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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
 
| I have a 3 yr old filly I just got back from the trainers .. She is counter arching , breaking at the poll when she stops & backs .. But she is still heavy on the bit & I need to teach her to break at the poll when moving foreward . What are some exercises to get them softer ? I have a 7 yr old that could use help also , she's great with draw reins but not so much without them .. Do I start the 3 yr old with draw reins, or teach her without them? |
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 Regular
Posts: 95
| To quote Clinton Anderson "Lateral flexion is the key to vertical flexion." Work on flexing you horse to the side. Pull one rein, wait til she softens and then immediately release. Work on this everyday. Do a few flexes on one side and then do the other side. It seems counter intuitive to work on lateral flexion when you want vertical, but it's amazing what a difference it will make after consistently doing to for a while. If you don't mind spending the money, I would suggest buying some of Clinton's riding with confidence DVD's. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Ok :) they do both flex side to side very well.. Especially the 7 yr old. But the 3 yr old is still green on it , so I will work in that alot. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | I agree Clinton Anderson is very helpful. Also, I like to watch videos on youtube of people like Shawn Flarida, Les Vogt, Al Dunning, etc... At one of Les' clinics I learned about paddling my reins to get a bit more break at the pole and less resistance in their mouth. This was really helpful and great for some of my colts but in my opinion its a bit much for others. I would do the lateral flexion and then build on it with figure eights, super slow elementary roll backs...like break down and wait in between each element of the roll back. Also, sometimes try playing with different bits. For example, my 4 year old was a bit stiff and heavy in just the smooth snaffle so I would bump her up to a square mouth piece snaffle or a twisted wire for a day or two and then go back to the smooth. I also will use a german martingale for a few days and then go back to my old setup. I also used my smooth mouth Loomis on her for a few days and that really helped her feel more free. Right now we are back in the smooth snaffle without a german martingale and are doing great. I think sometimes certain horses either get bored or just need a wake up call every once in a while. Good luck! I hope that is helpful! |
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Regular
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| What kind of bit are you using on these horses? I do all my dry work like this in a plain ol' snaffle. If you can't do this stuff in a snaffle, it's just going to get worse and your horses' mouths will only get harder. Also it's kind of awkward to do some of the lateral flexing if you have a shank bit in their mouth. |
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Extreme Veteran
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| I have them both in a smooth mouth snaffle . The 7 yr old is extremely light mouthed .. The 3 yr old is quite a bit heavier . I was going to order a smaller smooth mouthpiece snaffle for her. I have about the lightest one possible on them right now lol |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | My 4 year old is very heavy in the face, I use a lot of leg with him. Hold lightly but steady with my hands and drive him into his face. |
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 Peecans
 
| Getting one supple is all about instant release.
Most of my snaffle are set up with slobber straps, I also have one with heavy rings. What this does os make then pick up slow and gives the colt time to think and release is fast, because of the weight.
100% agree lateral before vertical, if a horse does not know how to give to the left or right its extremely hard for them to understand to give to the left AND right at thebsame time. You can even take this back a step and do some ground work in a halter and see how they bend and give and lunge for respect if you so chose too. I find with older horses that need suppling that I can find a lot of resistance on the ground, and once thats fixed the saddle is much easier. (You can just do it in the saddle i just have a bit different program)
Also keep in mind with the young horses that they could be shedding thier caps and this can cause them discomfort that comes across as being hard.
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Extreme Veteran
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| Thanks for all the great advice :) I have a couple more questions .. Do people prefer to hold steady pressure until the give , or the see saw method ? Also, do alot of you prefer to use draw reins at first to help then get it , or just teach them without any kind devise ? |
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Peecans
| Fancy Lass - 2014-02-25 9:16 AM
Thanks for all the great advice :) I have a couple more questions .. Do people prefer to hold steady pressure until the give , or the see saw method ? Also, do alot of you prefer to use draw reins at first to help then get it , or just teach them without any kind devise ?
For me personally, neither. I find constant preasure makes them numb, if you just sit there all day holding they often just get used to the preasure. I also don't like to sea saw I find though they will "give" its more of an avoidance give than a supple give and causes thier jaw to lock which causes thier pole, neck and so on down to lock.
I will hold one hand steady and ask with the other, starting with just a light finger tip cue. If that does not work then I increase the strength of the cue. Once they understand this I will go to asking by just picking up evenly with both hands, but to start I use steady hamd and asking hand if that makes sense.
I myself do not use draw reins, I've never liked the feel of them so I don't use them so u can not comment on using them. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| So you just hold one have steady up? & ask the with other with your fingers ? I'm trying to understand lol |
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Regular
Posts: 95
| I constantly give and take. It's not seesawing, though. It's very subtle. Ask them to give, when they give, release immediately. Then you need to ask right away again. So you are constantly asking and rewarding your horse. Of course, when you are first starting and they are stiff, it may take a bit before they soften up. When you are first teaching this, you really need to exaggerate the release. I use a long roping rein and as soon as they soften to the pressure, I basically throw my reins to their neck. This way, there is no question that I have released the pressure and the horse learns to understand that if he softens, he will be rewarded with a release.
This all comes with practice and developing your timing and gaining a feel for your horse.
One thing I will say is never jerk on your horse. Once in a while, if I know my horse is just being lazy and leaning on the reins I will BUMP (not jerk) on him a little to get that respect back. |
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