Today I was contacted by a lovely lady on Face Book, who asked me some questions about how I do training with Art2Ride.
I feel almost enlightened, the fact that some one was interested in my training and how I Train,is such an amazing moment.
Note: I Have full consent to write this post,with her complete privacy...
Question:
If I may ask How using whip & lunge line does a person ask for lengthening of strife without speed? Stride
Answer:
How I do it is by recognizing the horses response to the cue, so when Im asking the horse to move forward into the lunge line with the whip as the signal, we first must get the horse to have a regular rhythm,once you can feel the horse moving into the bridle and you can feel the horse is listening. I use the whip as a small stroke on the belly or near the flank,the horse first will not understand and increase speed,so we bring them back to a steady balanced rhythm and just ask again until you see the horse lift their belly and the hind leg will push more under their abdominal muscles, as soon as you see a change ,stop and praise immediately,this tells the horse that they are doing the correct thing, you can give a sugar cube,lots of soft voice praise and rubs. Then just work on it little by little, so first good steady contact,then a steady regular rhythm and the trainer needs to really focus and look for the slightest try from the horse and be quick to praise the horse.
Response:
Excellent I’ll b on that this morning. Not an easy task but looking forward to it Thank you 🙏
Answer Continued:
Then really just work on building on the different aids to the horse so they understand, it takes time and its different for every horse,so you just have to try different touching on the horse,they all respond differently, but once a horse learns to really lengthen the stride and stay in a nice rhythm then you can really start to enjoy how responsive horses are, just be patient with your self and your horse, and dont be scared to experiment with your horse, the horse is the best teacher,they will tell the trainer what they are thinking,we just need to be listening,once you can see the slight changes,it all comes together easily, your most welcome☺
Question:
Another rather large horse I have a very difficult time getting him engaged. The back legs rarely have the same distance apart as the front. Sometimes after a canter he gets it but rarely & short lived. Easy to get large step over in walk. Any r Tips on engagement?
Answer:
So I would be going to work in hand and develop his hind-legs to really push underneath, When I say really engage,you will probably be sweating,because when the horse is walking and use their backs,their stride is huge, I can only handle 30 minutes max, I have big horses as well, at first I wasn't keeping up with my horse in work in hand,then I realized I was the one behind his movement, I have only being working with Art2Ride for 6 months now and when you hear William talk about the weight of the rein, well he is 100% correct, I am only doing, In hand work and When the horse is working over their back,the rein suddenly goes light,the horse does engage and lift their shoulders,the walk then some how is soft and really lovely, I no longer sweat as much but since I have felt and recognized the horse is in self carriage (weight of the rein) this is what I am training for. So if it takes 3 months of work in hand to get that feeling,then you know the horse is using their top line and core muscles. Also there will be soft white foam on the corner of the horses mouth, the bit becomes light and you can move the horse easier, If you can get your horse working at his optimal stride in walk, your on the way to developing engagement,everything else is similar,just higher gaits, thats when we use the lunge work to enhance the walk work ,in the trot and canter, I always keep an eye on how the horse is feeling, because if we ask to much,it brings us back to the start, but if we ask just the right amount on each work session,then the horse feels satisfied and has pride in what they are doing, sometimes my training is 10 minutes, then other days its longer because my horse is feeling strong and capable, I have never worked a horse longer than 1 hr when schooling, if hacking out a walk then maybe longer, I try to work with what my horses is capable of doing at the time, so if he cannot engage in trot on the lunge for more than 5 minutes,I will go back to work in hand and just keep building his and my skills, the walk work is where we teach them to lengthen,be cause we can feel the stride increase or decrease, I hope this helps
Response:
Absolutely thanks so very much 👍