Advice please?

Question

I ride a friends very healthy 21 year old mare about once a week. She is a lovely horse, very sweet and steady. I was just wondering what the best way to get her to pick her head up when schooling is, she tends to lean quite heavily on the bit. I would also like to be able to get her to extend her strides slightly more as she has a tendancy to be quite 'choppy' especially in trot. Any exercises or ideas would be great!

By healthy, I was implying that she has no known aches/pain. She has been checked over by the vet very recently and shows no stiffness after work. She enjoys her work, and has never shown any indication that her age is holding her back. I always warm her up well before work and never push her hard. I and her owner believe that the leaning is due to her being lazy. I simply wanted some ideas on how to 'pep' her up in the school.

Answer 1

tds has the exact right idea -- you need to push her forward with your seat and legs. This will help her get her balance so that she won't have to rely on the bit. And it will help move her forward.

Suppling exercises are also EXCELLENT for improving balance. You need to circle, circle, circle -- and then circle some more -- WHILE you are pushing her forward. Big circles. Little circles. Half-circles (serpentines). At the walk, trot and canter. BOTH directions. Make SURE that you make CIRCLES, not oblongs or ovals or flat-sides. And of course you need to vary it with other things so that you both don't get dizzy! But circling improves supleness and balance and can make a HUGE difference in the way a horse goes.

Another 'trick' that might help -- strengthen her hind end by BACKING uphill. This is will make a HUGE difference but start out SLOWLY. This is hard, hard work for a horse -- start with only one or two steps and work up to more.

And for anyone who thinks 21 is OLD -- no way!! Today's horses can be ridden WELL into their 20s -- and beyond! I retired my horse at THIRTY ONE. And he was very healthy even then. As long as the horse is healthy and in good condition, there is no reason not to ride -- and even WORK -- her.

Answer 2

Honey, maybe the mare is in pain. She is older, after all, and even though she is healthy she may still suffer from the aches and pains older horses experience.
I would not bother trying to change this mare's ways. she would be OK to ride for pleasure, but please stop "working" this old girl. She's likely done enough and deserves a respite.
Have her vet checked to make sure my suspicions are correct. I had a gelding who died at age 30 and he was extremely "healthy" - just old. I stopped riding him on trails at age 27, but let kids and light adults ride him because he enjoyed it. He would get angry when I rode my new mare, and if I were riding in the pasture, he would run ahead of us, stop and look backward as if to say "You're on the WRONG horse!"
Oh, how I miss him.

Answer 3

From what you described I would have to say that the equine you are riding has a naturally low headset- which you should be thankful for. What you may be thinking as laziness could just be her natural structure and if you are trying to get her to pick up her head by using the reins this will cause an equine to be heavy or mouthy.
Horse's are built the way they are for a reason- allow her to keep her head in the position she want's too and I have a feeling that it would also fix her choppy trot. If you are picking up the reins to get her to lift her head this will cause her to fight the bit and become unbalanced. By her naturally low head set she will be smoother in riding and transitions if you allow her to keep her head in place.
Try developing yourself more as a rider and not use the reins so much. Allow them to relax, yourself to relax and use your legs for cues and directing. This will relax the mare and allow her to travel at peace and give you a more enjoyable mount.

Answer 4

As far as exercises I would recommend using trotting poles. The farther you spread the poles the longer her stride will have to open up to to get through. To pick her head up i would recommend the obvious, shorten up your reins and keep her alert and interested in what she is supposed to be doing. If she is not bored or nervous, toward a new exercise she will become alert and pick her head up. Also depending on what type of bit you use you could try bit keepers that will use reverse leverage and tilt your horses head up. Over all, keep you horse interested and alert and if you grow a strong bond with her and try new things you will get results.

Hope this Helps!!

Answer 5

She sounds heavy on her forehand which can be helped by lunging in side reins. Set the side reins on the mid to higher sides of your surcingle and push her forward (not fast) with a whip or your arm extended (depending on the horse). Lots of lunging. Then when she does it under saddle, reinforcing the idea (with out the side reins!) a light- right, left, right, left, and a on and off slight sqeeze with both legs (not kicking) can help her rock back. It will not be instant and you will have to do it several times to remind her. If you free up her front end, getting her off her forehand, she should be able to stretch out a bit for you. BUT I asume I need not remind you of her age, She could be acting this way because of an ailment. I would have her back, feet, and legs checked (for a start), just as a precaution. Also you could be dealing with a confirmation fault, which you can not fix. Hey, it's worth a shot to try though! Good Luck!

Answer 6

You need to push her forward with your seat and your legs. This will encourage her to bring her hind end up underneath her which will encourage her head up. To begin with you may have to use your hands to help hold her up as she wont be used to carrying herself balanced but make sure you are no in her mouth or rough on it. As she begins to carry herself correctly, you will need less and less use of your hands. Also, balanced (you being balanced) transitions will also help. As you ask for a downward transition, ride through the transition keeping her balanced, either asking her to go from walk to trot, trot to canter or vice versa. By doing transitions she will have to carry herself more balanced or be worried about falling. Utilizing your legs and seat will also encourage the stride to lengthen. The stride will be limited to her movements so dont necesarily expect dramatic improvment. Also utilize trot poles. Begin by placing them at her normal stride and then begin distancing them a little at a time. Be careful though as if she is extremely clumsy this wont work. Also, dont use too many poles until you find out how well it works. Another great tool to use from the ground is the use of a Pessoa. You can pick up cheap ones on the internet. Its a lunging training aid that ecourages the horse to carry its own body correctly balanced. if they fall on the forehand, it will pull the rear up underneath them which will cause the head to come up. Also, due to her age, you may want to stretch her out before you ride her. Stand beside her like you are going to pick her feet out and then slowly began to pull it forward. She may have to get used to it so be careful. extend the leg out straight for a stretch. Then take it back to the postition like you are going to pick her feet out with the knee bent and raise the knee slightly and bring her foot toward her girth. Be gentle and make sure not to extend beyond her ability. The back legs will be pulled up like you are going to pick out the feet and just raised. This should help a little.

Answer 7

Try a cherry roller bit, worked wonders for a mare I used to ride who leaned.

Answer 8

my old horse did this it was cuz she couldent see very well the vet recomended we dident ride her but just walk her or run here in the circle pen for excerize

Answer 9

about the choppyness that is something that u can not change but about the head try easin up on her not pullin on the reins