My topic today is HOW to get your horse into collection?. The answer is actually quite simple, the only problem is we humans tend to complicate things. In its simplest form collection means that your horse is stepping through with his hind feet, thus lowering his hind and elevating his front end, which will become light and cadenced. Now here is where people create all sorts of problems by using martingales tie downs etc to try and force the horses head into a frame, achieving only false collection by these methods. you MUST first teach your horse to give to the bit, secondly you MUST have your horse very responsive to your leg and seat aids. How to teach your horse to give to the bit? Its better to teach the horse one side at a time, i use a bungee cord for this with clips added, i adapted this cord with very little effort and it works just fine i will be demonstrating this technique in a video very soon. in the meantime bit your horse up with a snaffle, (Horses, if trained well will only EVER require a snaffle) anyone that uses anything more severe than this bit does not have a well trained horse and even horses that have become hard in the mouth can be re-trained by this method. stand by your horses shoulder and gently apply steady pressure to the rein and draw your horses head a little to the side, only a little, dont pull the head right round it will be uncomfortable for your horse, then hold until you see your horses head nod towards you thereby releasing the slight pressure from the bit. Its important that you do not release the pressure until your horse does then let go of the rein instantly. repeat a few times then do the same to the other side, when your horse is giving to the bit ok, draw your rein in a little more and repeat on both sides of the horse. dont be in a hurry to get results and dont use force. Use this technique over a few days, even a week, when the horse is adept at giving to the bit from both sides ONLY then teach giving to the bit from the vertical, IE both sides at the same time. For this method just take up both reins just behind the bit and gently apply a little pressure and hold until the horses head nods, then release , repeat a few times. Repeat this technique a few times every day for a week. This is the foundation work of teaching your horse to give to the bit, once you have achieved this, all things are possible. remember be gentle, be patient and be safe...
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:53:57 +0000