Friday, July 31, 2009

Hunter to western?

Ok... so my horse gets the walk and the jog but doesn't get the lope. She is so used to the faster canter of hunter that it is very difficult to get her slower. I don't want to pull on her mouth too much because she was trained earlier to ride with no bridle. The only reason I put a bridle on her was because of showing. Also she is not the tough training type. She is a very sensitive mare.
Answers:
Slowing down a canter to a lope takes ride time. Often we tend of canter a horse for just a short amount of time and then slow them down. The horse needs to realize that he may be loping a long time. This is best accomplished by riding in a open field perhaps following a fence line and not around and around and around a small circle. (hard on the legs and the brain). The key to a nice western lope is to relax the horse.
Is your horse doing a relaxed slow jog or a collected jig. When the horse walks do you allow it to really walk out relaxed (his ears will flop when he is truly relaxed) or do you try to make him walk slow.
Too many western "pleasure" horses move like they are in a box stiff and draggy. This is hard on the horse both physically and mentally. Moving in a nice balanced frame, relaxed and comfortable for both the horse and the rider should be what western PLEASURE is all about.
Since you already ride English hopefully you understand how to collect a horse and move him off his hindquarters. Lightening the shoulder and relaxing his body and mind should produce a wonderful western lope. Good luck and don't fall for quick fixes such as bitting and training devices. Training a horse takes TIME and Riding. I wish horses came with odometers.
To slow her, practice riding her in small circles at the lope until she slows. Check her with alternating rein.
Getting a lope is a hard thing for even a western horse - it takes a lot of time. Practice, practice, practice. Try using a hackamore on her, so you don't pull on her mouth. A kimberwick is a pretty strong bit. When you ride, think "canter as slow as we can go". Make it a game. How slow can you go without trotting. It will take time,but she will figure it out for sure.
One thing, and I know it's a bad thing - you can let her drop onto her forhand to teach her to lope - she'll slow down naturally if she's on her forehand and you can use that to your advantage.
ok reach way down with ur heals SIT BACK and keep ur feet forward pull the rain closest to the rail and pick up the other rain and hold it there and push her hip over with ur leg(side tward fence) all while asking for the lope and the whole time u are lopeing i promise that this will work and if ur horse has that bad of a mouth problem than keep an ok tight rain on her while doing this

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