Outline/ ''On The Bit'' ????????????

[CharlieBrown]

I have just started schooling and working a friends very green 9-year-old Anglo-Arab. Previously she was hacked out once a week for the previous 6 weeks and before that, she has done barely any hacking or other forms of work AT ALL!!! I have done a few dressage tests and basically can do schooling as i have done with my other horse before he got laminitis but i am still very novice myself. Now i have been schooling her, i dont know whether or not i should be asking her to pick up a contact and work in an outline, or let her seek it. I have been told by other instructors when i have had lessons on my other horse to ask the horse to work in an outline using a combination of my hands and legs, but now, another friend, who is doing well in dressage and has been riding for many years tells me to push the horse and keeping her forward going with impulsion and let her seek the contact and then take up the contact to work her in an outline. What should i be doing? Should i ask the mare for the contact to work in an outline or should i let her seek the contact and take it up when she looks for it? Can anybody shed some light on my confusion???

[cvb]

and how are you going to spot her seeking it so you can then take it up ?

You are the one who knows what the aim is (actually I suspect this is part of the problem, as you're possibly not clear enough on the aim ??), so YOU need to direct and lead her.

BTW that does not mean grab her up, loads of leg loads of hand, and compress it into a tight tense ball of frustrated energy :eek:

I have to run for a train but hopefully one of our sensible "gurus" will post and help you out in the meantime ;)

[Tootsie4U]

That would depend on the horse and where she is in her training.

If you push at a horse all the while trying to hold it in BEFORE its ready (ie. balanced, soft, accepting, *fit*) you can very well end up with a very confused and sour horse.

If the horse and rider as a pair have already been working at establishing a good way of going (balanced, not interfereing, soft, elastic, etc.) then more times than not, the horse is already seeking out and accepting that contact.

Then all thats left is putting the pieces together. Easier said than done though because if the contact isnt right, you can very easily foul up one of the other constituents (balance, softness, impulsion) and you're back at square one. As long as you can keep it all going, then the contact is added to '*contain* the energy and direct the gaits.

So, you being a novice and the horse just coming back into work, I'd focus on getting both of you soft, balanced and rythmic in all gaits. Afterall, thats what the judges really are looking for in lower level dressage, not whether your horse in necessarily on the bit or not.

[cvb]

I have been told by other instructors when i have had lessons on my other horse to ask the horse to work in an outline using a combination of my hands and legs

to push the horse and keeping her forward going with impulsion and let her seek the contact and then take up the contact to work her in an outline.

Ok - I made my train, and now I'm back at my desk with a fresh head ;)

I'm not sure that these two are actually contradictory. First one sets the basic principle "ask the horse to work in an outline using a combination of hands and leg". No problem with that is there ! Now "push the horse and keep her going forward" - if I interpret that as having impulsion, we also have no problem with that.

"let her seek the contact" - ok, this IS a little vague. But I think it is about being sympathetic to the horse's stage of education and fitness and not trying to "fit" her into a short frame straight away. As Tootsie said, you need the basics in place first - and then ask for a little more, and a little more, as the horse is capable of offering more (learns to balance, is in self-carriage etc).

What should i be doing? Should i ask the mare for the contact to work in an outline or should i let her seek the contact and take it up when she looks for it? Can anybody shed some light on my confusion???

As per Tootsie, I think you need the basic softness, suppleness etc there before the horse has a chance of offering anything more. The thing is that letting the horse slop around with no impulsion, back hollowed, neck, poll and jaw braced - is not going to get you anywhere ! :eek: But working in a good novice outline, soft and accepting, working through the back and hind quarters - that will lead to many good things :D

So being sympathetic is not about letting the horse get away with murder. It is about guiding the horse - shaping it if you like - to get closer to where you want be :)