Have my too-busy hands been holding back my riding all along???

Scarlett 001

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Sep 16, 2003
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It took about 20 minutes of decent trot work, but Skeeter started to really relax and loosen up and was moving very nicely tonight. I used the saddle strap to keep my hands still, and he relaxed and the nose poking started to disappear - he was dropping his head and starting to engage himself more. Just for fun, I did let go of the strap and I was able to help him maintain the frame - his head was nearly vertical in profile and we had a good mutual contact! I took a peep in the mirrors and we looked pretty good! We rode like this for about 15 more minutes, and he seemed happy as anything, and we maintained this same movement and frame.

I am *very* pleased. I thought it would take forever and a day to reach this point. Obviously both he and I are a bit better at this riding thing than I gave us credit for! :) I am very proud of our joint achievement. I have to say that my instructor in my last lesson zeroed in exactly the thing that was holding us back - my busy, overactive hands! She made a good call on what I needed to work on first. As I was riding, I also noted how shiny and glossy Skeeter's mane was looking (not where my eyes are supposed to be while riding I know!) - he is really looking pretty spiffy and handsome with all this TLC. I am so proud of him and all the positive changes I see happening before my eyes.

After I put Skeeter back in the paddock, there was the most amazing moonrise - the moon was completely orange and rising over the horizon. Quite the amazing way to end a very nice evening with my oh-so-sweet horse.

Question: Can the horse lower his poll and achieve the vertical line with his head if he is *not* engaged in the hindquarters or do the two go hand-in-hand? I sort of assumed Skeets was working his hind-end more when he started to frame up through the head, but perhaps this is not necessarily the case.
 
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That sounds great! It's so nice to see how fast you are catching on to the fact that chances are if Skeeter 'evades' there's a good chance it is related to your actions. So many people just ask: What do I need to do to make it impossible to evade? rather then What am I doing that cuases him to evade.

:)

The canter strap will work great at the trot since the horses head stays pretty still at the trot. Just remember that there is more head movement at the walk and canter so if you had your hands fixed at those gaits it would result in kind of an off-and-on contact.

It is possible that a horse is put into a nice headset while still not engaging his hind-end. However that is usually cued or taught behavior.
If he does it himself without you cueing him with the reins or him having been taught to fake it, I would say that it is very likely he really got into a nicer frame. You can probably feel the difference too.
:)
 
Thanks. Yep, I certainly am humble enough about my riding at this point and I also know that Skeeter is much better in terms of riding as a horse than I am as a rider that quite likely most issues are related to me! Even his preference to do a somewhat slower trot if possible is related to me not giving strong enough cues etc. (also, he is not in the best shape - not his fault - and this will also improve now that he is eating well and working more regularly).
 
If you've seen all of the discussions about draw reins...yes, it's possible to winch a horse's head in and make his neck flex, without anything happening behind.

However, if you're not actively trying to winch his head in, and he drops his nose for his own better balance, then that's *exactly* right. You should also be able to feel more going on in his back end; you can try asking him to balance up and then letting him lengthen out/stretch down, and see if you can start to feel the difference.

Very happy for you, sounds like things are really looking up.
 
Well, I wasn't winching his head head in - he was just doing this all of his own accord. He felt very nice and balanced/relaxed. I'll try to do what you mentioned to see if I can feel the difference.

By the way, he is seeming to like the eggbutt bit, so I think I will keep using it.
 
Scarlett - thrilled to read that things are coming along so nicely & he's liking the eggbut. Sounds like he's really enjoying working with you. Has he stopped the head-tossing you previously mentioned?
 
Scarlett 001 said:
Well, I wasn't winching his head head in

Of course not! :) Just explaining how it is possible for a horse to have his neck look all pretty without it actually meaning anything. So since you weren't, he was balancing up himself and carrying himself well. Wonderful.
 
Citygirl: There is still a bit of the head jerking. I talked the trainer who used to be at his old stables and this head jerking/leaning is nothing new apparently. But the head jerking diminishes at trot (and stopped once he lowered his head) and he does not do it at canter. Mainly happens at walk. Need to figure out what contact he wants at walk. I also hope that as he learns to trust me and my riding that this type of thing will diminish over time.

galadriel said:
Of course not! :) Just explaining how it is possible for a horse to have his neck look all pretty without it actually meaning anything. So since you weren't, he was balancing up himself and carrying himself well. Wonderful.

No worries! I know you know (yikes, confusing wording) that I would never do that type of thing! :) I just wrote that as more of a dialogue with myself to conclude that is was all good and he was doing it for the right reasons.
 
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