Quote:
Originally Posted by JustDressageIt Cute horse! If it's possible, try and get your horse working through his back in a frame; right now he's completely tensed up and you can see the huge musscle bulge he has from keeping his head high in the air. You might want to speak to a riding instructor about this as it does affect your horse's soundness and movement. |
BAH! JDI, imma whack you for taking my response :p
I completely agree with JDI, get with your Riding Instructor (or find a good Riding Instructor) and get help putting him into a frame. You will have a MUCH better ride. See how strung out he is in the video? His head is waaaaay up in the air, and the nose is tipped -away- from the inside.
When I canter my horses, I keep a good inside bend on them, nose tipped to the inside slightly, and get them to engage their back end which in turn gives me a good over all frame/head carriage. Really get him to ride into that headstall (i literally have an image of the horse's head pushing into the brow band when I think about the hind end impulsion. I know that sounds funny ^^) He'll really ride into his stride and give you a good earnest canter.
Right now since his head is all up and strung out, all that energy he is producing from his hind end is flowing straight through his body and off the bridge of his nose and out into the air. His stride is short and unfocused, he has the potential to really be a beautiful ride if he got working in a frame =)
Having his head high and nose tipped to the outside will also result in more opportunities of him breaking from the canter to the trot ;) keeping the bend and collection will keep him more focused on what he is doing at the moment. Whenever I see a horse canter with his head high like that, it always looks like he is thinking "... I wonder what i'm going to eat for dinner tonight....... did I leave my waterer on?!....... Man, I can't believe my neighbor bit me last night!" and they slowly forget what they are doing, and then break to the trot :p
Skippy! Actually tripped and stumbled a lot if I ever let him ride strung out like that. He wasnt paying any attention to the ground and would drag his feet. He fell over on me twice =/ 100% my fault.
I think you two have the potential of being very good riding partners!