped me once just previously to the lesson, there was a young horse in the lesson that was a bit nervey, and instructor suggests I should "ride through" some of Fi's bucking attempts/tension. Yeah - then not only do I end up on the floor but so does the rider of the youngster, who is my farrier's wife ! I haven't been back as although there were only 3 of us in the lesson, the whole lesson seemed focused on the needs of one horse/rider. :mad:

Anyway - to truncate the rant and come back to the point. The tension Bon has through head and neck is going to reduce the freedom in his shoulder movement. Lateral flexion might help encourage him to loosen up - you can start at halt and then just gradually build up - no need for speed in this exercise.

He's looking great tho !:D

[Tootsie4U]

Originally posted by cvb
Do you do lateral flexion work at all ? counter flexion on circles and stuff like that ?

We dont even do normal circles very well yet! :D

Originally posted by cvb
why did you swap from french link ?

I have two bits. He was started in the one in these photos and then I switched to the french link to help him turn. The leaning problem was getting so severe and all the training techniques were having such little effect that I switched back to the loose ring so he can't grab hold as well. I've been riding with loose reins to dull the nutcracker action a bit.

Originally posted by cvb
Do you feel at all thats he's starting to seel more of a contact from you, or does a more positive contact just get more tension and/or resistance ?

Thats a tough one. But I'd have to say that the more contact I keep, the more he leans.

Originally posted by cvb
There's seems to come a difficult point when on one hand you want a longer lower outline to help the horse stretch and work through, and not restrict their movement, but on the other hand they start to seek a more positive feel (and leadership ;) ) from their jockey.

To be honest, the only thing I care about is getting him relaxed. The other stuff will follow after that.

Originally posted by cvb
Lateral flexion might help encourage him to loosen up - you can start at halt and then just gradually build up - no need for speed in this exercise.

Have started incorporating this into our schooling. From a halt, I ask him to step sideways and back. (John Lyons clockwork exercise). From the ground we can do sidepass. I can get some leg yielding under saddle. Any other *simple* (we're still new to all this :D) exercises you can think of?

Thanks cvb, your help is always greatly appreciated.

[cvb]

The flexion stuff I was talking about is about asking for the horse to yield head and neck to either side. Perversely it does actually help work on "straightness" by asking them to learn to balance "unstraight" - so should help with corners etc.

I was actually reminded of this by an article in the US magazine "Horse and Rider" - though its probably a few months back now as I picked it up in Sweden in Feb, and it always takes a while for them to get over from US anyway !

But - basically the exercise is to ask with a direct rein (and other rein "allowing") for the head and neck to yield around to each side in turn. Ears should stay level. Ask for what they find easy - and then just a fraction more to get the "stretch", making sure ears stay level. Being aware of difference between each side.

Then build up to being able to do this at walk. I also do counter-flexion figure 8's. So you ride on a circle with "correct" flexion - for Bon this might be quite big ie 20mins, but you can make it much smaller as well. As you go through the middle of the figure eight, move onto the other circle but maintain the original flexion ie you are on a circle but with counter flexion. Depending on how he copes, either ride a full or part circle and then swap back to "correct" flexion for that circle. If you do a full circle, ride another circle on correct flexion, and then repeat ie move back onto your original circle but don't change the flexion as you change the rein. Ride circle in counter-flexion, then onto correct flexion, and so on. The counter flexion does not have to be much - just a slight bend.

[Dizzy]

So glad to hear things are going well, with you and Bon.

As already said he does look tense in his mouth. The bit does look to sit high in his mouth, the riens almost seem to be attached to the noseband. You could try dropping one hole on one side, and sliding the head piece round slightly to even the difference out, if droping a whole on each side is too much.

Another relevant point that will make him tense is that, you appear 'sit' on him. The best way to encourage youngsters forward is to stand astride them, and gradually introduce your balanced weight into the equation.

You combine this, with using your legs to encourage forward motion, your weight aids requesting direction,and your contact on the riens to retard and request (combined with your seat and legs)shape. This gives your horse boundaries to work in. If you have no boundaries, there are no lessons to be learnt, and its unfair on the horse to expect them to comply.

Until you ride forward 'into a contact' Bon will not understand lateral aids, he needs to understand your lower legs, thighs and rien contact.

After saying all that, I must add, that I think you are coming on brilliantly, you obviously have a great relationship with Bon and a lovely open mind.

Hope my comments help a little.