Leaning and hanging on my hands

[HorseManiac]

Echoe is ridden in a pehlam with a curb chain, we need him to be in the pehlam for showing etc but he just leans on it when you trotting, cantering.In the snaffle he has no brakes.
What could I do to get him out of it before it come worse?:confused:
Thanks in advance
Anneli x:D :D
x

[iloveshearer]

Lots of leg, get him moving forwards off your leg -so he is light in your hands. Also lots of transitions so he doesn't have chance to. Everytime you feel him starting to hang on your hands ride him forwards with your leg! Keep him doing lots of different movements, circles, bending in different directions etc. so he always has something to think about and is always listening to you :)

[NoviceNic]

I have been advised to give away the contact with my inside rein. Keep outside rein contact on. This will then confuse him as he has nothing to lean on. If he rushes his gaits turn him in a circle..

[cvb]

first off, if you have not already done so check (a) his teeth and (b) the fitting

then, if all is ok there... are you riding with two reins or one (with rounding) ?

You may feel *he* is leaning on *you*, but as previous posters have suggested, he can only do that if you give him something to lean on ! Lightness begets lightness, and half-halting allows you to offer lightness to him.

The half-halt is also a request for him to rebalance.

You say "In the snaffle he has no brakes"... which kind of implies that the pelham does give you some stopping power... which may imply you are using the pelham for power, not refinement ? The curb rein is to ask for softness and acceptance, not to act as your brake handle ;) If you have a forward going horse this discipline of *not* using the rein(s) as a brake can be very hard, but you do need to keep saying "I want you to slow down" <give him a chance to slow down> "I want you to slow down" <give him a chance to slow down> and repeat, repeat, repeat. As soon as he slows, you stop asking and keep the lightness (that you will have between asks anyway) as the signal that he got it right. As soon as he even *thinks* about going faster again, you ask again "I want you to stay slow" <give him time to slow>

boring, repetitive, but the best way to get the message through ;)

(and best done in a safe environment like a school the first few times at least !)

[HorseManiac]

wow thanks cvb! im riding with 2 reins! thanks for all of your advice and im going to put it into practice.
how do I *lighten* my hands ?
thanks so much!!:D

[cvb]

Imagine you had a dial which measure from 0 to 10 on each hand. When you are riding and Echo is leaning, how far up would the dial go if it was measuring the lean and the weight he was putting on the rein ?

Now what you need to do is to make the dial go down ;) BUT you are not allowed to do it by putting your hands forward :cool:

Try this with a friend as some extra practice. Get a pair of reins and stand opposite each other, both if you holding the reins as if you are riding. (It also helps if you slightly soften/bend your knees but you don't have to be in riding position !)

Now - take up the same amount of pressure as you get when Echoe leans on you - but both of you must stay where you are. You will find that to maintain that position, your "Pair" has to match the same weight you have put into the rein - otherwise one or other of you will move !

Now, reduce the pressure in the rein by a little but - without warning your pair - see what happens. I will lay a bet the "Pair" will match you ;)

Keep going and see how light you can get it !

Its the same on the horse but as you have forward motion involved, you need those half-halts to help you lighten without the horse falling flat on his face :eek:

[HorseManiac]

thanks cvb!! so much help!!:eek: :D :D

[sheryl]

Did I read somewhere that a french link makes it difficult for a horse to lean?

[cvb]

any bit that can be moved about so the horse can't fix the contact, will help with preventing a horse from leaning.

But you might then take that to its logical conclusion and use something like a waterford, but there are other aspects of its action that you might not want ?

horsemaniac

I meant to say something about the pelham... great that you are using two reins. Check that you are not just taking up that strong contact with both reins... ? The curb rein should only come into action when you need to ask for softness, and there should be some small release to it when the softness is offered... that comes from the slight movement of the hand to change the tension in the curb rein.

The main rein than acts a bit like a straight/mullen mouth snaffle (depending on the pelham mouthpiece ?)

I didn't ask what type of pelham it is ? Years ago the standard one in Pony Club was a vulcanite one - which tended to be quite chunky - *too* chunky for some ponies' mouths, so that is another aspect of the fit to think about ?