This message is from: Robin Churchill <rbc...@yahoo.com>
I was thinking about this topic this morning as I worked my two fjord geldings. In my opinion or experience, sometimes this is easier said than done. What we all want is for the horse to carry themselves and do the work instead of us doing the work for them. How quickly or if they ever do this ability depends on the horse's conformation and temperament as well as the skill and temperament of the rider. It took me years to ride well enough and have enough skill to get my warmblood to carry himself. It was the reason I got into fjords as a matter of fact, but what I didn't realize at the time was that it was my lack of skill and timidness that was making the horse miserable to ride. However, the techniques I used to make that horse carry himself have not worked on one of the fjords I am riding now. The warmblood was very big and long-necked, a little too straight in the hock and stifle and somewhat lazy. He liked to carry his poll low and go behind the vertical and refused to take the connection making it impossible to half-halt. Part of the issue with him was that in my inexperience and timidness, I did not let him or make him go consistantly forward and would let him stop if something felt bad. What happened was that I trained him that he didn't have to carry himself especially in the canter and that he could lean on me and pull me around in the trot when he wanted to. This horse also had a lot of health issues and had periodic breaks from work so he had to kind of be "restarted" every so often. Eventually long after I had my first couple fjords and developed more skill and confidence, I was able to retrain this horse and he became really fun to ride. Unfortunately now his health problems have caused him to be a pasture ornament but we had about 2 years that he was really a joy to ride. What worked with him was to not care what he did with his head except not to let him go behind the vertical and get him very forward then gradually as he gained strength take the connection and eventually he would connect in the bridle. Also I had someone help me ride him in the canter because his favorite trick was to just wear you out in the canter so you would just get tired and frustrated and give up. We would tag team him so pretty soon he was cantering twice as long and eventually he gained the strength to carry himself in the canter and the canter became easy to ride. This was after years of literally having him drag me around and work me to death and drop out of the canter when he wanted to. I tried this technique with one of my fjords who is difficult to put in the correct frame and it didn't work at all. This horse is the opposite of that horse in that he being a fjord has a shorter neck and shorter back. Of the two fjords I have, he is the draftier. He likes to stick his head out and go around strung out and letting him go forward in a strung out frame and trying to gradually bring him in doesn't work at all. I am still struggling with him especially in the hot weather which he hates and realize now the mistakes I made with him earlier --one being that because I don't like the feeling when the horse pulls or gets heavy, I would give. What that teaches the horse is that if he pulls or gets heavy, the reins get longer and he doesn't have to stay in that pesky frame and work from behind. I think with this horse if I had taught him in the beginning that if he pulled or got heavy that he was going to get tapped from behind and that there would be no give until he gave that I wouldn't be struggling as much with him now. I mistakenly thought at the beginning that if he was forward he would naturally go into the correct frame which just isn't true for this horse. Putting him in shoulder-fore helps because it makes him step over with his inside leg and carry more behind but I still find him to be a challenge. One thing that also made it more difficult was that for whatever reason, this horse was scared to death of the whip when I got him. I have taught him not to be afraid of the whip, but it took a year or more for him to accept the whip without freaking out a little. I feel like you need to be able to tap them when they need it otherwise if they are a little lazy, you end up just using more and more leg until they are completely unresponsive to it. BTW there is a good article in I think the July Dressage Today by Jane Savoie about getting your horse to go forward on his own accord. On the other hand the other fjord gelding that I have now is the same age and same height as the one above but different conformationally and is no problem to put on the bit. Both of these horses had training from a competent dressage trainer in the beginning so that isn't the difference in them. It is just easier for the second guy. His neck is longer, his back is longer and he is built lighter and tolerates the heat better. So the point I am trying to make is that if you have a horse that is naturally suited to come under themselves and has the conformation to make it easy for them, then it becomes much easier to work them correctly. Also the horse has to go forward and mistakes the rider makes can prevent the horse from learning or being willing to carry themselves. The advantage trainers have is that they are usually confident, unafraid and have developed good timing with their aids which makes their corrections very clear to the horse that is why they can get horses to go correctly a lot faster than the rest of us. Hope everyone is having a good summer and making progress with their fjords, Robin in SW Florida where it was raining every day for about 2 weeks but now is sweltering. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l
