Help! to get my horse to engage

[ktygirl]

Help! can anyone give me some advice, as to how to get my horse to engage?. I have a 6yo mare who jump for fun and loves it, however its all from the front end. so if anyone has any ideas?:confused:

[nutkin]

basically your horse is on the forehand.When jumping you need your horse to power from behind as being on the forehand will limit his ability to clear a jump properly. The key to getting the jumping right is by getting your flatwork right first. How is your horse normally on the flat? Does he offer any engagement at all on the flat,if not you can not expect him to do it over a jump. If he does offer it on the flat is it a case of him rushing into the jumps causing him to run onto his forehand?

[ktygirl]

the problem is her flat work, this is when she won't engage. she can jump 4ft from a trot with ease, and she never rushes. Is there any flatwork exercises i can do to encourage her?

[nutkin]

Basically I would work on lots of transitions,changes of rein,half halts to rebalance her everytime she gets faster or go down a pace if she falls onto her forehand.Work on the basics first before progressing to jumping her again.You need to make sure she is listening to you and doing as you ask. Leg yielding will encourage her to bring her hocks underneath her as will changing the pace within the pace IE working trot to collected trot and back to working trot.I think it will pay you to get an instructor to come out and watch you ride her and come up with some suggestions as to how you can improve.If you are slightly unbalanced(not suggesting you are)you will not help your horse and she will find it difficult to use herself properly.

[ktygirl]

Thanks I will give it a go.

[BNaturally]

Hi KTYgirl:
You must condition your horse mentally,physically to this kind of work.
Collection,engagement is hard work on their bodies.
The mental part is to teach and allow him to learn, understand his work.

Let's not think about jumping for now, your horse needs conditioning and getting use to the task it must do.

You must help your horse to shift it weight to the rear and hold that correct position, frame.
He will in time discover he can do this and will gain confidence in himself.
It is your leadership that will direct,help that is fair, patient, clear, consistant.

Hacking out:
Use small hills at the trot, changing his pace, but still maintainning the trot.
Ask your horse to trot, then speed up, now slow down, and speed up again, slow down.


In the arena:
You need some contact on the bit and his pole should be abit lower than his withers,when moving and stopping,standing.
You need to sit deep,with your weigh places back into your saddle and on his hind end.Ask him to walk out a few feet and then stop and back up.
Do this back and forth, back and forth.
Remember this is hard work on his body and you should break this work into smaller sessions and don't drill,drill and drill.
Give him somethings else he already knows, and mix it up with engagement work.
You don't want him to become sore, bored or recentful.
Massage his muscle before and after his workout sessions.
Be patient, fair, clear,consistant with all teaching,requests and leadership.
I hope this helps

[ktygirl]

Hi, BNaturally
Thank you for your suggestions:) , I think doing some hill work might help! I stable my horse at a place where it is very flat, so I think I will try to travel her for better hacks.
Her ground work is not to bad, as in walk and trot she is very responsive to collect and extend, she leg yeilds and walks back really well, but the minute you ask for canter she goes onto the forehand:( .
And yes she does get very bored,very quickly with ground work.
So thanks again.

[joey_olop]

If she gets bored of flatwork(like mine!!) try doing trotting poles with her also lots of trot to canter and canter to trot transitions worked wonders with mine!!

[GemmaA]

From a classical dressage point of view, the poll should actually always be the highest point of the horse.
Engagement takes a long time to develop in a horse, and as a six year old you would not expect a very high level of it.
Engagement is the ability of the horse to carry it's weight on it's hindquarters. As a young horse you should be concentrating on forward, rhythmical paces going into an elastic contact. Use shapes such as serpentines to build the suppleness of your horse, and lots of transitions both within the paces and also between the paces - this will encourage your horse to take more weight behind.
As the horse works in a way where it is connected from its hind legs to its poll, it will gradually increase the ability to carry the weight from behind and engage more. Bear in mind this is a long process and will certainly not happen overnight.

[ktygirl]

Hi, joey_olop
Yes she loves work with poles, so I'll try them more often to try and keep her awake:D

[ajhainey]

Also have someone check you aren't coming forward yourself (my own worst failing) - it's amazing the difference sorting out your own position can have. aj xx

[ktygirl]

Hello GemmaA
Thank you! you are the first person to say, "she is young and to give her time", everyone at my yard keep telling me she should be doing this, and she should be doing that, she is a very very dominant mare, and i have to keep asking nicely or we have a major battle.She is a very clever mare and at the last show i went to, was told what lovely movement (need to work on engagement).
It's very nice to know that me taking my time with her is not wrong, as i keep being told. :D

[ktygirl]

Hi ajhainey,
Thanks I have asked as I was worried it was me, but was told it's not my seat it's the horse,as they belived she is just lazy! but I can tell you she isn't.:)

[herbyhorse]

rein back to trot and canter. ask for lift and then engage. also think about what your position might be doign to get her on forehand or help her to get off it?

[ktygirl]

I bought a pessoa! and i have been using it twice a week for the last few weeks, and 'YES':D it's working.