Need help with driving from behind

Yes_But_Neigh · Need help with driving from behind

Hey guys,
So my guy Bodie is developing a big thick muscle in the middle of his neck and I know the thickest point of his neck should be near his withers. SO- can I get some help with excericses I can do to get him to step underneath himself and really use his hind end to propel himself forward? I am doing a lot of walk/gait/stop/walk/gait/walk/stop (you get the idea) transitions to get him really working well but I must be riding him incorrect since he is developing that bulge there which makes me think I am artifically "bending" him. He's really soft on the bit but he's being ridden in a leverage bit and I just ordered a swivle snaffle so I can be sure he isn't just bending away from the pressure.

I've attatched a picture so you can see where he's developing those muscles.

Any help is much appreciated

(Note: He's not usually in this frame, he was just tucking his nose in for a second and I happened to catch this picture)

Clarissa

YBN pretty much half of all the biomechanic type discussions we have here on this forum are about this very thing. It’s all to do with your horse pushing on the halter & carrying himself on his front end rather than on his HQ, lightening his front end & lift his neck up into the halter.

You may find you look down a lot, keep pressure on the rein or lead rope, cause him to throw his head up in the backup or doing any other exercise too. Also he might be dropping his back down to get away from the saddle which causes the head to go up like that too.

I noted you said he is being ridden in a leverage bit. That certainly won't help one little bit & it will be a good day when he never has to wear it again until he is balanced properly.

I saw it in your avatar photo just how tight & blown out his neck was. He seems to be tensing his jaw & perhaps holding his breath. Does he have hollow flanks or tension behind the last rib?

He seems to be not releasing at the pole & is breaking at the 3rd vertebrae in that photo above.

No amount of transitions will get the horse off it’s front end if it has already gotten habituated to going onto the frontend. The horse is quite capable of doing those gaits while being very heavy. You’ll just feel really uncomfortable & have a rough ride & seem to get thrown around or have the saddle move to one side, etc.

Have a look at the http://academicartofriding.com/ & read what she says about how horses get unbalanced & what to do about it. There are 100 others too that address this very thing you describe.

In the Links section I placed a post containing many links to websites that have good info about correct biomechanics.
http://itsaboutthehorse.myfastforum.org/about769.html

Yes_But_Neigh

Haha Clarissa, I just spent half an hour searching through all of the phrases I thought I'd used to post this topic. I think you are SPOT ON about Bodie. I didn't even notice how his neck is shaped in my avatar until you pointed it out. I think you must be right on him holding his breath. He makes this funny noise when we have been gaiting. It isn't constant and it isn't roaring either. It just sounds like he is having a hard time breathing. I should have the vet or someone look at him and do some respiratory work on him. Like I said, it isn't a consistant noise and now that I think about it, I don't know if it's even when he's working hard. I will have to pay attention better when we are out because it isn't loud it just sounds like he is breathing out harder than breathing in if that makes sense. I wouldn't be surprised if one of his ribs is out. His back goes down away from the curry even when I am softly scrubbing him with it. We've got a really good fitting dressage saddle on him now but before I came along, he was wearing a really heavy, ill fitting western saddle that didn't let his shoulders move at all. I've been doing the ubderstreichen stretches with him and since he is so food motivated, it has been really easy but I am not sure if they are even helping since it is for such a short period of time I don't know how it could be building muscle. We've also been doing carrot stretches to both sides of his rib cage. He is learning quite well how to half pass and I really appreciate all of the help you've given me.

thelmanelle

Hi,
I want to apologize for not going to Clarissa's link. Running short of time.

On driving from behind, if your horse trust you behind and you have a round pen, you can gradually introduce ground driving. I was given a lesson originally from a former PNH faculty member in my arena on this very thing to get ready for the plow or so it seems the buggy.

We use the fence side of the arena or the round pen to keep one side in line with the twenty-two foot line and from behind , I use a CS and SS to encourage him to stay inline to the arena or round pen. if he got to fast, I released with the CS/SS and we started over or I just stopped.

I always used a calm voice.

Later, we did have our ups and downs, thanks to a trainer that did not know my harness and wagon set-up and did not tell me. But, that was how we got started.

The experienced guys are really good teachers and they are not always harsh. In fact, they can be rather gentle and caring. So I have found out. Surprisingly, some of them use NH and have...always...got to love those plow boys and girls!

Clarissa

OH Thelma, I think you are thinking about 'driving' as in driving a team or single horse for the purposes of pulling a vehicle or implement.

YBN is asking about 'driving' being the horse using it's HQ to propel itself forward!! Rather than 'pull' itself forward using it's FH with incorrect biomechanics.

When I first saw the name of this thread I thought the same thing as Thelma but due to knowing what YBN had been posting about elsewhere I quickly realised what the meaning was.

However the info you gave Thelma is still very good for anyone planning to teach their horse to 'drive'!

thelmanelle

Julie

Have a you a pic of him working from the side. From above he looks behind the vertical, which means he will not and cannot work from behind.

be aware that changing to a better fitting saddle may mean the horse muscling out into a new barrier, so may get better, then worse again

PasoBaby_CarolU

Emili, I think if you go read the posts on collection and follow those links and videos, you will learn how to get him to use his rear end correctly. That really is what collection is, it is rounding and shortening the body, shifting some weight to the rear, and using the hind end for more propulsion.

BTW - to show you how confusing words can be, I originally thought she was asking for help with "Leading from Behind" in the WHR. I was going to leave this thread for Deb or Erin to answer until I read the body of it