From: Aveline
Hello Jessica
I would just like to tell you again how great Horse-Sense is, I learn tons from reading other people's questions, and even if I don't have a problem like it, the philosophy behind it can be applied to problems I might have =)
I have two questions for regarding my 4 year old TB mare, Chloe. I got her about 2 months ago. I ride her in a single jointed D ring snaffle with copper rollers for her to play with.
I had been riding her daily because that's what I thought I was supposed to do. Every article and whatnot I remember reading on working with green horses said daily excercise was best for them. So that's what I did, I worked her daily. I usually rode for a total of 30-45mins including warm up and cool down. I did mostly flat work, walk/trot/halt transisions and a little canter, all on a loose rein, then once a week some little fences, sometimes I rode and sometimes I lunged. Then my coach told me I was riding her too much and should only ride her 4-5 times a week. So I asked around some more and got about 500 different opinions on how often I should excercise my mare. Some people say daily excercise will do her a world of good, others say she needs a couple of days off every week. And some said I shouldn't jump her at all. I really respect your opinion and would like to know what it is on this matter? How often is it best to ride her (both now and when she gets older)? And should I stop jumping her until she is 5?
My next problem is getting Chloe to halt. Like I said I like to ride her on a very loose rein, she doesn't even go too fast at the canter with little to no contact. For downwards transitions all I have to do it squeeze my fingers and make my body as rigid as possible and she listens fine, unless I ask for a halt. If I do the usual she just keeps on walking. The only way I have been able to halt her is by shortening my reins and pulling on her mouth, something I hate doing. I always ask as nicely as possible and only gradually take away more rein then release as soon as she halts. Her mouth is not hard and she knows what I want her to do because she listens perfectly for all other downwards transitions. The only time I can get her to halt with the squeezing of my fingers is when I'm halting her to get off at the end a ride. I've tried everything I can think of, sitting there rigid with my fingers tight with the intention of releasing as soon as she halts, but she just keeps on walking for ever and ever. I always release after she does halt and I keep hoping that she will halt without me having to pull so hard but it dosen't happen unless it's the end of the ride and she knows we are done and Wants to halt. I really really really hate pulling so hard on her mouth and I wish I could get her to listen to my cue to halt when I want her to. Is there anything I can do? Maybe I should ride with shorter reins? My coach is constantly telling me I should but I want my mare to respond to tiny light cues and learn to carry herself with as little interference from me as possible. I usually have a very light contact, enough for her to feel if I'm squeezing my fingers or not, but I also let her walk/trot/canter without any contact too. And ideas you have that could help me would be much apreciated.
Thank you very much,
Aveline and Chloe =)
P.S. Sorry for such a long post!
Chloe sounds like a very sweet young mare. Daily exercise IS good for horses, and Chloe should get plenty of exercise. She is still very young, though, so I hope that she is turned out most of the time, and gets a good deal of exercise just walking around her field.
Your riding program sounds reasonable, although a little ambitious for a young mare like Chloe. I I would try to work her in the ring every OTHER day, and go out on the trails in between. As for the jumping, yes, I'd wait until she's five. With some more variety in her work, and without the jumping, she's less likely to become bored -- or sore.
Days off are useful IF the day off is spent in a field -- it lets the horse refresh its body and mind, and it also gives any stressed or strained areas a little chance to recover before the next stress. On the other hand, a "day off" in a stall is just a day without exercise, which isn't helpful at all. If Chloe lives outdoors, and a "day off" means a day in the field, then one day off every week isn't a bad idea. If you do your ringwork three days a week, trail ride three days, and give the horse one day just to play in the field all day, she should be just fine.
Halts aren't the easiest thing for young, developing horses to learn under saddle. At Chloe's age, she's lower in front than she will be when she is full-grown, and that affects her balance. Also, it's much more difficult for her to understand when she isn't being ridden on contact!
I agree with your coach about this, by the way. You'll be a better rider, and Chloe will be a better horse and a happier one, if you learn to ride her on contact all the time. "Contact" doesn't mean "pressure" or "pulling" -- it just means that you ride her on a lightly-stretched rein, so that you can feel exactly what she is doing with her mouth, and she can feel exactly what you are doing with your fingers.
Riding OFF contact is fine if you are a Western rider using a curb and riding a horse that has been trained to respond to just the movements that the bit makes when you shift your rein hand up, down, or to one side or the other. There is NEVER any tension on the reins.
Riding off contact is NOT fine if you are an English rider, working your horse in a snaffle. Your aim is to help her understand your quiet aids, INCLUDING your REIN aids. You can't do this with the reins looping. And, as you've found, there are many times when you need that contact, so you have to shorten your reins and pick up the contact. This is one problem -- no matter how gentle you try to be, you're snatching her in the mouth when you suddenly pick up the contact. There's no way to sneak up on a horse and go from looped reins to contact -- and there's no need to, if you maintain a soft, supporting, conversational contact throughout your ride. Your reins can be short, long, or in between -- ask your coach to help you find the right length for your mare at each gait. You'll find that the halts are much easier, and you'll find that you will use MUCH less strength on the rein. A soft squeeze with one finger is enough on a well-trained horse, which is what you want Chloe to be.
There is another problem, too. Without riding on contact, you can't learn to follow your horse's movements well, you can't develop an educated hand.
Don't worry that contact will hurt or offend Chloe -- it won't. I know that you want to be "light", but at this point in Chloe's training -- and yours -- dropping the reins isn't being "light", it's "throwing her away". She needs the contact to understand what you're asking her, and for her security: soft elastic contact is like holding a friend's hand. ;-) If, instead, you keep the reins loose until you want something, and then tighten them, it's like walking next to your friend, not holding hands, but just poking her hard when you want her to stop or look at something. You can guess which one is more comfortable, and better communication!
Chloe will balance better and feel much more secure if the circle of communication is unbroken, as it should be. When you ride, you should feel that your leg on her side creates energy that goes through her body, through the top of her back and into her neck, making her neck a little longer, and then into her head and mouth and into the bit and back through the reins into your hands and arms and body, where it all begins again. If you cut out any part of that circle, the communication is lost.
Have your coach help you learn to ride on contact, and don't worry if it's a much firmer feeling than you were expecting. The horse, not the rider, should be the one to determine how MUCH contact there will be, and young/green horses are invariably heavier in front and so take a much stronger contact, than older/trained horses. Let Chloe tell you what makes her comfortable, and then go with that. As she gets older, stronger, and better-balanced, she'll take a lighter contact.
If you're worried about hurting Chloe's mouth, you can put her into a gentler bit: a French-link snaffle (NOT a Dr. Bristol!) or a mullen-mouht snaffle.
Your coach sounds very sensible, and I'm sure she'll be glad to help you with this. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.