How do you........?

[theresamac]

How do you get your horse to work "on the bit"?

It looks really nice and I wondered how I would go about doing this?

Thanks

Theresa

[Mehitabel]

this is a big subject! the best thing to do would be to have some lessons, it's much easier to explain when you're on the horse and can see the effects of what you're doing , with someone on the ground to help.
in a nutshell though, to get a horse on the bit, you need to engage his hind legs and get a longer stride with them. this drops his back end and lifts his forehand, and the neck will (in theory) round and the head drop naturally. plenty of circles will help, making sure the horse is balanced and not on his forehand. spiralling circles are also helpful, as is lateral work like leg yielding and shouldering in. again, it's much easier to do these correctly with someone there with you.

[theresamac]

Thanks Es!

This has helped. I am taking lessons at the moment so I'll definitely try it out. I'll let you know how I get on!!

Thanks again

Theresa