How to get long and low

xRobyn

xRobyn

& phil :)
Mar 20, 2009
1,107
0
0
Essex
I've mentioned before but; Phil will work quite nicely long and low in walk, but not in trot.

I have tried walking on a long rein then asking him to trot on without collecting the reins, it makes no difference.

How do I ask him to settle down and begin to relax more? I have had someone tell me it could be slightly conformational because of his neck, but I want to make it better for him. I've tried doing it when he's tired too, but it has no effect and makes no difference. I'm not even bothered about him having a pretty head carriage, just want him to learn that he can relax.

Should I ask for a less active trot and hope that he stays long and low and then increase the impulsion or what?

Any helpful hints would be much appreciated.
 
Does he put his head down when you let the reins out during a break in his schooling? I've tried letting the reins out slowly during trotting 20m circles at the end of a schooling session, and Carlie lowered her head quite willingly.
 
In walk he is fine, works quite nicely long and low. Trot seems to be his main issue; my reins tend to be quite short, but he doesn't lean, just has a naturally high head carriage so was wondering what excersises would encourage him to drop through his neck and back.
 
Hmmm, I'm constantly battling with Carlie to maintain submission, so she's reacts to the release in pressure by lowering her head. But I make sure I always have a contact because if you don't maintain it, the head will come back up.
 
Bronson doesn't like to work long and low in any pace. Only thing I've found that works is to keep him on a circle, pushing from inside leg to outside hand, with a very light contact on the inside rein to encourage him to soften. If you keep trotting for long enough eventually he drops. The trot needs to be quite active as you are encouraging them to work from behind and round over their back - if the trot is flat and lacking impulsion then he might just go on the forehand, and need to put his head up to balance?
There's probably a 'proper' and better way to encourage it, but that's just what works for me and Bronson :rolleyes:
 
Thank you for the advice. Today he was much more relaxed and happy, but I haven't ridden since last saturday. I do the presure/release when asking him to stand (currently whilst using my seat) but as soon as I release he walks off again lol.
 
Hey,

Does he go long and low on the lunge? At liberty that is? If no, then I would say give it a bit of time and encourage the lowering in stages. If he is tight through his neck, it can be hard to suddenly extend it the other way. So, give the lowering aid (gentle squeeze release of rein), and if he drops his head just a bit, reward. He will then learn the aid and be starting to supple and lengthen his neck gradually. When he gets to a certain lowered height, he will start feeling the benefits more, being to relax and chill.

If he does go long and low on the lunge, then I would look to you as a rider. Think about your position, are you leaning forward, are you tense, reins too short, legs held on? just give yourself a rider check. ;)

Slowing the trot would be good too. Inability to lengthen in gaits is also a sign of inbalance. My mare would stretch out long and low more as she became more balanced. So take the trot at a slower pace, see what happens.

With horses, it's about playing. Change little things, if it doesn't work, try something else. It's a process of elimination.

Do you have any photos or video footage?

Hope this helps
Lx
 
Obviously making sure your horse is physically comfortable and evelauating your riding are very important and have already been covered.

Just a couple of small points to add to those. I found with Joy that her trot has been the hardest to get to grips with. She wasn't relaxed for a couple of reasons and that was what was causing the problem!

She's more tense and prone to spooking than in any other gait and when I first got her she didn't want to trot and just saw trot as what you did just before you cantered. Took a bit of schooling to get her out of that I can tell you :rolleyes:

The thing that I found most beneficial was trotting for longer on hacks. This gave her more opportunity to settle and as she settled and even got a bit tired she would drop her head down and that give me the opportunity to give her ethusive praise so she knew she was doing the right thing. Once it had clicked then things progressed more quickly :)

The other thing I would ask is does he seek out the contact when you are riding him?

My mare didn't and a change of mouthpiece to something more stable and predictable and me working on making my hands more predictable too soon sorted that out :)
 
Thank you all for the advice; he doesn't stretch out in trot on the lunge either. I will post some pictures in a bit :)

That sounds like good advice JC (the hacking bit) and he is the same; trot is what you do before you canter lol

My position used to be a lot worse, I used to lean forward but have since learnt to sit up more (t*its out! haha) and it's really helped. Yesterday when trotting he didn't look quite like a giraffe, just had his head high and his ears forward, really enjoying himself.

I'm ashamed to admit JC, I don't know what that feels like. He may have done it without me noticing :eek:
 
Here you go:

4838_104518197326_633522326_2610432_1402928_n.jpg


(I can't find any ridden/lunging pics, but this is basically how he looks)


Looks like he has dropped here, but this is very rare :/
4478_96109312326_633522326_2469430_7088579_n.jpg



P.s, I've just watched a video of us and I feel awful. We both looks awful. I'm bouncing all over the place and he is so flat it's unbelieveable lol

Touch wood, that was a while ago and I've made some small changes which seem to have improved us, but I'm always open to new ideas.
 
xRobyn said:
My position used to be a lot worse, I used to lean forward but have since learnt to sit up more (t*its out! haha) and it's really helped.
Click to expand...

OMG, I'm exactly the same, and I've been told the same thing (except it came from a male instructor :eek:) I too lean forward a lot, and I had a lesson with Richard King today (not sure if you've heard of him, as he is British) which should help heeps. BTW, he wasn't the one that told me to stick my "chest" out :p
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back