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???

[Luv 2 Trot]

You have to kind of do a combo of both. You need to have the contact with the mouth, but drive the horse forward with your legs and seat so she comes up to the bridle. Its really hard. I have to do it on my 16.3hh Appendix Quarter horse who has been shown in English Pleasure. But what my trainer has told me is in order to get the horse to "round-over" or go into frame, whichever, you have to push the horse to your contact. So, if you ride with the short, collected rein, you have to push the horse with you legs to get her forward and she will come onto the bit. She probably wont dot it right at first, but with a lot of practice, she will get there. I hope i helped, im pretty novice in dressage too, but this is just what i have been doing to try to get my horse into "frame" or "outline" as you call it. Best of luck and hope this helped!!

[lynz+ollie]

find what works for that horse, every horse is different try lots of thing and if it work keep going with it! i found it really hard with my last horse to get and keep a good outline, (even though i can do it on most horses) becuase everything anybody suggested didn't work, but i kept working at it and found a way that suited us both and he worked well!