More Body Control Needed

(A follow up question to Dana’s article titled “Seven Steps to Slow Your Horse Down”)

Q. I have tried everything except cross cantering, which I will not try because when I first got her she would not pick-up the right lead. Any help on slowing her down at a lope would be greatly appreciated. Also any advice on getting her to carry her head low?

Theresa

A. Theresa, in reading your question, I feel like what you need for your mare is more body control.  If you gain control of her body you will be able to get the correct lead with no problem and even counter-canter, position her and put her anywhere you want.  Ii also want to encourage you to focus on her willingness.  As you gain control of her hindquarters, shoulders, head and neck pay attention to her response.  If she is not accepting your cues she will show it through her body language, such as her ears, tail and mouth.  She may also run off a leg cue or lay into a leg cue.  All of these show a lack of acceptance, which will back fire later if you don’t deal with it.  A well broke horse in my opinion will be willing to give to your cues.  If she shows unwillingness stay with it until she develops a level of acceptance.

I say all this because for you to reach your goals, I feel you need to gain control of her body and then gain collection to slow her down.  I would start by getting control of her hindquarters.  Get her to where you can isolate her hindquarters from her front end and push them over off of your leg.  This will build the foundation for you to be able to control her lead and eventually her speed. Pay close attention to if she is leaning into your leg as it sounds like that may be the case.  Also, teach her that when you touch her face she needs to give and flex in the head and neck.  Many hours in the saddle will be needed to have her a broke willing horse.  In my opinion the right way to control speed is with collection and then teaching them to stay where you put them.  When I collect my horse I encourage them to reach deep behind which gives them more lift, I also want them to “lock in” and get a rhythm cadence.  It sounds like as you gain more control of her head, neck and body you will be able to control her speed.  I would also really encourage you to have a qualified trainer evaluate her.  I hope this helps you!

Thank you,

Dana Hokana