Namely curling behind and unsteadiness. It is killing our dressage scores. When Savvy is anxious, she gets busy in the head. It is how she soothes herself: wiggling, bobbing, rubbing her head on her legs, chewing the bit like a beaver through trees. When she relaxes, it mostly goes away. But show environments are never a relaxed situation.
So I have been working on ways to help her relax through a bit of French classical training I learnt last year watered down and mixed in with my own trial and error ideas. For example, at a walk, on the long side I will get her very straight then elevate the bit in her mouth and then ask for head turned in slightly (working our way up to 45 degrees) but with very straight head (so the bend is truly neck, not pulled over nose) and continue walking with straightness through her body and release. I am hoping these quiet flexion exercises will relax the muscles in her neck and poll and help the overall issue of head wiggles.
Next, I am shutting down this curling behind the vertical. Low and behind the vertical seems to be her favourite place to be so for now, I just want her poll high and I will be very careful not to fuss with her in any way as long as her head is up. It is not a heavy handed issue--she is so light on the bit, a feather could make her curl. It seemed to begin after we had been practising long and low. She discovered she loved it down there and wants that to be her new forever home. Sorry girl! Head up and get your ass to work, literally.
Our next derby is about a week away. Having competitions so close together is fantastic! All the benefits from our last xc may actually still be with us for this next one. It will be great going in with some momentum rather than just hoping we can make it through starter.
This derby is set up a little differently--we could pick dressage, pace, xc and a new class called "follow the leader" where you get to do a xc round following a buddy horse and rider. I have decided to do dressage, starter xc and then do a pre-entry course following someone. It will be great to have a go at some bigger jumps without the stress of worrying about scores or the big 'E' as this round is unjudged.
Now if I could get some of these good vibes to rub off on Shiraz. Her training has been less than fun lately, but that is for another post.
I think the head bobbing and curling behind come from too much tension. She looks great going over those fences!
ReplyDeleteI agree. And the long and low feels so good to her because of the tension she holds in her neck and back. I just need to establish 'new habits' to help her relax and hopefully the pre-work stretching exercises will make a difference so she can work it out and then focus better later in flat work.
DeleteLove the photos in this post! Sounds like you have a great plan of attack. Good luck at your upcoming derby :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! My oldest son took pictures and he is so talented (not just mom braging:P)
DeleteSounds like you have a good game plan to address the neck retraction and curling. That can be such a pain to deal with. And I can fully sympathize with you on the whole young horse training thing - as evidenced by my last blog entry lol
ReplyDeleteI hope it helps undo some bad habits. :)
Deleteahhh i love all these pictures!!! she looks so good and you look so confident in showing her where to go! love it! also i feel you on the curling thing. my dressage trainer always wanted me to ride isabel with her nose poked sliiightly out bc that was *so much harder* for her than nose slightly curled. it's just a process tho. so many pieces at play - strength, tension, confidence. sounds like you've got a good plan for Savvy tho!! glad you're riding high on the feeling from your last shoW!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was so fun to get out for another in-hand adventure and this time with my son/awesome photographer tagging along. I hope I can figure out how to stop Savvy's busy head in dressage. She has so much potential in the sandbox that is held back at the moment. :/
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ReplyDelete