Improving Overall Look (Outline, on the bit?)

[cassie crazy]

I am by no means an advanced rider! Classify that to start off with! I suppose I am intermediete. I can do all paces and have jumped over 3', won and placed at small local shows. I bought a 5yr old (slightly stupidly) but through perseverence and a bit of good luck have brought her on. She is now 6, does walk fine.
I need some help with trotting. Not much but we have varying speeds. I try to control it with keeping my rising to a steady beat. Any other tips?
Cantering. I taught her to canter so it is pretty bad! She tends to go into canter easily but often goes 'up and down' extremely collected and refusing to go forwards. She will often stick in a buck during this time. If you put leg on very firmly or tap with crop she drops pace, or rears. I tend to just try to ride through it, sometimes she will go through it after 20-30 strides, other times she ignores me and slows down. If that latter happens next time she tends to go into canter fine. I am not sure how to get over this though?
Jumping. She has started to refuse, either just stopping over bigger fences, or with smaller (or sometimes bigger too) runs out regardless off leg/hand aids. I am working on this by every time she does it putting the jump lower and working her over it and building back up. She has has a back problem before we got her, which means if she feels pressure on her shoulders (saddle occasionally slips - very odd shape!) she becomes very unsettled. This may also affect the canter (if she expects pain?). Am I doing the right thing by lowering the jump?

Some days however she will be fine and do all paces and jump fine. When she is doing this I would like to improve her general way of going. I know her outline needs work and she sometimes pokes her nose (she wears a martingale, which generally stops her doing it), but I am not sure how to work on that!

She wears a snaffle bit, martingale and flash noseband. I am not sure she needs the flash anymore but am wary of taking it off (as it improved her so much when I put it on)

Sorry for the long post and congrats to anyone who read it all!
Thanks!

 

[Louki]

How much lunge work are you doing with her (to get an idea of what stage of suppleness she would be at) any long line work ? or free schooling ?

Re her back, id speak with vet & a good saddler and see if you can get a better fit on a saddle than something that occasionally slips forward, if this is a chance of distress you want to avoid it if at all possible as if it keeps happening, it will just keep on undoing the work you're putting into her.

Canter work, how did you start training canter ? On the lunge using voice ?

 

[cassie crazy]

We free-school over jumps every fortnight or so. Lunge once sometimes twice a week. Only just introduced her to long-lines (tried them to see what happened, she had no clue, so decided to do that as our ground improvement challenge!)

About her back. She now has no bruising or anything on her back, it is just memory of pain. As for the saddle, we have now bought her 3 saddles, and tried 4 or 5 others. We currently have an adjustable gullet, changing it whenever she changes shape. Me and parents feel this is best thing without having to get a saddle made to her (especially as her shape is still changing, and she is still gaining muscle).

For canter, we lunged into canter using voice and back up with a lunge crop. Command and then flick behind her to send forwards. Once we had this going the word and movement of my arm (and taking up 'bigger' stance) would do it. I admit once we started riding I did tend to rely on leg aids and once she started cantering ridden I stopped the voice command.

 

[Louki]

Go back to working canter on the lunge only & get her working really good off your voice comand with a forward drive from the whip if needed, to get her working canter correctly ridden to begin with, your whispered voice Q is your best friend, get her confident, then start introducing leg aids with your voice comand, then slowly less of the voice until fully on the leg.

Long lines are your best friend, esp if you can teach her to accept the off side line behind her & do lunge work on the two lines, a light contact does so much to correct and get the balance right. Work lunged circles with changes of rein, then move out into your area and work serps, small circles, long straights, use half halts to get her working well under and through.

Id stick to freeschooling her jumping for now, but make it really really fun for her, get your voice high and excited, it has to be encouraging to give her the confidence and try not to look for too much to soon, its hard work for them if they havent achieved enough suppleness and balance yet.

re saddle, would a pad with sheepskin wither help make it more secure on the front and less sensitiveness for her ?

 

[cassie crazy]

Will try it!

She has major issues with back legs so she does not accept ropes (or line)behind her.

She seems quite supple, and fairly balenced most of the time.

That might work, will try getting one.#

Thanks!

 

[Louki]

Might be worth some time spent on desensitization around the legs.

What I do, is to start, use a schooling whip (it gives you a safe distance) stand at her side but out of the way of cow kicks, and starting at her rump, rub the butt end in small circles, just lightly & softly, slowly working down the leg till you see a reaction coming, move back up to the rump, stay there a moment, start to work back down, look for impending reaction, rinse repeat, the key is moving away before she reacts, back to her comfort zone, then lightly push her out of the zone for a second or two, repeat daily for 2 to 3 mins, you'll soon be able to get further and further down her legs. When she accepts the butt, wrap a really crinkly carrier back round it, and go back to stage one, once you've worked that, you've also got her confidence & trust a lot more, i then use just a crushed carrier and my arm and start the process again. then repeat with a lunge rope, then lunge rope attached to the off side bit ring. Takes about a month, but worth it.

 

[cassie crazy]

When we first got her you couldn't get near her back legs. As her feet were overgrown I just went straight to working with my hands on her legs. So I basically did that with my hand. Now its just ropes, so we are planning on working on that.

I am going to lunge her in about half an hour, so will try and see how much she remembers vocal commands!