Video Critique: Megan and Emma Submission 1
San Diego Horse Trainer Will Faerber from Art2Ride discusses the video sent in by Megan and gives suggestions for further improvement.
4 responses to “Video Critique: Megan and Emma Submission 1”
Leave a Reply
Judith Talbot says: Thank you Megan and Emma and Will because this submission has given me so much info + optimism, i’ve watched a good few of the videos though not nearly all, often what’s disheartened me is all the horses already seemed to be reaching for the contact even in submission 1! Me and my boy aren’t and i just have not known where to start. Watching this submission has given me the point/confidence on how to start now, and to submit our own video for critique. Also, re-affirmation that walk is fine til you get it in walk, and trot is fine til you get it in trot, and just as much learning/work for both of us can be done in walk as any other gait at this stage. Rome not being built in a day etc. This will be my focus for now. One question – Emma goes round in a circle that actually is a circle – my lad can fall in quite badly/cut across and at times just stops and turns in (this usually at trot). He can have quite a hufty about it at times. How do i keep him out while encouraging him forward? oh, and what is your view on use of pesoa? I’m not using but he has been worked in one by another trainer. i feel too inexperienced to use chambon tho side reins are ok, but just interested to know your thoughts. thanks for this really helpful video
-
Kali says:
Answered by Art2Ride Associate Trainers:
Amber Matusek I would say you keep him out on the lunge by encouraging him to move forward. So keep the whip up behind his butt and use it to push him forward. You can also use the whip towards his shoulder if he keeps try to fall in. The pesoa doesn’t do anything helpful but the side reins might help you as they will give you an outside rein.Tricia Yates
Tricia Yates I would suggest you start with some leg yields in hand, making sure he understands/respects that when you point at or touch him with the whip he should move away. Then go back to lunging, and if he starts to fall in try pointing the whip at the girth, or touch him if necessary asking him to yield out on the circle. Hope this helps.Anne Saari
Anne Saari Stay close to your horse and teach him to yield away from you when you ask for it. You can establish that in the work in hand first and then continue on the lunge line. It is important that you are so close to him in the beginning that you can actually touch him with your whip. Mainly where your leg would be (as you did in the WIH). When you can keep him off your space and make him yield away from you, just increase your energy and walk along with him on a bigger circle. He will not be able to turn around, fall in or do other things then. Then you slowly start to increase the distance between you and your horse. Be sure he is going forward so that you can keep the contact. If the behaviour comes back just get closer to him again and remind him what you want. I would not use a Pessoa since it does not add anything positive. Side reins (properly fitted) can give you a bit more stability and help a bit with the falling in. Good luck!Tytti Vanhala
Tytti Vanhala Falling in on a circle and cutting across.
This happened all the time with Pöly in the beginning… Very frustrating. What I did was to be closer to him (but remember to be out of the kick zone!), push him on with the whip (optimally yielding him a bit so that you see his hind quarters step just a little bit more away from you) while keeping the contact with the line. It is vital to keep the contact… if you feel slack, push him into the contact with the whip and/or shorten the line. Then walk with him on a bigger circle. When he cuts the circle, stop walking and push him on a small circle around you for one round or two, then see if you can walk him again to the bigger circle. And every time he cuts you off, stop yourself and push him on around you in a small circle, and again to a bigger circle when he is listening. I know it’s not easy and it is going to require a lot of work from you to be dynamic with your lunging. But it will work if you keep at it. Send that video to Will and you’ll get more specific advice.Stopping and coming in to face you.
Keep contact with the line as well as possible. Never ever step backwards when he does that! Stepping backwards is telling him that you are yielding to his pressure – and it should be the other way around. Instead walk in an arch towards his hind quarters (stay out of kick zone) and use your whip hand to drive him on again on the circle. Sometimes you have to be real quick with this…
So, don’t step back, don’t become passive, go determinately sideways in an arch to ‘drive him on’ back to the circle and work.Pessoa lunging aid, chambon and side reins.
Pessoa is not going to work in a long run. At first it may encourage forward movement, but once they are used to the contraption, it will do nothing… So, best to use is chambon. Believe me, chambon is easier to use anyways than pessoa! It is not difficult at all. Take a roller, attach the chambon to the girth and clip the ends via the head piece rings to the bit rings. Adjust the chambon first very loose, so that your horse can get his head fully up and the chambon is only restricting him at the extreme high head carriage. Lunge with it and see how he is. If he is ok, then stop and tighten the chambon a bit, and carry on. If he is ok again, then tighten some more and lunge again. Go gradually and observe. Never tighten the chambon so that his head is restricted below his withers. He needs to get his head up just above his withers to balance himself if he happens to trip. If you are concerned about the low hanging strap of the chambon, you can always use a neck strap over the chambon so that it keeps everything away from his legs. I usually tie an old piece of reins around Pöly’s neck and attach that with a flash to the roller ring. So that the neck strap isn’t ending up too low on his neck… So if you use a neck strap, make sure that it won’t fall along his neck to his poll when he lowers his head, and make sure that the chambon is not getting caught in it either – that is, that it is still releasing when he goes down with his head.
Side reins are ok as well to use. Just make very sure that they are long enough so that he is not restricted when he stretches down and out.
Will has excellent videos of both the correct use of chambon and side reins. Watch them. https://youtu.be/Tgvd84mIyC8 and https://youtu.be/E2Q3Q0v2dUg
Judith says: Thank you all so much. This has been incredibly kind to receive so much information on the specific issues i’m having just now. It’s of huge help + is helping move me forward. Again, many thanks
Megan says: Update to my work with my horse, Emma: the biggest initial improvement we made after submitting this video is changing our saddle. The one I am using in this video was fit to us by a seemingly reputable saddle fitter, but I did the research and found a saddle that fit us both, freeing her scapulas and opening movement through her back- making a world of difference and immediately opening a stretch through her topline (without the use of chambons or restraints). Next, I learned more about clarifying my aids and when to release pressure, to essentially leave her alone when she was doing what I am asking. Emma is incredibly smart and sensitive so the more I offer organized communication without static pressure the more responsive she is to me, understandably. We are still studying and continually improving and I am also learning to relax and balance my own body to her feet and to supple myself to her movement. Finding the right local trainer for us has also proved incredibly valuable. So if this video is familiar at all, don’t give up and do your research!
Thank you Megan and Emma and Will because this submission has given me so much info + optimism, i’ve watched a good few of the videos though not nearly all, often what’s disheartened me is all the horses already seemed to be reaching for the contact even in submission 1! Me and my boy aren’t and i just have not known where to start. Watching this submission has given me the point/confidence on how to start now, and to submit our own video for critique. Also, re-affirmation that walk is fine til you get it in walk, and trot is fine til you get it in trot, and just as much learning/work for both of us can be done in walk as any other gait at this stage. Rome not being built in a day etc. This will be my focus for now. One question – Emma goes round in a circle that actually is a circle – my lad can fall in quite badly/cut across and at times just stops and turns in (this usually at trot). He can have quite a hufty about it at times. How do i keep him out while encouraging him forward? oh, and what is your view on use of pesoa? I’m not using but he has been worked in one by another trainer. i feel too inexperienced to use chambon tho side reins are ok, but just interested to know your thoughts. thanks for this really helpful video
Answered by Art2Ride Associate Trainers:
Amber Matusek I would say you keep him out on the lunge by encouraging him to move forward. So keep the whip up behind his butt and use it to push him forward. You can also use the whip towards his shoulder if he keeps try to fall in. The pesoa doesn’t do anything helpful but the side reins might help you as they will give you an outside rein.
Tricia Yates
Tricia Yates I would suggest you start with some leg yields in hand, making sure he understands/respects that when you point at or touch him with the whip he should move away. Then go back to lunging, and if he starts to fall in try pointing the whip at the girth, or touch him if necessary asking him to yield out on the circle. Hope this helps.
Anne Saari
Anne Saari Stay close to your horse and teach him to yield away from you when you ask for it. You can establish that in the work in hand first and then continue on the lunge line. It is important that you are so close to him in the beginning that you can actually touch him with your whip. Mainly where your leg would be (as you did in the WIH). When you can keep him off your space and make him yield away from you, just increase your energy and walk along with him on a bigger circle. He will not be able to turn around, fall in or do other things then. Then you slowly start to increase the distance between you and your horse. Be sure he is going forward so that you can keep the contact. If the behaviour comes back just get closer to him again and remind him what you want. I would not use a Pessoa since it does not add anything positive. Side reins (properly fitted) can give you a bit more stability and help a bit with the falling in. Good luck!
Tytti Vanhala
Tytti Vanhala Falling in on a circle and cutting across.
This happened all the time with Pöly in the beginning… Very frustrating. What I did was to be closer to him (but remember to be out of the kick zone!), push him on with the whip (optimally yielding him a bit so that you see his hind quarters step just a little bit more away from you) while keeping the contact with the line. It is vital to keep the contact… if you feel slack, push him into the contact with the whip and/or shorten the line. Then walk with him on a bigger circle. When he cuts the circle, stop walking and push him on a small circle around you for one round or two, then see if you can walk him again to the bigger circle. And every time he cuts you off, stop yourself and push him on around you in a small circle, and again to a bigger circle when he is listening. I know it’s not easy and it is going to require a lot of work from you to be dynamic with your lunging. But it will work if you keep at it. Send that video to Will and you’ll get more specific advice.
Stopping and coming in to face you.
Keep contact with the line as well as possible. Never ever step backwards when he does that! Stepping backwards is telling him that you are yielding to his pressure – and it should be the other way around. Instead walk in an arch towards his hind quarters (stay out of kick zone) and use your whip hand to drive him on again on the circle. Sometimes you have to be real quick with this…
So, don’t step back, don’t become passive, go determinately sideways in an arch to ‘drive him on’ back to the circle and work.
Pessoa lunging aid, chambon and side reins.
Pessoa is not going to work in a long run. At first it may encourage forward movement, but once they are used to the contraption, it will do nothing… So, best to use is chambon. Believe me, chambon is easier to use anyways than pessoa! It is not difficult at all. Take a roller, attach the chambon to the girth and clip the ends via the head piece rings to the bit rings. Adjust the chambon first very loose, so that your horse can get his head fully up and the chambon is only restricting him at the extreme high head carriage. Lunge with it and see how he is. If he is ok, then stop and tighten the chambon a bit, and carry on. If he is ok again, then tighten some more and lunge again. Go gradually and observe. Never tighten the chambon so that his head is restricted below his withers. He needs to get his head up just above his withers to balance himself if he happens to trip. If you are concerned about the low hanging strap of the chambon, you can always use a neck strap over the chambon so that it keeps everything away from his legs. I usually tie an old piece of reins around Pöly’s neck and attach that with a flash to the roller ring. So that the neck strap isn’t ending up too low on his neck… So if you use a neck strap, make sure that it won’t fall along his neck to his poll when he lowers his head, and make sure that the chambon is not getting caught in it either – that is, that it is still releasing when he goes down with his head.
Side reins are ok as well to use. Just make very sure that they are long enough so that he is not restricted when he stretches down and out.
Will has excellent videos of both the correct use of chambon and side reins. Watch them. https://youtu.be/Tgvd84mIyC8 and https://youtu.be/E2Q3Q0v2dUg
Thank you all so much. This has been incredibly kind to receive so much information on the specific issues i’m having just now. It’s of huge help + is helping move me forward. Again, many thanks
Update to my work with my horse, Emma: the biggest initial improvement we made after submitting this video is changing our saddle. The one I am using in this video was fit to us by a seemingly reputable saddle fitter, but I did the research and found a saddle that fit us both, freeing her scapulas and opening movement through her back- making a world of difference and immediately opening a stretch through her topline (without the use of chambons or restraints). Next, I learned more about clarifying my aids and when to release pressure, to essentially leave her alone when she was doing what I am asking. Emma is incredibly smart and sensitive so the more I offer organized communication without static pressure the more responsive she is to me, understandably. We are still studying and continually improving and I am also learning to relax and balance my own body to her feet and to supple myself to her movement. Finding the right local trainer for us has also proved incredibly valuable. So if this video is familiar at all, don’t give up and do your research!