baxtersmom wrote:
I'd still like to see more muscle on his back, and for him to lose a few extra pounds, and firm up his butt. But then again, I can say the same thing for myself, so there you go!

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Since you've had such excellent results, I have a question about sidereins/ lunging...! I am working on lunging Baxter in sidereins to encourage him to lift over his back more as he goes... under saddle I'm not sure I'm asking correctly, or else he's just not strong enough yet to really round up with my weight on him. In the meantime, he's a long guy with a skinny hiney (typical TB), so he's terrific at long and low, but tends to tip onto his forehand. He's also really just *too* long, and needs to compress himself a bit. Suggestions for siderein length etc for getting that nice round loin and bum (besides a genetic transplant)?

PS. Sorry to hijack!

Hey, no worries! The OTTB I worked with at my trainer's had the exact same problem, so I can actually try to answer, though without seeing him it's just a best guess.

It sounds like he has pretty much the opposite problem as Justin did, so the recipe's a little different. I worked Tango (the TB) under saddle and did a LOT of transitions...walk to halt to backing up, to walk, to trot, to halt, to trot. It really forces a horse to get himself together, and doesn't allow him to plod around on his forehand forever. They really need to engage their hindquarters to do the transitions smoothly and square (make sure he's coordinated and together, not stumbling into and out of the transition). Backing up especially gets a horse back onto its haunches, but be sure to allow him to move forward immediately after the backing. This also applies to longeing...lots and lots and LOTS of transitions (not the backing up, though!).

Is he comfortable accepting contact? Tango didn't love being longed in the sidereins, but we worked through it. Basically what I did was attach the sidereins a little higher on the surcingle/saddle than I would on a horse going long and low. I would set them so they sat exactly where they'd make a straight line from the bit if the horse was on the bit (flexed at the poll) and collected, his face vertical. You start out with them set longer than that, walk and trot, then stop him, shorten them a hole, walk and trot, stop, etc. until he's actually in frame with his face vertical. It's much harder for a horse to just thump on its forehand when it's being asked to carry itself in that frame. This might take a while to reach...the muscles aren't there, so the sessions should be short, and you should gradually work your way up to a shorter siderein/more collected horse. If he's not used to going in frame, it'll take longer, so I'd start with the transitions and go from there. Also, don't push the collection on the longe line, since sometimes a horse feeling that pressure on his mouth will get very upset, if it's not built up to gradually. Always make sure he keeps moving forward, when longeing.

(transitions are also very handy for Justin, who can occasionally pretend to be a total bird-brain and invent reasons to be worried, when he doesn't feel like working. It's remarkable how fast transitions refocus a horse on YOU, instead of the cow two fields over or whatever!)

Also, crossrails. Horses have to engage both ends over crossrails, and they're GREAT for longeing! And hills, to build his rear end up. If he's stronger there, it'll make all this much easier on him.


Last Edited By: JDKdressage Jul 5 08 9:07 PM. Edited 2 times.