Exercises to strengthen back ends.

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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The horses of course! Namely my share horse who occasionally trips behind whilst being ridden.

I've heard that transitions are a good place to start and just wondered if anyone had any others.
 
My vet and physio suggested polework for my lass to build up her weak bottom after her injury.
Before I suggest it for you, is there a physical reason they lose their back end? Foot imbalance, unlevel surface, old injury?

We still do polework, one because I enjoy it, two because it's so beneficial to the horse.

Start simple and build on it. It's also something I do on the lunge and longreining.
Mine is in season currently so struggles with her back end. Poles show up any stiffness as the horse trips over them.
 
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Transitions for all horses. But it depends what and how you ride them.
Strengthening the back end and making the hind legs work and come under are basic to the kind of warm up in walk always done on some yards like the one I was educated at and almost never at others.
Even something as simple as riding small circles in walk. Demi Pirouettes from walk or if you cant manage 180 degrees make it a quarter turn. All small turns and circles help - you can use poles on the ground or cones to help guide you but they are not essential. Trot halt trot is good and trot, rein back trot. This for me is normal warm up - Done on any horse I am allocated.
You cant just do it on a horse for a week or two and expect miracles - particularly one that hasnt been trained early on to move forward with active hind legs - letting the front end free - which is the way our young horses are started ridden - and continue to be ridden which is the opposite of what most people seem to do with their ponies when preparing for dressage.

However, if the horse is stumbling out hacking, that may not sort it. One may have a very nice horse, supple and well schooled that stumbles when hacking. I have had that. Particularly if it is a horse used to being ridden in the school with contact and a lot of direction. The rider behaviour may change out hacking. If one is relaxed and chatting. One rarely thinks so much about the quality of the movement. If you ride transitions out hacking both changing gait and altering the length of stride within a gait, and even using your legs on the horse when it asks for more rein - that will probably sort it. The answer is to do more riding. Whereas left to itself the horse reduces its energy and then the stumble follows.
 
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Thanks for all the ideas and advice everyone. Yes he seems physically sound and level. He doesn't do it out hacking.

We are going for a hack on Sunday and there are a few hills so we will go for a good March up those.

I'm not looking to work miracles on him but I thought this would be something fun and productive to work on. I'll get the poles out and start practising our trot to halt!

To warm him up I usually do half 10 metre circles, shallow loops, leg yield and a good free walk on a long rein to get him marching and having a stretch which he seems to like.

He is not schooled a great deal because he is ridden by 2 young children and a teen. I don't ask him to work in any sort of outline but I do have a light contact on the rein. He is very pokey nose at the moment but he is also unfit and not used to working properly.
 
Re the poles - my physio said a really good exercise is to stop the horse half way over, so front feet have steoped over but back feet still behind. Then when you set off again the horse has to really engage his muscles to step his back feet over the pole. Actually I think that was to strengthen back rather than bum ... but it is good fun on a lunge or end of a long line getting the horse to stop in the precise position :)
 
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Re the poles - my physio said a really good exercise is to stop the horse half way over, so front feet have steoped over but back feet still behind. Then when you set off again the horse has to really engage his muscles to step his back feet over the pole. Actually I think that was to strengthen back rather than bum ... but it is good fun on a lunge or end of a long line getting the horse to stop in the precise position :)

That sounds like a really interesting one to try thanks! I don't lunge or long rein my share so hopefully it's okay to do ridden?
 
I have had to rethink this. I have a new horse to ride. He didnt thrill me much when I tried him. I watched him ridden professionally and he had seemed better with me when ridden more freely. Since then it has been drear and I am coming to the conclusion that the more I do as a BHS RI says to encourage the back legs - the normal stuff like demi pirouettes and shoulder in, the less interest he has. So doing what seems right in theory is looking correct but we are just going through the motions. Neither of us is going anywhere. The only session he perked up was when I did some Rashid style gingering up with him, and that vanished by next lesson.
A rider will do with their share horse much as they chose to do with their own horse - When I shared I did that - I rode my share just like I rode Maisie and they turned out much the same. So Ale I would predict that you will be happiest schooling and competing your share just like you did Ale. Keep yourself and the share happy and ignore the details.
 
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