Heather,
one thing that I realise now is very important and will be useful to myself and the horse is getting the horse to lower its head thus making its movements more flexible and natural. I read in the book that one has to squeeze lightly on alternate reins until the head lowers its head. I have some questions regarding the above method:
A: Do you do the above before a walk or during a walk?
B: How tightly does one squeeze the rein before releasing? (i.e. Is it closed lower three fingers or half open fingers)
C: Is the squeezing continued until the horse drops its head?
D: Do you feel a difference in the reins when the horse lowers its head? If so, could you describe it?
D: If the horse raises its head, does one apply the above technique while carrying out a gait (e.g. walk, trot) or at a stand still?
E: Does the technique above work for horses that are chomping away at the bit, constantly?
(P.S. i haven't tried the sitting trot yet as Last week's lesson, I was given a more forward going horse that was 16.2 and thus spent the lesson learning how to apply aids to it as well as getting used to the size. (very different from my previous lazy horse.)
Miriam
one thing that I realise now is very important and will be useful to myself and the horse is getting the horse to lower its head thus making its movements more flexible and natural. I read in the book that one has to squeeze lightly on alternate reins until the head lowers its head. I have some questions regarding the above method:
A: Do you do the above before a walk or during a walk?
B: How tightly does one squeeze the rein before releasing? (i.e. Is it closed lower three fingers or half open fingers)
C: Is the squeezing continued until the horse drops its head?
D: Do you feel a difference in the reins when the horse lowers its head? If so, could you describe it?
D: If the horse raises its head, does one apply the above technique while carrying out a gait (e.g. walk, trot) or at a stand still?
E: Does the technique above work for horses that are chomping away at the bit, constantly?
(P.S. i haven't tried the sitting trot yet as Last week's lesson, I was given a more forward going horse that was 16.2 and thus spent the lesson learning how to apply aids to it as well as getting used to the size. (very different from my previous lazy horse.)
Miriam