In the previous video on 'in front of the vertical and the poll the highest point' you saw Reaven.
In this video you can see Didi going through different heights of the head and neck whilst keeping the jaw open and staying in front of the vertical. The pollisn't always the highest point though. Balance and tension is a true struggle for her. At full length she is the softest, being with her head at bow height she's engaged and moving the best and most balanced but this is asking a lot from her strength. She can't keep this posture very long just yet so she alternates with stretching down and coming up all by herself.
Stretching down she is relaxed and the softest but she drops on the forehand due to lack of engagement and impulsion when she relaxes. She also lacks strength and balance. But relaxation is the work is VERY important for me with this horse because she can become spooky and tense in a split second. So I accept the imperfections because everything is a work in progress.
Judging right from wrong is something that happens too much in the horseworld. Understanding the process and knowing where your horse is at and what your horse needs in order to become better eventually is where it all begins.
Lately I see a lot of posts coming across with the need for the poll to be the highest point and the nose in front of the vertical. I don't want my horses to be 'round'. And I strive for correct movement. I also want them engaged. Poll the highest point and nose in front on the vertical doesn't always equals correctness though.
As you can see in the first video, Reaven(the Friesian) is completely disengaged and dropping the withers while meeting the requirements of in front of the vertical and the poll being the highest point. One must look at the entire picture though and the capabilitities of the horse. Becoming overly focused at one thing and not looking at the total picture will not help or improve your horse.
In the next post you will find a video from Didi.
Learning should be a game.
Training should be a conversation.
I am not pro or against negative/positive reinforcement. I think we should be aware what both do and apply accordingly.
In this case I wanted Didi to think towards the pole. I guide her and then let her make the decision what to do with it to see if she could find the answer I was looking for: a walk over the pole.
I used positive reinforcement for this: rewarding the right answer. No force. No 'must do'. No 'it needs to be perfect'.
Just playfully discover and learn together.
Working with this one is becoming addictive ๐คฉ
๐'I've never done it before so I think I can do it'๐
That's how I felt about long reining. It never really was a part of my journey, and how I saw people connect and use them.. to be honest. I didn't see any added value of it.
But, now I felt a bit inspired and last week I decided to try out some stuff. Obviously the 'Sabine' way, not caring about 'how it's supposed to be done'.
Even though Reaven and Pura were doing the long reining as if they've done it a million times.. I would like to share some short footage of Didi. ๐ฆ
I made these videos this morning at the 3rd session that we're doing this. I have the reins going through the upper rings where the hand more or less is supposed to be and then directly attatched to the bit.
Why? Because I want to have the same feeling as when I am riding. The horse moving from back to front into a soft contact in two hands.
The most important message I want you to take from these videos is that granting your horse time to understand what to do and rewarding when they do it, is a part of training. You can't expect perfection right from the start.
Didi feels a bit restricted in this work. She is very forward thinking and loves to take over speedcontrol and now I have a bit more to say about the speed which she doesn't really like.. and.. it's a bit less of a request now ๐คช
That she is moving in a less perfect way, to figure out what direction to think towards to is okay. My main goal is to get her thinking towards the contact and create length over that topline. Nothing more, nothing less. Every attempt is rewarded with softness. โค๏ธ
I noticed with all horses how important it is to control the basics. That they understand the invite on the inside rein. My outside rein is still soft and loose. If they don't understand this on the normal lunge, I do feel it's hard to accomplish while long reining.
๐ชI also noticed how, with all horses, the working frame was very soft and solid. All 3 they showed some
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฌ
If you've followed my free course '๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ' you understand why it's so important to that the hind leg can swing freely underneath the body. The more the horse can make big strides, stepping underneath the body, the more the pelvis will tuck in and push the spine up.
In order for this to be possible, the horse needs to get space in the front to actually move. This you achieve in the ridden work by keeping your hands pushing forward and letting the horse fall into the contact. In the lunging work one seems to struggle a little bit more how to do this constructively and then start to reach out for gadgets. Unfortunately, almost every gadget blocks the horse in the front making it a lot harder for the horse to really come through from behind.
Every backwards motion in the mouth blocks the hind legs. This is not what you want to achieve!
So what you can you instead?
First of all, make sure you maintain soft contact on the lunging line, so you don't want it slacking and dragging over the floor. Then try to bring your attention to the inside hind leg and ask your horse to moving it towards the outside front leg. You're pushing your horse towards a small shoulderfore.
The diagonal line from inside hindleg to outside front leg is longer than the inside hindleg towards the inside frontleg. So asking this diagonal movement activates the hind legs of the horse asking for a biggest stride. Maintaining soft contact with the mouth creates a bit a little inward bend making this movement easier. You'll notice that after some time your horse will start moving towards the contact.
No aids needed anymore!
Enjoy trying!
