Saturday, March 01, 2008

and to add

she's shedding! huge amounts. woulnd't have thought it was warm enough yet, but Molly clearly thinks it is.

and thanks to caroline for introducing me to the benefits of a shedding blade!
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2 comments:

Jean said...

Comment on the last post as well. Yes, Molly is not really forward when she overbends. It's a fine line between giving to the bit and going on the bit. What you need to feel is the energy from her hind end stepping up into the bit. At first, it might be strong but as she develops, it will become elastic--and there! You need to feel contact from her.

Lots of suppling and transitions up and down will help. If she starts to shut off, then you can do a bit of leg yield on the downward to keep her hind end displaced a little to the outside, then ask for forward right away. The more energetically you can get her to move off again, the better things will be.

But, I suspect Molly is like Tucker, choosing to stay behind your leg instead of responding with that good forward feel. If she accepts it, a little tap with the whip added to your leg may help.

Regardless, you will need to do hundreds of downward/upward transitions in order to develop her self carriage, and the hind end energy.

Think too of pushing her inside hind leg forward to your outside hand. If you lift a little on the outside rein as you do this, she should push her nose out more to the bit as well. This is essentially a half halt and should encourage her to carry herself a little higher.

1 Mar 2008, 23:30:00
Claire said...

thanks jean, that helps! circles/transitions i know do help.

i should carry my whip more - i find i don't need to use it - as then she's more active but i can still keep my leg stiller (something i need to watch! constant nagging not being good and a bad habit to be got out of...)

currently listening to the wind building up again ...

1 Mar 2008, 23:47:00

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