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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
   
Location: North Dakota | Now that I've been legging Cash up after his several month hiatus, he is not very balanced or strong, especially at the canter but also trotting. He wants to lean and veer in and is very stiff (again, worse at the canter but has no lateral bend at the trot either). He compensates by just speeding up. I do a TON of half halts but that works for about 0.3 seconds. I don't have as much control in the sidepull as I like but it's all I have for the moment that he likes. We do lots of trotting over poles when I lunge him and I'm hoping to get out on the trail a little and do some trail work, but any other recommendations of exercises we can do to get him working off his hind end and more balanced would be awesome. |
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Location: South Dakota | I would suggest to go to www.rfdtv.com and subscribe to their CountryClub...10/month...from there you can watch and study Chris Cox.Horsemanship....he has some great simple methods of teaching a horse to yield in the ribcage, and get soft with groundwork...well worth taking the time to study his methods.
I much prefer Chris' methods over Clinton Anderson's.
My young mare had a tendency to be bracey and stiff, a little unbalanced, and Chris's method has helped greatly!!
Edited by ridejg 2015-09-09 6:12 PM
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 Brains Behind the Operation...
Posts: 4543
Location: Arizona | Sharon Camarillo's corkscrew & "different" figure eight exercises would probably help you out, if you don't have her books & can't find descriptions online I could post the diagrams for you tomorrow when I can get to a computer. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 582
Location: Wherever They Send Me | What about lunging in side reins? It seems to have helped my mare; she likes to drop her shoulder going the right. |
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| Go on long trail and pasture rides ... 2-4 hours at a time and forget the arena for the next 6 months .. your horse still has a problem and long term exercise without stress at different gaits and terrain is your answer .. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-09-10 12:45 AM Go on long trail and pasture rides ... 2-4 hours at a time and forget the arena for the next 6 months .. your horse still has a problem and long term exercise without stress at different gaits and terrain is your answer ..
HA! HAHAHA It'll start snowing any time now I won't be anywhere but the indoor arena till March/April. I do wanna get out on the trail this month though, before it snows too much. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | amandacamarano - 2015-09-09 10:29 PM What about lunging in side reins? It seems to have helped my mare; she likes to drop her shoulder going the right.
Good idea. I've never used them on him but have used them in the past. I should pick some up. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | Whinny19 - 2015-09-09 7:03 PM Sharon Camarillo's corkscrew & "different" figure eight exercises would probably help you out, if you don't have her books & can't find descriptions online I could post the diagrams for you tomorrow when I can get to a computer.
I don't have her books but I'll start googling. |
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Brains Behind the Operation...
Posts: 4543
Location: Arizona | I also agree with trying side reins when you do lunge, it helps support the outside of the body and can keep them in better position. Lunging with two long lines (draping the outside line behind their butt) can help too. Without some outside support, sometimes they tend to just tilt their inside nose and shoulder towards you and then totally forget about their ribcage and hindend... and before you know it their butt is just winging along on the outside of the circle! Especially during faster paces. Practice his flexibility in the saddle and on the ground as well (if you aren't already).
For whatever trail work you are able to get in before snowfall, if you can find a nice hill to do some slow circles on the side of, that works wonders for teaching one to stand up and balance themselves instead of leaning into the turn. Kind of the "taking responsibility for their own feet" technique, they either stand up and travel right or fall down, lol.
When riding around the whole arena, make sure you really use your corners; don't allow him to cheat the turn and slice off the corners. Drive him right up into them, until he has to use his butt to pivot his front end in the next direction. Corners and square shapes in general can really help get some control and "prettiness" back into your circles. It really teaches them to use that inside hind leg to support themselves.
He may not be physically able to do a nice, collected small circle now, so start at whatever size circle he can maintain a controlled speed and shape (even if it's the whole arena) and gradually bring him down (say, half or 3/4 of the arena). If things go well, meaning he doesn't speed up or start leaning, bring him down into a slightly smaller circle. If things get wild, ease him back into a wider circle and let him relax until the body control comes back. Then try a smaller circle again, or maybe change directions. Try to keep moving the whole time, even if it's just a walk; try not to kill his momentum by stopping completely.
Obviously, lateral work is going to support your correct circles as well. So remember to use two tracking, half-passes, etc. on both straightaways and diagonals. Start at slow paces and gradual work up to a lope as he gains flexibility and better body control.
(I'll post the Sharon Camarillo exercises below)
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Brains Behind the Operation...
Posts: 4543
Location: Arizona | These exercises are scanned from both of Sharon's Western Horseman barrel racing books, the 1985 version and the revised 2000 version. I like to combine the "corkscrew" and "circling" concepts, and they can be used with or without a center obstacle (barrel, cone, pole, tree, bush, whatever is handy). By combining, I mean that if I feel a problem with the turn while I'm spiraling in during the corkscrew pattern, I will bring them back out into a bigger "neutral" circle like she describes in the circling exercise until the control comes back, then I'll try spiraling in again.
 (Corkscrew #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
 (Circling #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
 (Circling #2 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
 (Circling #3 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
 (Circling #4 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
Attachments
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 Corkscrew #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (95KB - 196 downloads)
Circling #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (79KB - 184 downloads)
Circling #2 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (84KB - 182 downloads)
Circling #3 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (83KB - 186 downloads)
Circling #4 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (85KB - 196 downloads)
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | and last but not least make sure you are balanced to. supple work to.. |
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Brains Behind the Operation...
Posts: 4543
Location: Arizona | These are the different figure eight and breaking off exercises. One kind of supports the other, and you can use the breaking off exercise away from the pattern as well as on it. Say you try to pick up a small, collected circle and your horse starts speeding up and leaning in, you can still use the breaking off exercise to correct his body position before returning to the circle. Just another alternative to correcting him with a half halt or pushing him into a wider circle.
 (Figure Eight - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
 (Breaking Off #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg)
Attachments
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Figure Eight - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (94KB - 174 downloads)
Breaking Off #1 - Sharon Camarillo - SML.jpg (51KB - 186 downloads)
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Brains Behind the Operation...
Posts: 4543
Location: Arizona | This pic is from the Practical Horseman book, "Build A Better Athlete." Very useful book, and an excellent companion to the drills Sharon uses in her books. The book "Cross Train Your Horse" by Jane Savoie is another excellent one.
Two Track in a Circle
 (Two Track on Circle - SML.jpg)
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Two Track on Circle - SML.jpg (30KB - 179 downloads)
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