This message is from: "Werner, Kristine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I missed the first part of the "conversation". But if it is a young horse, he will naturally be unbalanced. Perhaps physical limitations or pain are compounding his difficulties with the highest gear. If I were you I would of course try to have any corporeal ailments eliminated and then start anew with training - slow and sure and perhaps even with a bit-LESS sidepull. There is a western trainer here in Germany - Claus Penquitt - who operates under the adage that green/young horses should first be required to canter when they`ve mastered shoulder-in and -fore, travers etc.. He says that until they have reached that point their hindquarters are too "lame" and their balance too lacking - to the extent that the canter can become an allround fiasco for everybody. He says, "wait and you will be rewarded" - I think he is right. Of course, I read him too late. We pushed Kai and insisted he canter, whether he was comfortable with it or not - whether he flipped out or not - whether we were sort of scared ourselves or not. We thought: hey, he`s a horse, he can galopp over the fields, why can`t he galopp over the sandy arena ? But he had obvious difficulty - not with pain, but with his unbalanced body (head to the left was typical). He became frustrated with himself and with us for compelling him to do the (then and for him) "impossible". This of course, lead to further "problems" when I rode him out alone. Only after alot of strict, strenuous and sweaty ground work as well as riding sessions with a time-hardened "Amazona" did Kai learn to accept the canter. But, if I had to do it all over again, I would follow Penquitt`s advice. No use pushing the horse around - that can backfire and he will always be alot stronger and quicker than you are - and potentially very dangerous - especially when they`ve lost their respect for you. If I were you I would relax (I know it`s hard) and work at the walk and the trot. Try to get him to "take the bit" at these stages. Until then his canter will be less than desirable, I can guarantee you that. When your pony excels on the circle at the trot, then I would accelerate, but not necessarily on the circle - that is too difficult and demands perhaps more collection than a young horse can muster at first, forcing him to drop back into the trot. The main thing is patience and working in small doses. Sure, a side-pull is a good device - I bought one here (from the Continental Saddle Company) and the good thing about it is that it is bit-less. We practice shoulder-in and forehand turns with it - the aids are much more distinct for Kai without any mouth contact whatsoever. I would never use it, though, in order to energetically pull his head around to the side ! If the horse is unbalanced, you will only throw him off more by forcing the issue. I can imagine that he would just get more upset and pull the other way - or even resort to throwing you off. Those are just my 2 cents - earned through hard experiences brought on by my impatience to "get going" and get my horse in gear. But it`s only 2 cents and very little for all the hard work we put into retraining him in an effort to make up for our mistakes - and haste. Kristine in Frankfurt am Main > -----Original Message----- > From: Mary Thurman [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Dienstag, 19. Januar 1999 04:26 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Cantering > > This message is from: Mary Thurman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > At first it sounded a little touchy feely to me, but my > > friend trains a LOT of horses, and for the little bit of $$$ it > costs to > > find/correct the problem, you save a lot of time and trouble trying > to train a > > horse that is in pain. > > I must add here that we also thought it was a little "touchy feely" > sounding at first. Until we tried it on one of our horses that was in > training. He was a three-year-old with about 30 days on him. He > began to have trouble picking up the canter, carried his hind legs > funny and couldn't keep in the canter. When the trainer would push on > the top of his croup near the spine with his fingers, the horse would > "drop" his hindquarters or act uncomfortable. An equine chiropractor > regularly works on horses for this trainer, so he checked the horse > out, found the problem, corrected it - and "presto", no more problems. > It truly works that fast - the horse has no more pain. Although he > may have sore muscles for a few days afterwards, due to having used > his body "wrong" for a long time. We usually give them a day or so > off after being worked on by a chiropractor, with just light exercise. > Remember, a horse has no "mental baggage" concerning a chiropractor - > he just knows that he hurt before and now he doesn't. It works for > our horses, and really isn't all that expensive. The charge for an > "adjustment" usually includes a return visit in a couple weeks to be > sure the adjustment has stayed in place. > > Mary, in wet, windy Washington > > == > Mary Thurman > Raintree Farms > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > _________________________________________________________ > DO YOU YAHOO!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
