Tense horse

[Yorkshire_Lass]

My mare hasn't had a lot of flat work schooling, as she has been mainly been jumped at her previous home, so i am now trying to get her to start doing some half decent flat work. She is very responsive to transition aids but i'm finding it very hard to get her to start bending around my leg more and to get her to start working into the contact, as she feels to get very tense through her jaw and back whenever i try to take up a contact. I'm not trying to force her into an outline or anything, and i'm never harsh with her but she gets really stiff and uptight whenever i have anything more than a light contact, but i have never have such a problem with this when jumping her as she always seems much more relaxed, but i guess maybe it's becuase it is more what she has been use to? Does anyone have any ideas how i can her to relax more or excersises i can use which will not make her tense up? Any ideas will be gratefully recieved!

[doris]

Have you had her back, neck etc. checked? Could it be a problem with her mouth, or bit? Could you try a bitless, or sidepull in the safety of the menage?

Given that it's none of these things, you could try a bit of gentle massage along the neck and back before you ride.

You could also try some gentle pole work at the walk. Lines of poles, fans of poles, squares of poles. This might help her to relax.

[Yorkshire_Lass]

hi Doris..yes we've had her back tack teeth and everything else quite recently as she headshakes and we wanted to make sure there wasn't something like this that was causing it. We've tried many differant bits and the one she has now is what she has been best in..she wears a loose ring JP french link snaffle. I've also tried bitless recenly as my college instructer suggested it, but we had problems fitting her nosenet(for headshaking)on to it and didn't really seem to make a lot of diferance in her way of going and she was very strong jumping and out hacking.
I will try your suggestions of the massage and the poles and see if they help. Thankyou very much for these ideas!

[galadriel]

2 thoughts:
1) Ground driving

2) is a little more extended. You probably already know this, but you didn't get into details, so sorry if I'm repeating things you already know: If you pull your leg off when a horse gets tense, horse is likely to become more tense. Not being able to leave the leg on seems like a pretty common problem, and also a pretty common reason for anxiousness and tension in a horse.

[Yorkshire_Lass]

Someone at my yard has also made me aware of this propblem, and i think maybe it is something i do when she gets tense, but without realising...i'm going to get someone to start watching me when i'm schooling to make sure i don't take my legs off when she starts to get anxious. Thanks galadriel.