Petes new thing!

[solomon]

Trotting with his head nearly on the floor! I had a lesson today with a new instructor which went we apart from this. Ideas please?

[pboy]

Is he on the forehand when he does it or does he do a 'true' stretch? If he's on the forehand, I'd focus on getting him working from behind more and off your leg.

[horsecrazyapril]

I tend to just give my horse (Farrah) a tap with the whip instead of kicking her on as this shows that you will not stop trying to make her lift up her head and also that you are not afraid to use a whip

[brigadier]

How is he doing it Sol, it could actually be a break through and he is showing you he wants to stretch down- if this is the case you half halt, rebalance and encourage him to do it again by taking the hands wider, then half halt, rebalance and repeat. Or is he snatching and pulling you forward to avoid contact?- this isnt allowed but you need to tell him its ok to go down as above but not to snatch. He may be doing it because you are fixed in your hands, so look at your own contact first before checking him.

[solomon]

Thanks Brig. It's not snatching. It's more like a rebalance. If I half halt he drops back to walk. I have been working on a few strides of trot then back to walk so he doesn't run onto forehand. I ride him bitless now so contact is an interesting concept.

[brigadier]

Ok so let him stretch down- this is good- but if he drops back to walk then you arent keepng him going from behind enough for it to be any benefit so dont let him walk, make your half halt a pause, tiny if needed so he engages his hind end not drops away, like pboy says he needs to engage and be off your leg, tap him up with the whip if necessary- and a huge well done- this isnt a problem- its a breakthrough!

ps- why didnt your new instructor say this?