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Hello! I'm going to start with some backstory first. I recently got my first horse in December (yay!) and she's quite the handful. She's around 14 years old and I think she's some sort of morgan cross. I bought her from my friend (My friend had done some retraining with her for show jumping and had her for about 8 months before I bought her) who bought her from some guy who did reining with her. It's obvious that she was initially trained using outdated methods. When I first bought her she had an insanely hard mouth, it was better than when my friend had first gotten her but still bad. Recently (past couple months) she has really been softening up and not just running through everything. I've only just started working with her to strengthen her topline and engage her hind end. Due to her not being started properly she's hollow most of the time when I ride her and it's very difficult to get her to stretch, she won't do it at all outside of a walk and only sometimes at a walk at that. I would like to say that I have very little experience actually training horses and that's why I'm writing this. I have limited access to things, the only arena I have to work in it cluttered with jumps, making it hard to do serious flat-work at times and there are no round-pens. I love the people at the barn and my current trainer is a wonderful lady, but the facility just isn't satisfactory for me anymore, hence why I've begun looking for a new barn. I can't just up and move immediately though, so please don't just suggest getting a new trainer and moving barns, I'm trying my best. Here's what I've just started doing: Getting Willow (my pon) to collect is the least of my concerns right now, she doesn't nearly have enough strength, so I'm focusing on building her topline, etc. I've just been doing pole work at a trot atm, and stretching/bending exercises at a walk or stand-still. So what I'm asking is if anyone could suggest exercises, etc, for building a topline/engaging a horse's hind-end, taking into note that she's an older horse and due to an improper starting her stretching skills/musculature is pretty bad compared to even a 5 or 6 year old. |
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Trivia Team
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You're already on the right path! If you can't do hills, polework is the best thing. Elevated poles will really help her sit down on her hind end and lift her forehand over them as well. Another thing is transitions! I like doing these on a circle because they're good for developing balance along with muscle. Start with walk to halt to walk to backing up on a 20 meter circle, but alternate your walk speeds- you can do long, stretchy walks, but you can also compress her and ask for her to start sitting on her hind end by engaging your core and putting on a lot of leg while blocking forward momentum with your hands. Imagine that your bit is a wall, and she cannot poke her nose past that wall, but her hind feet need to get as close to the wall as possible. Once you're more comfortable and balanced, you can do the same exercise at the trot and the canter. Lateral work is also super helpful. Lots of serpentines, and riding her in a spiral to encourage her to bring her inside hind leg beneath her. When you're on the ground, ask her to disengage her hip and watch her inside leg cross over in front of her outside leg. THAT is where the power and the push of having a horse sitting on their hind end comes from. Work with a friend on the ground to tell you when she's doing that under saddle until you can get a feel for it! Another thing is- building a topline is a lot of work and MUSCLE. It's going to take time, up to a year to see actual results. Don't be discouraged. Make sure you're feeding her plenty of protein, so that she has something to convert into muscle. And keep an eye on her moods. Older horses are wonderful, but especially if you don't know their pasts, there's a possibility that she can have some creaky joints and bones. If she starts growing resistant, I would suggest adding in an MSM supplement to her diet to keep her feeling good. If that doesn't work, look for underlying issues- you're asking a lot of her, and it'll be good for her in the long run, but especially at the beginning it's going to be very hard. It sounds like you're doing fairly decently now though. Good luck with her, I worked with a morgan a few years ago and they're wicked smart. |
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FirstLightFarms said:
You're already on the right path! If you can't do hills, polework is the best thing. Elevated poles will really help her sit down on her hind end and lift her forehand over them as well. Another thing is transitions! I like doing these on a circle because they're good for developing balance along with muscle. Start with walk to halt to walk to backing up on a 20 meter circle, but alternate your walk speeds- you can do long, stretchy walks, but you can also compress her and ask for her to start sitting on her hind end by engaging your core and putting on a lot of leg while blocking forward momentum with your hands. Imagine that your bit is a wall, and she cannot poke her nose past that wall, but her hind feet need to get as close to the wall as possible. Once you're more comfortable and balanced, you can do the same exercise at the trot and the canter. Lateral work is also super helpful. Lots of serpentines, and riding her in a spiral to encourage her to bring her inside hind leg beneath her. When you're on the ground, ask her to disengage her hip and watch her inside leg cross over in front of her outside leg. THAT is where the power and the push of having a horse sitting on their hind end comes from. Work with a friend on the ground to tell you when she's doing that under saddle until you can get a feel for it! Another thing is- building a topline is a lot of work and MUSCLE. It's going to take time, up to a year to see actual results. Don't be discouraged. Make sure you're feeding her plenty of protein, so that she has something to convert into muscle. And keep an eye on her moods. Older horses are wonderful, but especially if you don't know their pasts, there's a possibility that she can have some creaky joints and bones. If she starts growing resistant, I would suggest adding in an MSM supplement to her diet to keep her feeling good. If that doesn't work, look for underlying issues- you're asking a lot of her, and it'll be good for her in the long run, but especially at the beginning it's going to be very hard. It sounds like you're doing fairly decently now though. Good luck with her, I worked with a morgan a few years ago and they're wicked smart.
Thank you so much, I'll start throwing in lateral work and lots of transitions! I know I'm in for a long run, I just wanted to be sure I was starting off okay, and if there was anything else I could do :) |
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Do you have access to lunging equipment? Working with side reins is excellent for teaching the horse to move into the contact and stretch! Introduce them slowly if your horse has never worn them before--setting them too tightly on a horse that doesn't understand the question can make them panic and flip over. |
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EmeraldHillsFarm said:
Do you have access to lunging equipment? Working with side reins is excellent for teaching the horse to move into the contact and stretch! Introduce them slowly if your horse has never worn them before--setting them too tightly on a horse that doesn't understand the question can make them panic and flip over.
I don't currently have the money to buy a surcingle or side reins/vienna reins, but I definitely would like to get them eventually. I've lunged her before but never with any sort of system. I don't know if she's ever worn lunging equipment. When I do eventually get the lunging equipment, how can I directly teach/show her how to stretch? |
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Naeverian Elites said:
EmeraldHillsFarm said:
Do you have access to lunging equipment? Working with side reins is excellent for teaching the horse to move into the contact and stretch! Introduce them slowly if your horse has never worn them before--setting them too tightly on a horse that doesn't understand the question can make them panic and flip over.
I don't currently have the money to buy a surcingle or side reins/vienna reins, but I definitely would like to get them eventually. I've lunged her before but never with any sort of system. I don't know if she's ever worn lunging equipment. When I do eventually get the lunging equipment, how can I directly teach/show her how to stretch?
Does she submit to the contact when you ride? If so, start her at a length where she's comfortable in the frame (after a short warm up without the side reins). Then slowly lengthen the side reins. If your horse was truly moving from back to front and seeking the contact before, then they will continue to do so as the side reins get longer. This is a concept that you can also apply while riding. How steady and elastic are your hands? Horses will be more willing to stretch into the contact if that contact is consistent and connected from back to front. This is where your trainer can (hopefully) help you a lot by telling you when the contact is correct. I find that this is something that is very hard to figure out on your own and get truly correct. |
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EmeraldHillsFarm said:
Naeverian Elites said:
EmeraldHillsFarm said:
Do you have access to lunging equipment? Working with side reins is excellent for teaching the horse to move into the contact and stretch! Introduce them slowly if your horse has never worn them before--setting them too tightly on a horse that doesn't understand the question can make them panic and flip over.
I don't currently have the money to buy a surcingle or side reins/vienna reins, but I definitely would like to get them eventually. I've lunged her before but never with any sort of system. I don't know if she's ever worn lunging equipment. When I do eventually get the lunging equipment, how can I directly teach/show her how to stretch?
Does she submit to the contact when you ride? If so, start her at a length where she's comfortable in the frame (after a short warm up without the side reins). Then slowly lengthen the side reins. If your horse was truly moving from back to front and seeking the contact before, then they will continue to do so as the side reins get longer. This is a concept that you can also apply while riding. How steady and elastic are your hands? Horses will be more willing to stretch into the contact if that contact is consistent and connected from back to front. This is where your trainer can (hopefully) help you a lot by telling you when the contact is correct. I find that this is something that is very hard to figure out on your own and get truly correct.
I guess I wasn't clear enough, but she doesn't really have a sense of contact at all besides the basics. I'm doing the pole exercises, etc, to get her to gain muscle and use her hind end before working on any sort of collection. She's not strong enough to truly collect at the moment. I would be working with my trainer right now if I could, but she's been sick for weeks now with really bad allergies. |
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Bright Sunshine with a few High Clouds
