# critique my horse and I



## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

The video is private! :/


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

wishing you luck ,and wishing I could have seen that video.


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## Ashleysmardigrasgirl (Jun 28, 2012)

xP bummer! I think I've fixed it lmk if anyone still can't see it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWywVO2K2xk&feature=youtu.be


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Not fond of draw reins. You have a really big arena, but you are riding like it's smaller than it is. Your horse looks annoyed with some of your upward transitions. I would use the whole arena and begin by letting your horse out and work on downward transitions from a working canter. Then, I would transition upwards. You look like you are a bit afraid to let him out. If you canter using a Clinton Anderson trick, on a lightly loose rein, and just let him canter wherever he wishes to go, BUT, when he starts to slow, drive him forward to keep cantering much longer than he wants to, he will listen to your half halt better. Horses are lazy and that is hard work.
Sometimes, if you let your horse enjoy himself by letting him "play", he will enjoy the schooling more. You could create some interest for him by using what you have. I noticed that there are barrels in the arena. I'm betting there are poles that you could put down, and use them for both trotting poles and serpentines and pretending (to your horse) that you are practicing for trail competitions, where you walk into and then back out of a "standing stall's width", made by the poles. I would also begin work on 3 tracks by changing from the outside track to the track just inside of it, back again, and repeat, but only repeat about 1/2 way down the long wall. Circling at the canter at end each of the arena with less contact and he'd be happier.
You could use more weight in your seat. You should end each schooling session by dropping your stirrups when you are walking cool. =D


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## updownrider (Mar 31, 2009)

Draw reins definitely have their purpose, but I do not think they are working for you. Your horse is not moving forward and you have your horse's head tucked in too much so he can't go anywhere. Draw reins are an aid that can help you train your horse to accept light contact and balance better, but first your horse must move freely from behind before you take up contact with your hands. 

One thing I think you can work on is when your horse ducks, you should immediately correct him instead of allowing him to continue in the new direction he has chosen. He is getting away it and will continue to choose his own path unless there is some sort of action. If you are trotting or cantering left and he ducks and changes direction to the right, stop and turn him to make him go back left in the original direction. He will be a much more enjoyable rideable horse if you can end this behavior. Good luck.


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## Ashleysmardigrasgirl (Jun 28, 2012)

I use draw reins as per recommended by my trainer but, I will keep those mentions in mind! 

Thanks for the suggestions I hope to implement some this evening!


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## SaraM (Feb 14, 2014)

First off, I always seem to focus on the negative- but you guys are very cute! He's a really nice little guy, and you seem like a good rider, with a nice quiet seat.

One thing I see a lot, is that he does not have a good sense of straight and forward. There were hardly any times when he was legitimately 'straight', in that his hind end was fish tailing around a lot behind him. You appear to thinking very much about his headset rather than thinking about pushing his hind end up straight behind him. Even on circles (which I think are too small for his training level) his hind end should be following straight in line behind the fronts, even if that is on a curve. Right now, his shoulders tend to drift through your outside rein (and really I'm not sure if you can effectively correct that when you have draw reins on). So I would work on straight and forward, keep his hind end straight behind him, more impulsion helps with that. Every time he picked up the wrong lead or cross cantered, I could see it coming because his hind end was not connected to the front, they were off drifting around. Straight and forward will help with that. 

When he's being 'bad' about switching directions, I would NOT correct him by making him overbend. He's doing that because he's not straight, and you do not have control of his hind end straight behind him; _he's getting crooked to get away from you, so I would not make him more crooked as a correction._ I would do the opposite and work on really straight and really getting control of his hind end to fix that. 

He definitely needs more forward, at all gaits; although it looks better when you're in the whole arena. In the very beginning of the video, the trot is better in my opinion when you do that first diagonal, but the circle before that is way way too sluggish and lazy. It looks like maybe you are trying to collect him before sending him out on the diagonal? A "collected" trot is not slow and lazy, it should have the same energy as an extension just covering less ground. Same thing at the canter; cantering on the spot is not good unless he is actively jumping through the canter with the same energy as a good forward working canter. Please don't let him canter on the spot, at the start of a transition, during, or any time really - my horse learned that at one point and it's something he'll never forget; it's always a thing he'll try when he wants to be disobedient now. Anytime he starts that, abort and get him immediately forward, a hand gallop, whatever you're comfortable doing. It's a lousy thing for a horse to learn.

I also would not use the draw reins, sorry. I can see why a trainer would want you to use them; heavier built horses often seem to have trouble rounding their back and tend to stick their nose out and get heavy, but this set up is not helping you. His neck is at his chest, yeah, but his back is not round and he is not forwardly pushing into the contact to create impulsion. If you don't look at his headset, his body is not collected, so it's sort of fooling yourself into thinking he is.

You guys have some stuff to work out, but you have a good start, really. Do you show him?


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## Ashleysmardigrasgirl (Jun 28, 2012)

No, we don't show  we embarrass ourselves enough at our lessons & clinics hahaha. I've never used draw reins before but, as Ive already said my trainer suggested I use them last Winter and so I have been. I'm interested to see what she thinks of how he is going now as she has not seen him in 6 months. He is fairly sluggish and lazy in demeanor and having had 5 months off and this was his 4th ride since being back into work, hasn't helped much but, our next lesson is Saturday. Either way, I really appreciate the comments & if any of you can think of anything else we'd love to hear it! I'd love to do whatever I can to be a better rider for my boy as he tries really hard for me.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I could see very little, due to poor resolution of the video. I wish I could have seen better. one small thing I saw a bit was that when your horse was overbending, you, too were a bit bending too much to the inside, so you were in effect, enabling him.


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## BearPony (Jan 9, 2013)

If I were you I would ditch the draw reins and focus first on getting him to move happily forward and then on going straight. You will find that if he's moving forward it will be easier to keep him straight. He's a nice looking horse, you look to be a solid rider and you certainly don't appear to "need" the draw reins to maintain control of him 

My husband's QH mare (who I do most of the "training" with) is much the same. If you keep her forward she will happily go straight on a loose rein or a light contact but if you lose the forward motion she is the grand champion of ducking with her shoulder or sort of crab stepping sideways or attempting to "move" in place with no impulsion. She came to us with the same tendency to duck behind the bit a little, so we start each ride with little/no contact with the reins until she's nicely and willingly moving forward and straight. This was not pretty the first few rides - as I had to back up my leg aids with a crop and ride quite strongly forward in a bit of a hand gallop until she understood that I was serious about this going forward business!

I would ask your trainer why the draw reins have been recommended and how exactly they are supposed to be helpful. Have you been riding in them every ride since last winter? They really aren't meant to be used long term as at a certain point they become a crutch rather than a training aid. I also don't think using them on a horse coming back after a long break is particularly fair as he likely doesn't have the muscle/strength to really carry himself properly and round his back for long periods of time.

I think your horse is SUPER cute and I think the two of you have the potential to be successful at a variety of things - he looks like he will be a steady all arounder sort with more training and miles.


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