# Critique Me and My Horse



## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

I haven't done one of these in a while and got some pretty good pics from my ride tonight. I figured it was time to get hammered, lol!!

First off is just Brickens. It looks like he's lost like all his topline?? I don't know how that happened? But if you have advice on how to gain it back that would be lovely.



















Now for riding pics! Bear in mind Brickens is just getting the concept of "on the bit" at the trot and I will soon be working on it at the canter. Also, his trot is not very pretty to look at. :wink:


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Now for no stirrups...



























And last but not least a bareback pic!


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## New_image (Oct 27, 2007)

He is very handsome! It doesn't look to me like he lost his top line but maybe this is something someone more familiar with this horse would notice. He has a nice short back. His over all weight, condition and coat look great, however more weight and muscle tone will build a up topline if thats what you'd like to see. Changes in his diet, maybe some "up-hill and down-hill" work outs to help build a topline. You two look nice together under saddle, He looks happy and willing.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

He is very pretty. A little uphill maybe? I love that he keeps his mouth closed even with contact on the bit.  Seems like a real sweetie.


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## RedHawk (Jun 16, 2008)

he has a, er, *cough* very nice bum, :lol: for a tb, my boy is all hollow in the flanks, not from being underweight, but coz he has no muscle.
the rest of your boy is very handsome too, lol! what do you do with him?


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## fedex (Nov 14, 2008)

No time to critique (or read below posts)

but PLEASE put keepers on!


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks everyone!

I compete in hunter/jumper with him and also take dressage lessons once a week which is very helpful for both of us. As for the topline there is no way for me to work on uphill and downhill work in the winter because the only hill on the property is covered in ice, so I'll have to wait until summer.

Fedex, thanks mine broke just few weeks ago and I haven't had time to get new one yet and I probably won't because I'm getting a new bit for him for Christmas that is a D-ring french link snaffle, so I won't need those for too much longer anyways.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Anybody else?? I'm willing to take all the advice I can get.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Awe Brickens!! *stealsthankyouverymuch*

He's over at the knee and very uphill. Nice short back, steep croup. How did you find a saddle that fits that shark-fin of a wither?!

That's all I have the motivation to critique, but I love your pictures!! 
I'll come back here when I'm more in the mood to do so


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks JDI!

Ya, saddle fitting is a real pain but the Pessoa I have right now seems to fit him pretty well. Also, it's pretty painful to ride bareback with his withers. OUCH!!

I'm looking forward to the rest of your critique.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

...cute "pony"! Love him! Bring your lower legs back, just a bit, you tend to slide into a chair seat. When you dropped your stirrups you fell into the right position but it looks like you get a little lazy and let your lower legs slide to the front of the girth... BUT VERY VERY CUTE!


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

First off... Brickens is just gorgeous ... I love his colouring and muscle tone! I'm a bit obsessed with Tb's! 

He has really nice back legs. I find a lot of TB's to be very sickle-hocked, but his hocks are pretty in line with his cannon bones, which is good. I agree with JDI, he is over at the knee, but only slightly. I don't think his topline is bad. He has very nice butt muscle. I have never seen such high withers though, but that is just his breeding. 

As for the riding pics, you two are very very cute together and it looks like you have a lot of potential. What I would suggest though, is loosening your feel on the reins. It looks like you are holding him back too much. Let his head drop more, as you soften your hands. Think about using a ton of leg and working him through the back end. You said he's still learning to be on the bit, but I wouldn't worry so much about where you want his head to be. I'm seeing a lot of tenseness in your contact. Loosen up a bit and don't worry about his head at the moment. Work on the impulsion from behind first. :wink: Also, bring your hands closer together. You have really nice leg position, especially without stirrups! Your lower leg could be slightly farther back in some pictures. 

Anyway, all in all, I think you guys are doing fantastic. Keep up the great work!


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

I agree with the above ...

Also i feel like your sturrups are a little too long and be careful about your hands, then looked to be going twds piano hands in some of the pics .. 

you both look cute tho! you are lucky to have an indoor arena!


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks for the critiques farmpony and jubilee!

Even though I'm a bit biased I do have to agree that Brickens has a very nice bum, especially for a TB. And yes his withers are extremely high, lol.

I've always had the problem with my legs sliding forward and putting me into a chair seat. I'm working tons without stirrups so hopefully that will help correct the problem.

Hmmm... I've never felt tense except sometimes without stirrups because of his bumpy trot but I'll try to work on relaxing and loosening the reins a bit and also work on pushing him from his hind end into the contact.

Thanks again!


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

We must've posted at about the same time Karley.Hall but thanks for the critique. I do have a tendency to have piano hands but usually I'm better when I have a trainer yelling at me to fix them but that ride I was on my own.

Also, I've tried shortening my stirrups but it puts me in a really awful position and makes my ankles ache really bad afterwards for some reason. So I'm going to keep them the same length.


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

fair enough, hurting really bad isn't worth it! haha 

yeah i do better at remembering things when someone is yelling at me to, totally agree! 

you look really good though!


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

oh have you thought about using draw reigns or a martingale (spelling?) to bring his head down? That worked wonders in my tb, see below(sorry about my leaning forward):


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

Don't want to be argumentative, but I would actually not recommend using draw reins. Far too many people use them unnecessarily, in my opinion.  While they can be beneficial in some cases, it creates a false frame in your horse. A lot of horses at my barn had gorgeous looking heads in the arena with draw-reins, but weren't working underneath themselves to create true impulsion and collection. In the show ring, where draw-reins are disallowed, the horse was right back to evading the bit.

Just something to think about ... :wink:


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

i agree, i didn't say to use them all the time. I can take them off my mare and she will keep the same head set, keep in mind that when i suggest something i am not saying the absolute but something that MAY work and worked for me. I don't ride her in them all the time, just once or twice a week ... them maybe not for a few weeks. Just a suggestion ...


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

sorry if i sounded sassy in the last post, i didn't mean to and was trying to hurry and reply and now that i re-read it i sounds kinda short/mean .. sorry


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## Jubilee Rose (May 28, 2008)

karley.hall said:


> sorry if i sounded sassy in the last post, i didn't mean to and was trying to hurry and reply and now that i re-read it i sounds kinda short/mean .. sorry


It's okay Karley! No offence taken. :wink: And yes, I know what you mean.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestion Karley but I'd rather stay away from stuff like that. I used to use a standing martingale on him but he was actually worse with it on than with it off so I'm not using one anymore.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

He looks cute. Like they said, you fall into a chair seat, and sometimes you look like you're sitting too far forward.  It's a work in progress, I know! 

As for the horse... topline is built by correct work. Not by hills. He needs to do some long and low work to get his back up (and make his wither look a little less like a 'shark fin'!). Remember, 'on-the-bit' is just a catch phrase. Correct work does NOT mean holding the reins steady and waiting for him to 'give'. Might as well use draw reins.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks for the advice mayfield!

I've been doing TONS of long and low work and hopefully this will help improve his topline. I'm still in the process of getting a correct frame. For now I will work on a lot of long and low work and then some rounding and collection later on to finally get a correct frame. I do have a trainer helping me and giving me tips once a week and that helps a lot during our practice rides.


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## mayfieldk (Mar 5, 2008)

That's good! 

Muscle takes at least 3 weeks to begin to build, so it just takes time. (...sigh.) lol Good luck with him! I want to see pictures when he starts to build his topline.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks again! I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Anybody else? I'll take all the advice I can get.


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## Dressage101 (Dec 20, 2008)

mudypony said:


> Thanks for the advice mayfield!
> 
> I've been doing TONS of long and low work and hopefully this will help improve his topline. I'm still in the process of getting a correct frame. For now I will work on a lot of long and low work and then some rounding and collection later on to finally get a correct frame. I do have a trainer helping me and giving me tips once a week and that helps a lot during our practice rides.


 
Good job with it all!! Two thumbs up!  I would suggest you focus on only two things maybe three things at a time. Considering that your horse is young in his training. This will help him understand your riding suggestions. It is very important that the horse works on the bit moving forward from behind. This should always be attempted in the beginning of the horses training. When the horse is properly on the bit (meaning that he is working from behind up into your hands) he will build his top line and his haunch muscles. He will look good all built up!! Oooo! And this will prepare him for great canter work and more difficult flat work as well as stronger over fences. 

Remember when you are working on his head seat, relax your inside fingers or release your inside rein, when he brings his head down. This will encourage him to look for the proper head seat instead of evading it by pulling his head up, out or down. I would suggest that you do not work on collection yet. If collection work is started to early in a horses training then he will begin to suck back away from your hands. This can be a difficult thing to fix. With a young horse it is very important to work forward! Work through your corners, direction changes, and on a circle. 

The long and low work is a great thing to end with. The horse will be happy to put his head down after working. The most important thing is that he is still on the bit moving forward when he is long and low. This will raise his back and help build his muscle. If he is just going along with his head down it won’t be of any fiscal benefit. He will most likely hollow his back and stick his nose out (this is never good!). 
 
So basically what I would suggest is:
Work forward (into your hands)
Focus on keeping him on the bit (be sure to release your inside rain as a reword) So he wants to be on the bit.
Work on a circle, three loop and figure eight ect. (to keep him balanced on both sides of his body and brain). 
This is easiest at the walk and trot (after these gaits are mastered then progress to the canter). 

Good Luck!! And Have Fun!!  
Hope this helps!!


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks for the wonderful advice! I'll be sure to work on all of the things suggested.

Oh, and also, he isn't a young horse he is actually 11 yrs old but he never understood the idea of on the bit etc. So now that he's mine I'm going back and reteaching him.


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## Dressage101 (Dec 20, 2008)

mudypony said:


> Thanks for the wonderful advice! I'll be sure to work on all of the things suggested.
> 
> Oh, and also, he isn't a young horse he is actually 11 yrs old but he never understood the idea of on the bit etc. So now that he's mine I'm going back and reteaching him.


Thank you and sure any time! Yes, I just meant young in training. Happy Riding!! Keep us posted on his training!


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## morganshow11 (Dec 19, 2008)

your horse is handsome, 
now for your critique~ your hads should be a little closer together, your thumbs should be toutching.
now for your horses critique~his whithers are a bit high, long neck, nice sloping shoulders, he is over at the knee, a bit uphill, and a steep croup. but i love your pics.


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## mudypony (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks morganshow!


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