with curb chain that probably belonged to a 7" ....ggrrhh
i've been meaning to try the pelham for nearly a year. i bought it last spring when a local tack shop had its closing down sale. it was 1/2 price, which was good. but didn't get round to it.
yesterday discovered that the bridle was too large for it. so dug out the wintec that was in the house and took that down. perfect. BUT .... the chain, even when turned to lie flat, was miles too long ...
so, the usual bit went in. and we did a bit of work. better than yesterday
i'm trying to get some lateral movement but not getting there. i can get turn on the forehand but not leg yield. we're getting something wrong ...and it isn't that her sides have been kicked numb, that's for sure! i wonder i think i need to have even more contact (and less grief from her on the subject!) and i know i get a bit tense when trying something like that..
Keeping My Fingers Crossed
8 years ago
3 comments:
Oh, leg yield can be frustrating.
You need to get her moving off the leg in the turn on the forehand, so she understands about moving away.
When you start leg yield, you need to think of pushing her hind leg to the front shoulder. So, if you are leg yeilding to the left, you need to push her right hind leg forward to her left front shoulder. Restrict the right front just a little and let the energy "escape" to a leading left hand.
If your left hip thinks a little forward too that may help and you have to be careful not to fall off to the right as you use your leg because she may keep trying to put her body under you and end up going to the right instead of left.
It sounds a bit intimidating, but it's really a matter of feel. Your body needs to tell her body where to go so the more you can go in a leg yield yourself, the more likely she is to go with you.
If you can't get a chain to fit the pelham quickly, you could use a spur strap as a temporary replacement, or something of that sort. The chain does work best but you can use a strap on the bit too.
How annoying when the tack doesn't fit. Fiddling around with that kind of stuff just wastes so much time. *sigh*
thanks jean. i probably am collapsing a bit to the right going left and vv ... but then she doesn't go either way. we had it momentarily the other week ...
as for the pelham i'll go for an elastic curb .. but i do find it mad that such a long chain would be put on such a short bit! completely barking IMHO, it's not as if a 4 1/2" bit is going on a horse with a large head and wide groove, after all....
Probably not the chain that's supposed to be with the bit. Maybe the original one came off and they just stuck one on, or someone else had a too long chain on her bit and swapped it out.
Yuck, it is really raining here. Guess riding is out for the day.
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