Getting a horse in an outline...

[Talou]

What should I be doing as a rider to do this?

[galadriel]

Here's the text I've written out on this before:
---
When a horse is "on the bit," the bit is in fact the *last* element to
be concerned about :)

A horse "on the bit" is a horse who has shifted much of his weight to
the hind legs. As a result, he is working harder in his haunches and
through his back. His hind legs will have more movement to them; they
will be flexing more and moving further forward under the body.

His back rounds a bit as he uses it properly, and you can really feel
those hind legs; it's a beautiful feeling but hard to describe. Sort of
elastic.

Since he has taken more weight on his hind legs, he now has less weight
on his forelegs. His front end feels light. Again, beautiful feeling
:)

As a result of all of the above, the horse's neck will curve in harmony
with his back; typically his poll will be the highest point and his face
will come back to vertical. This is as a result of, not a way to
achieve, coming onto the bit.

Since he has taken more weight on his hind legs, he now has less weight
on his forelegs. His front end feels light. Again, beautiful feeling
:)

As a result of all of the above, the horse's neck will curve in harmony
with his back; typically his poll will be the highest point and his face
will come back to vertical. This is as a result of, not a way to
achieve, coming onto the bit.

Specific aids to bring a horse onto the bit will indeed vary from horse
to horse, depending on training, body type, etc. But the basics are the
same: you ask the horse for more energy, without letting him expend that
energy by moving faster. Use your legs, ask for energy, "listen" with
your body for more movement, use soft aids of seat and hand to keep the
horse from simply speeding up.

[Talou]

So I ask the horse for more energy without speeding up?? :confused: I'm sorry I'm kind of slow today...usually they just go faster.

[galadriel]

http://lorienstable.com/articles/riding/900-half-halt/
:)

[raggydoll]

My instructor gets me to "fiddle" with the inside rein a bit sometimes. I havent questioned yet (im one of these worried about looking stoopid :rolleyes: ) but how and why does this work? She does indeed drop her head and round her back although she is usually almost in an outline anyway at walk it just all goes to pot any faster.

[chev]

An instructor I had years ago once described it as trying to ask the horse to move upwards instead of forwards. It sounds odd; but just pushing a horse forwards will usually result in that horse dropping his weight onto the forehand and rushing. If you think of using your legs to push the horse forwards and upwards, and use your hands to lift and balance, it becomes a little easier to understand. Think of it a little like pushing the horse forward into your hand - we were always taught inside leg to outside hand, to maintain balance.

If you drive a manual car, it's a bit like trying to balance clutch and throttle; you use enough power to keep the engine revving, (that's your legs) and enough clutch to stop the thing just screeching off (that's your rein). Thinking of the rein as a clutch rather than a brake is easier - you're not exactly stopping the horse (pressing throttle and brake together in a car will make it stall. Same is true of a horse) but just controlling what happens with the energy you create with your legs.

[Arabesque]

My instructors always asking me to feel for uphill movement. I'm glad to read here I am asking right and getting the right result. Thanks guys! :)

[MadWoman]

The first thing you must do is get the horse perfectly straight, as no horse can lift its back (the first and most important element of being 'on the bit') when crooked. By straight, I don't mean going in a straight line, but having the quarters exactly following the shoulders, so you can therefore be 'straight' on a bend. True straightness can be hard to spot and hard to maintain, and it might help you to have someone on the ground standing behind you to tell you if the horse is straight. Don't forget that using the reins to straighten the horse will just move the head and neck - you will need to move the quarters or shoulders over wiht your legs.

Once you have straightness, keep a nice elastic contact and work the horse actively from behind, letting the back come up under your seat. Once the back is up the horse should start to stretch into the contact, keeping his body in the frame you have outlined between your hand and seat. Don't worry about where the head is, this is the least important part of being in an outline, and the nose just in front of the verticle witht he poll as the highest point will follow naturally from the back lifting. Best not to fiddle with the reins to get the horse to tuck its nose in, as this will simply generate a false outline that looks pretty but has the horse on the forehand and not working through the back properly.

Don't forget that working in an outline is very hard work, if more comfortable, for the horse, and so you should only do a few steps at first and build it up very slowly as the horse's muscles develop.

Hope that helps.

[cvb]

What should I be doing as a rider to do this?

the smart@rse answer is this: the horse is ALWAYS in an outline of some form, its just a question of WHAT outline it is in... concave, convex, tense, soft etc etc ;)

as a rider you want to be as easy as possible for the horse to carry. Now that does make it sound like you are just a passenger, but its not that simple (when is it !).

Your weight on the horse affects their balance, so you often need to help a little with that

And you are the one giving the directions, so you have to prepare the horse for any change in speed, direction, gait etc that you want.

In most cases when we talk about "outline" we are looking for a rounded topline. This is because the muscles used in that outline help the horse move freely and carry the weight of the rider more effectively.

So what you need to do as a rider is make it more likely than not for the horse to work this way ;)

You already have some other answers on the "how to" so I'm going to stop having looked at some of the "why" ;)

My instructor gets me to "fiddle" with the inside rein a bit sometimes. I havent questioned yet (im one of these worried about looking stoopid ) but how and why does this work?

All the "fiddle" does is ask the horse to soften their jaw, and hopefully their poll as well. Often when they soften at jaw and poll, it helps them soften elsewhere and hence is one element of the overall "outline". But its not guaranteed ;) As Galadriel says "the bit is in fact the *last* element to
be concerned about "

[herbyhorse]

chev - love that clutch control:) wonder if my students will get that analogy?

splendid! ha ha!

[laura jeanne]

Must think about the clutch idea some. I have been driving one for 38 years so I should be able to picture this.

[ANN H]

Ditty Raggydoll above. My instructor tells me to half half with the outside rein, 'fiddle' with the inside rein, whilst getting impulsion from the back legs! It really does work.

[herbyhorse]

Am slightly concerned by the vagueness of "fiddle".

I hope I covay what a half holt less ambiguously than to "fiddle" when riding/teaching!

HH

[cvb]

Ditty Raggydoll above. My instructor tells me to half half with the outside rein, 'fiddle' with the inside rein, whilst getting impulsion from the back legs! It really does work.

Ann H - I know you don't need to know the "why" of everything - but has your instructor explained what you are doing by using above cues ? Its useful to understand for when you meet a horse that doesn't respond to it (and believe me, sooner or later you will !).

[Scarlett 001]

During the first lesson, Skeeter started to accept contact, relax his body and move in a nice outline when we worked on 20 meter circles. I found that once I had him going nicely in the circle, it was easier to then maintain this outline along a straight line down the long side of the arena.

Not exactly sure why he was easier to get in a nice outline in the circle.

[cvb]

Scarlett

I think this is partly because you are already asking for them to soften around the corner, so that softness gets carried over into the outline ;)

To flex their body around a corner they have to shorten the muscles on the inside but relax and lengthen them on the outside. I suspect this "release" is part of the story :)

[Scarlett 001]

Hey thanks for your description of what might be going. I was kind of curious why this worked so well! :)

[Little Dolphins]

Am slightly concerned by the vagueness of "fiddle".

I hope I covay what a half holt less ambiguously than to "fiddle" when riding/teaching!

HH

So, what is "fiddling" with the rein? Is it describable?
Very curious!

[ANN H]

Whilst half-halting with the outside rein, I was told to give a few 'tweeks' (I don't think there's a technical term for this!!) down the inside rein every now and then as if gently playing with the contact on the bit. My horse lowers her head and softens almost immediately I do this.

[cvb]

So, what is "fiddling" with the rein? Is it describable?
Very curious!

Little Dolphin

IMHO - the rein is one way we have communication with our horse. Now, often when I drive in the car I have the radio on. Mostly its just noise in the background and I'm not really listening to it. My radio has that traffic alert thing set up, so every so often another channel breaks through and gives me information I may need to be aware of, so I listen.

But the background "nosie" doesn't really get my attention.

This is one of the risks of "fiddling" (depending on how you define it) - that the horse has to try and work out what "fiddles" mean something and which don't :(

If we replace the word "fiddle" with "ask" we get

My instructor tells me to half half with the outside rein, 'ask' with the inside rein, whilst getting impulsion from the back legs

Now we have something different. I am going to make a clear request to the horse (to soften the jaw and poll), I am going to give them time to respond (and in that time I am NOT asking) and then I am either going to reward/release if they give the right answer, or I am going to ask again if they didn't. Then it becomes a clear "call and response" ....

Ann's "tweaks" are then the "how" she asks. One way this often gets described is to "sponge" the rein - i.e. you close your hand just a little as if squeezing a sponge. This may seem like a tiny thing, but try it with a friend (person) being the horse and holding the bit, and see how much the bit moves :eek: (take it turns so you see both "sides" of the story ;) ).

The trouble with describing the "ask" is that you are trying to describe a FEEL, which is always difficult to do in written words :cool:

[ANN H]

'Sponging' was exactly the term I was looking for. Also, the reward/release technique works!