Horse Hints for July 1997

Question for Weeks of July 7th and July 14th answered by Kathy McBride of McBride Warmbloods

What are some useful excersises to get my horse to lengthen and shorten his stride in between fences?

I tend to work on a lot of dressage with my jumpers. I teach them first to lengthen their stride before working on any collection exercises. Initially all you are after is rounding of the top line and the stretching "out and down" of the head. When the extensions are beginning to come, I will work on collection using the standard dressage exercises.

Only when the horse has learned to extend and collect on the flat, I start to ask him to over fences. First you must get the horse moving forward over a two stride pair of 3' oxers and figure out his"comfortable" distance. This is usually around 36' for a 16 hh. horse. After you find his "normal" distance you can use that distance as a midpoint from which to teach him to lengthen and shorten his stride.

Due to the fact that it tends to be easier for the horse to go long, I first work on lengthening. I teach the horse to move forward over his jumps. When he is moving well forward with no chipping or sucking back, I will add about a foot between a two stride , usually a ramped oxer to a ramped oxer, and then ask him to move more forward and start to stretch. I use oxers when teaching the horse to lengthen as I find it is much easier for the horse. As the horse becomes adept at a distance, I increase the distance more. However I never go more than 4' long as it is asking too much of the horse.

As the distance gets wider between the two jumps, you can actually bring the horse in close on the takeoff of the first jump in order to "help him out". This will allow him to finish long over jump one thus shortening the distance to jump two! Make sure you allow him enough room on the takeoff side of jump one to allow him to get his knees up without hitting the top rail. The ramped oxers give a little extra time for the horse to get his knees out of the way. As the horse becomes more proficient I will use even oxers and later add verticals.

When teaching a horse to shorten between jumps, I start with two 3' verticals. The natural tendency is to collect the horse more when approaching a vertical so the horses stride is already shortened. Again, I start the same way with only a 1' move of the jump inwards. As the horse learns to rock back on his haunches and "bounce" his stride will begin to shorten. The maximum I go "in" is about 4'.

When jumping the first fence pick a long takeoff spot to allow a shorter landing thus allowing extra room between the jumps. When the striding is short between fences your movement has to be more vertical than horizontal.

Now I will mix the jumps, going long to a vertical from an oxer, short between oxers, long between verticals, etc. Initially I only make small changes and gradually increase them. If you ask for too much at once you will either have a rail or crash, so be careful NOT to ask for more than the horse can give!

It takes several months or longer to teach your horse to lengthen and shorten his stride and it all starts with dressage work. The work over fences is just an extension of your dressage basics. The tricks of jumping from a long or short takeoff spot just make the horses job easier.

Question For Week of July 21st answered by J.Leslie and Marny Wagschal of Shalom Farm Arabians Inc.

"What are some specific exercises you can do to get a horse to round up at the back? My horse has a long back and although she moves forward nicely and with long strides, she doesn't track up. What can I do?"

Exercises to make a horse round his back and lengthen his strides are:

1. Horse has to be put on the bit, not by holding or pulling on the reins, but by driving with your seat and legs into your hands.

2. Forward and down in walk first, later on in trot and eventually in canter.

3. Use trotting poles (cavalettis) 4'0 - 4'3 apart, at least 3 and max. 5 poles and trot over them, making sure that the horse only puts one trot step per opening. Do not try this exercise before you have mastered the # 1. & 2 exercise.

The above exercises will make the horse engage his rear end, round his back and strengthen his back.

Question for the week of July 27th answered by Catherine Sampson of Trillium Morgan Horse Farm

"My horse has just recently (we started working on this last year) begun to stay in self carriage consistently. She doesn't resist the bit during turns, upward transitions, or changes in direction but when I ask for a downward transition (worst is from walk to halt), she comes out of the frame and sticks her head up. I don't understand this because I have always been gentle with her mouth and have used mainly the seat and leg to round her up. She has a very thick plain snaffle..about the lightest bit you can find. The aids I give her are: closing my legs and deepening my seat (which she accepts) and then closing my fingers on the reins and releasing. As soon as she feels the increased contact she gets upset. What can I do??"

Since everything seems in logical order to ask for transitions downward and the equipment used, specifically the bit is mild, you might be looking at the horse's back as a possible source of the problem. A sore back will cause a raised head, especially when you sit deep and close the contact. Try doing some sensitivity tests on her back to see if you get some reaction. Simply run the tip of your fingers gently down her spine on either side. Your saddle fit might not be quite right as well. You might also try not sitting quite so deep and softening the contact. Have the horse's teeth inspected for sharp edges as well.