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Meaning the 'stretching to the contact'
thing?
First the horse must be savvy to the release. If you have
taught 'head down' and backing with halter and lead rope the
horse already has the basic concept of the release.
Then it is helpful to understand that to get proper neck
stretching it is built on the idea that if the neck/topline
of the horse is soft and the horse is calm then getting the
nose to drop down is pretty easy. :-)
So, number one the horse is asked to flex laterally at the
poll (at the 'no' joint) and as soon as he softens there you
release and when the horse softens his neck a micron (cuz
chances are he will) you c/t.
Alex will say that 'head down' is not a forward moving
exercise. And I agree with this. The feeling of neck
stretching down properly is different from that of the horse
just shoving his nose down. So, another aspect to this is
that the horse does this letting down in a balanced on the
hindquarters position. Practice many base of the neck
lifting reinbacks too.
You want to get to a point where you can kind of both lift
the rein for reinback AND ask for the inside flexion, and
then allow the neck down. C/T for this neck stretching
reaction and it will all come pretty quick. The horse
learns to follow the release down to the ground.
Once the horse gets the idea of flexing, balancing, letting
the neck down following the release you can take that 'on
the road'. All of the above can be started on the ground.
Next you will want to do it under saddle. You can make sure
it all works at a halt. Then you can do it at a walk, then
trot and then canter.
The idea is to set up through your contact/connection (read:
seat/reins connect to horse's body) the balance and the
flexion. If the horse is released when you get a change the
neck will naturally drop into the space made available by
the release. Hence seeks the release. You can place the
neck lower or higher then as desired for the level of work
you are doing.
The moment the neck relaxes down is a great moment to send
the horse forward a couple of strides. That is probably the
moment that is seen as the horse reaching for the contact
since if the top line is soft and the horse is calm then
sending him forward should also result in the neck going
more 'out'... 'toward the bit'.
But as you allow the neck out and down you risk putting the
horse on the forehand as you send him forward. So this
balance, flexion, allow the neck, send forward equation is
cycled through continuously until that is just the
'background' for anything else you want to do.
My final thought is that all of this needs to be adjusted
for the horse at hand. For the very tense horse I will work
on getting the horse to down as low as he'll go. (nose to
the ground not nose to the chest!) Lots of clicks and
breaks will help to solidify the 'calm' aspect of the
equation! Also, I didn't mention the possibility of taking
the 'flexion' into more lateral work if the horse is really
stiff. If the horse is already heavy on the forehand much
of the work will concentrate on the balancing portion of the
equation.
sf/cr
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Level is an ideal end point. But when
training, I'm going to opt for pretty is as pretty does.
IOW if lifting the rein way up is going to get me a change
(more engagement) in the hindquarters then I'm gonna lift it
way up.
Re what is it doing... The reins have 2 basic ways they can
impact the hindlegs. One is a direct rein that connects the
rein to the hind leg on the SAME side. Pull the left rein
toward the left hip and you want the horse to step under
with the left hind. This all starts with the baby give
concept and then rolls back to the hind legs.
The other key action is an indirect rein and this is the
lifting one. Think of this one as connected to the OPPOSITE
hind leg. So lift and aim the left rein aid toward the
RIGHT hip and get the horse to take a step back. Or even
just shift his weight.
In motion you will combine these two effects. First step
the inside hind over one step (direct rein) and then
immediately lift and rock back onto hindlegs in next step
(indirect). Now you have both hindlegs engaged. (for the
moment!) The lifting becomes one kind of half halt under
saddle.
I guide the horse into the shape I am seeking through
continuous adjustments in terms of bend (direct rein) and
half halts (indirect). I'm going to use the direct or
indirect effect as needed on either rein. I'm going to do
what is needed on a moment by moment basis to get and
sustain the carriage and bend that I want. In the end the
separate aids become fused so that my seat and upper body is
doing most of the directing via the contact. If I'm pushing
the envelop in terms of collection I may still hold the rein
up (a la hotwalker) though as I wait for the horse to make a
change. But aid is always in conjunction with the seat and
torso. So as the horse becomes rounder and more engaged I
will only possibly lift up ever so slightly in the rhythm of
the movement with my seat and torso doing most of the
aiding. Make sense??
SF/CR
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Another thing that is interesting here is
that I train with the idea/goal in mind that the horse
'accepts' the contact and 'seeks' the release. Ideally I
hope to manage <g> to create a horse who is 'operant' to the
release.
But how much of this is semantics and perspective?
One day I was having a lesson with a Dutch trainer who of
course looks to create a horse who seeks the *contact*. As
I was asking the horse to stretch down (the horse following
the release down since that is how I do it) the trainer
said, yah good see how he seeks the contact! LOL I just
smiled. Yeah whatEVER. ;-)
sf/cr
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