Advice, tips and tricks... anyone?

[» S t e p h [♥] x]

Just wondering, as i am preparing to start work with Meg. Wether anyone had any tips, tricks or advice that might help me in anyway possible...

i'll explain a bit about her.
She's a pure bred Irish Draft mare. She's fat at the minute but i plan to wokr on that [cutting down food and more work]. She's lazy, untill you get her fired up. She likes to throw her head aorund a lot and doesn't understand what 'on the bit' means She hasn't done very much jumping at all, or much flat work. She's just kinda done nothing really.

So anything that might help. training aids or whatever for getting horses on the bit or anything to do with flatwork. i do have a friend who is dressage mad who is going to help out. Getting her flat wokr upto scratch and then once she;s got more muscle start some simple dressage movements and stuff. Meg already knows hpw to do a flying change at cnater though
i know theres a few jumper son here. So if they can give me any exercises and tips to help her with her jumping, because at the minute she either runuts, refuses or leaps over it, then that would be great.

I do have a few things i can do but i thought it mihgt be a good idea just to get a few more and it's always good to get everyones opinions for how to train horses.

Steph
xxx

[...Nina...]

Um, a trainer...

Trotting poles excersises are amazing ill look in my 101 Excersise book

[kr]

lol nice one nina, and you CANT teach a horse to go on the bit, going on the bit is achieved by a horse holding its frame with support of the rider, carrying themselves correctly, it is a natural thing that when ridden correctly it happens, however it is not taught.... Lunging with sidereins once a week or less will help her learn to carry herself and use her hind end if used correctly.... And not to be rude or anything and I know you like this horse a lot but are you sure she is the one for you? She sounds incredibly green and I know your confidence is busted really easily, and Lucky wasnt green yet the problems you had with him were really hard on you emotionally, so maybe since you havent bought her yet you can keep looking for another more experienced horse... BUT no matter what get a trainer and maybe even have the trainer ride her a couple times a week to have the experienced trainer teach her instead of you.

[Candace ♥'s Mitt-nacht]

the only thing i can suggest is trot poles to help her muscles, and for jumping do lots of gymnastics, but at a small height.. they don't need to be high..
good luck
and don't get discouraged too easily.
good luck

[Lindsay* . The Perfect Fit .]

kr said:

and you CANT teach a horse to go on the bit, going on the bit is achieved by a horse holding its frame with support of the rider, carrying themselves correctly, it is a natural thing that when ridden correctly it happens, however it is not taught....

I strongly disagree with you, and I'd like to know where you heard that from! I can ride my horse perfectly, and he wont be on the bit. You need to teach them to accept the bit and accept your cues to come onto the bit. You think that a rider gets on and automatically the horse is on the bit? WRONG. And going in a frame with the rider's support is called being heavy on the forehand & dependent on the riders hands, and thats a very bad habit. And what about when frames are different? A hunter is suppost to be long and low with a pointed nose, an eq horse should be tucked but not overtucked. So I dont know who taught you that, but that is terribly wrong.


Steph, lots of circles & bending. Trot poles and trot grids. I wouldnt go into gymnastics yet because a) its rushing it & b) shes too big/not fit to be able to do them correctly without barreling through the jumps. Lots of figure 8 trot direction changes as well. REMEMBER TO GIVE GIVE GIVE. If she does something well, give to reward her. Also, start teaching her at the walk, once she gets that one exercise at the walk, move up to the trot. And so forth...

Also, side reins work well for lunging too. I know KR said 1x a week, but that to me makes it a useless piece of equipment. You dont want to lunge with side reins everyday, but 1x a week wont teach her anytime. Horses need consistancy. Putting them on 1x a week defeats the purpose and become worthless.

Also, dont cut down her food TOO much if youre going to be working her a lot.

[» S t e p h [♥] x]

thanks Lindsay!
Allt hat will come in handy, i do have a trianer, several actually, becaus eit's a big yard trianers are always on hand

I am ready fro her, i just wanted to see everyone elses views on triaining because i'm nosy and interested and want the best for meg.
I start work with her on saturday, when i have a lesson. Which should be interesting and thats when she officially becomes mine.

Thanks for all the help, i'm taking notes and will proberly try most of this out, to see what works best.

Steph
xxx

Also am still open for help

[kr]

showxjumper said:

kr said:

and you CANT teach a horse to go on the bit, going on the bit is achieved by a horse holding its frame with support of the rider, carrying themselves correctly, it is a natural thing that when ridden correctly it happens, however it is not taught....

I strongly disagree with you, and I'd like to know where you heard that from! I can ride my horse perfectly, and he wont be on the bit. You need to teach them to accept the bit and accept your cues to come onto the bit. You think that a rider gets on and automatically the horse is on the bit? WRONG. And going in a frame with the rider's support is called being heavy on the forehand & dependent on the riders hands, and thats a very bad habit. And what about when frames are different? A hunter is suppost to be long and low with a pointed nose, an eq horse should be tucked but not overtucked. So I dont know who taught you that, but that is terribly wrong.

Looking back on that I wasnt making much sense, its hard to explain but I do want to say that I do not expect a rider to get on and the horse go automatically on the bit but I also do not think the support by the rider always causes the horse to be heavy on the forehand and or dependent on his/her hands... The problem for me is that a lot of people think of a tucked head when they think of a horse being 'on the bit' however I agree with what you said about it being about the horse accepting the bit, and it has very little do with the actual headset of the horse. I also hate it when people think because the horse is forced into a headset that it is 'on the bit'... ok im about to start ranting but what I said earlier did not come accross in the correct way.

[Lindsay* . The Perfect Fit .]

kr said:

showxjumper said:

I strongly disagree with you, and I'd like to know where you heard that from! I can ride my horse perfectly, and he wont be on the bit. You need to teach them to accept the bit and accept your cues to come onto the bit. You think that a rider gets on and automatically the horse is on the bit? WRONG. And going in a frame with the rider's support is called being heavy on the forehand & dependent on the riders hands, and thats a very bad habit. And what about when frames are different? A hunter is suppost to be long and low with a pointed nose, an eq horse should be tucked but not overtucked. So I dont know who taught you that, but that is terribly wrong.

Looking back on that I wasnt making much sense, its hard to explain but I do want to say that I do not expect a rider to get on and the horse go automatically on the bit but I also do not think the support by the rider always causes the horse to be heavy on the forehand and or dependent on his/her hands... The problem for me is that a lot of people think of a tucked head when they think of a horse being 'on the bit' however I agree with what you said about it being about the horse accepting the bit, and it has very little do with the actual headset of the horse. I also hate it when people think because the horse is forced into a headset that it is 'on the bit'... ok im about to start ranting but what I said earlier did not come accross in the correct way.

I'm confused by the word "supporting." If the horse relies (sp?) on your hand for balance and to stay on the bit, thats a bad habit that should be fixed. You dont want the rider to support the horse. If you mean support by asking using cues, then I understand, but support to me means that the horse needs that rider's hands to keep its balance and to keep himself on the bit.

[kr]

nope, I mean support as in the rider helps the horse with support in their riding and their body language, not hands, I am a person who believes reins should rarely need to be used, body language, leg cues, etc. are more important to me

[Jackiee]

getting the horse on the bit is something that can in fact be taught. however a lot of poeple think to get a horse on the bit u just pull the horse, and fight with them. However to get a horse on the bit and accepting the bit is a matter of pushing the horses hind end forward, making them use their self, and up into your hands. If asked for properly, the horse will be carrying itself with its hind end and up in your hand, and "on the bit". like lindsay said theres two different frames, so depending on your discipline theres different headsets. i can give you a lot o f excerises to do if you would just let me know specifically what you would like to improve.

[» S t e p h [♥] x]

That would be awsome Jackie!
Well she's hopefully going to be an eventer, but i'm not holding out for anything, i don't know how she'll take to cross country.
So for the time being i just want her to learn to carry herself correctly for jumping and general flat work.
We won't be doing EQ....

I havn't really had chance to talk to anyone yet about anything like this but most poeple think she's going to make a nice eventer, or if not a nice jumper. Because she enjoys jumping. So i'm not crossing anything off yet.

So any excersises for just getting her into a nice frame and working nicely would be great thanks.

Steph
xxx

[Jackiee]

lunging her in side reins about 3x a week will help her learn to except the bit. also if she can tolerate them riding her in the side reins or draw reins. in addition set up cavalettis and make her really use her hind end over them. make sure you feel all 4 legs powerful and working underneath you. in addition to help[ her getting to bend to the inside around your inside leg and off your outside leg do figure 8s. when you do them dont like of them as an actual figure out. you need to due the exact same size circle with a straight line connecting them.. also make sure she is bending properly. also if u want to do jumpers, this is gonna sound strange...but you DNOT want the horse dragging you to the fence. you want to make sure the horse is powerful underneath you, but not in control. what i would do is set up a crossrail and practice halting in front of it. not to much becuase u dont want the horse to learn to stop at fences, but just enough so you know you have control. also when approaching the jump if she feels strong and dragging you dont be afriad to circle until shes under control and listening to your aids. the best way to find a distance is to be able to keep the horse powerful, but packaged so if you see a long one you can let go, but if the distance is short they still have the power to lift themselves over it

[Lindsay* . The Perfect Fit .]

^^^ NOOOOO DRAW REINS WITHOUT A TRAINER WHO KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM PRESENT WITH YOU. NO NO NO... But it is a good suggestion.

[Jackiee]

oh i thought she said she had a trainer. lo siento

[» S t e p h [♥] x]

I do have a trianer.
th yard is always packed with trainers, and msot of them like me and look out for me, so when they have a spare minute they come and help me for free

Thanks Jackie i'll write them down and then see whats what

I have a hunter clinic today, should be fun, onlly small fences but it will give me a taste of how she's going to be around a course and stuff

thanks again
Steph
xx