Forward with the rushy horse

[sweetsalute]

My mare is of the type to get rushy in the front and let her hind end trail out behind her. I’m having real difficulties getting her to go properly forward, which of course translates all the way through to inconsistent connection, lack of straightness etc. She’s always been difficult in this regard, and some years ago when we were able to have regular lessons, it improved dramatically. She ended up semi retired for a variety of reasons, and only in the last few months have I brought her back into work. I’m sure the issue is a combination of lack of strength/fitness and my own riding. Thanks to regular videos, I know I have some position flaws, such as tight hip flexors pulling my knees up and I think contributing to my butt sticking out instead of tucking under, my hands like to rotate so the kunckles are on top and I apparently spend most of my rides looking down :rolleyes:

What have people found works with the rushy horses to really get them listening? I’m finding myself nagging with the leg to keep the forwards, and I don’t want to have to do that and it seems only semi effective anyway! Any useful exercises etc.

Unfortunately a trainer is not in the budget atm. I ride on my own as she lives on my dad’s small acreage, things like lesson/training programs don’t really exist here down under, so not a viable suggestion for those reasons either.

[Mango20]

I struggle with this with my horse as well. I have not solved it completely, but shoulder-in, haunches in, and leg yielding early in our warm-up really helps. It keeps her from charging off, and gets her hind end engaged. After that, doing lots of transitions keeps her on her toes and helps stop the rushing and rebalances her. My horse thinks she’s smart and enjoys doing “tricks” so once she catches on that it’s time to do a lot of transitions, she is really super about them, and waiting for me to ask for something new. Then, when I am doing regular work, as soon as she feels too quick or unbalanced, we reset with a transition or at least a serious half halt. If that means we can’t make it around a 20 meter circle without a transition, then that’s the way it goes that day.

[Scribbler]

Teaching her to teach to the bit and go bigger and faster but with longer more cadenced strides. Lots of lateral at walk and trot. Getting her off the forehand.

[sweetsalute]

She’s very good at fooling me into thinking she is going forwards and into the bridle…leg yields and shoulder in definitely help but as the videos show, she still isn’t forward. Some is her natural way of going, she’s a pony with a not particularly uphill build but I also know what she can be capable of if I can get it out of her! On the lunge I have no issue getting her forwards, relaxed and stretching…so I think under saddle I’m the problem.

[Rosewatt]

First, if you haven’t, I’d check the saddle as it can often be a culprit of preventing a horse from moving over their back efficiently.

The word Forward in dressage is a little deceiving because many take it as meaning more leg and a horse that is, well … “more forward/ more energy” etc. BUT, It is a horse that has both energy and THRUST. The latter being the important part of the equation and meaning you need to harness the energy and recycle it back to the hind end. How do you do that? Through lots of half-halts and/or transitions to re-balance the horse.

First, your horse does need to respond “energetically” off your leg, but on the other end of the spectrum, your horse SHOULD also respond well to coming back from your seat. If you tighten your abs, your horse should be able to come back responsively from that. If your horse is super sensitive off the leg, then they need to be even more sensitive off the seat. You can’t have a consistent forward if your horse is not responsive to both of these. Your forward walk/trot/ canter is a happy medium between the two. You ask for the horse to move off your leg with a nice response, then you bring them back with your seat and close your leg (reminds them to still move at the trot). The result is a horse that moves under with his hind end, while maintaining a energetic trot. The length your horse can hold this will depend on his fitness.

If your also thinking forward = frame though, then I will say that they don’t always go hand in hand. A horse can be forward, but quickly lose the hind end if something else is missing. Your horse must also be supple and not leaning in or pushing out to properly relax over his topline.

I don’t have any particular exercises for getting a horse forward, but there is one I often use that is easy. It is more to get the horse using their outside hind. I start on a long rein (not necessarily with contact) to see if the horse will keep straight or push/ drop shoulders first, then I move to contact. If the horse is unable to go on a long rein in this exercise, then I must go back and fix that first. There are a few different ways you can use it. You can start with a square corner (easiest) then make another square-ish turn onto the diagonal and get the horse to move off the outside hind into a “big walk or trot” and then bring back (with seat) the gait at the end of the diagonal. You could also start this from a shoulder in, then turn onto the diagonal with your outside aids, making sure that the horse half halts from the outside hind. The other way you could start it is by riding a walk pirouette, using the outside aids to turn onto the diagonal and etc.

The best way to get your horse responsive and thinking on their hind end though is to ride unpredictably. By unpredictably I mean riding the opposite of where the horse wants to go - riding many many transitions during the ride, making sure to ‘release’ your aids when the horse responds. So, if your horse is wanting to be slow at the walk, then you ride a energetic trot for a few strides. If your horse is speedy, your bringing him back and making him wait at the halt for 15sec. If your horse wants to turn right, you turn and ride a circle left. Repetition in practice is good, but too much repetition in riding creates a horse that anticipates and ‘drags’ with their shoulders.

[sweetsalute]

Saddle is ok. Same for back, teeth, legs etc. She’s not a stoic horse either…if there’s a problem she tells me! She’s not actively resisting in any way, she’s willing to work with me, but she’s the sort of horse I really have to ride every stride or she will get lazy about working.

I certainly have a habit of avoiding transitions so…I think we will start there! No issues riding on a loose rein, so I may incorporate some of that too, see if I can get her moving along like that in case my contact is holding her back. 99% certain the problems are me!

[foggythistle]

Transitions. Lots of them. Both within the gait and between gaits. And not at regular intervals in the ring. As soon as she starts to rush, transition down. Do a few steps, not a lot, at the new gait, and if she is responsive and calm, then back to the previous gait. Repeat as necessary.

My example from yesterday’s ride. A little different because my horse was a little lit up even at the walk for some reason. A bit of a short attention span. A little spooky. Ended up doing lots of small (10m) circles. When he calmed, I started trotting. He started trotting faster and faster and faster. Okay. Not going to be a great ride. Readjust priorities. Back to walk. When he had calmed again, back to trot. Get a few steps of good trot before the rushing begins. Back to walk. Calm down again, small circles and changes of direction. Back to trot. Get a few more steps of good trot before rushing. Back to walk, small circles and changes of direction. Back to trot. It took several iterations of this before I could trot around the arena somewhat reasonably.

If I don’t have to deal with his brain working overtime, then the activity of lots of small, quick transitions helps get him off his forehand and more balanced and more importantly, paying attention to me.

[Abbie.S]

I guess my question is why do you desire more “forward” at this current point in time?

When I hear people talk about horses vacillating between (what sounds like, anyway) being sluggish and dull to the leg and rushed/on the forehand, the LAST thing I am worried about is getting the horse “forward”. At this point in time, focusing on forward is just going to encourage her to dump on her forehand - you see this a lot in young horses that are ridden from the get-go into a stiff rein in the name of getting them “forward”.

What you more than likely need is to teach the horse to sharpen up to the aids and get responsible for her own balance. With that in mind I’d commit to the following:

1. Never nag. Never. Your aids must be consistent, decisive and MEAN something. We do not squeeze horses to get them to go forward like you squeeze a tube of toothpaste - your calf should always be on the horse’s side, feeling of their movement. When my leg comes slightly off/my knee opens/my hip opens, my horse should pick up and lift into the transition, matching the energy with which I asked. They should then carry forward in that same energy until I ask differently. If you nag, even a little, your horse will learn to tune you out. “Get in, then get out” should constantly be in the back of your mind: give the aid AS FIRMLY as needed, then release. Repeat as often as necessary, even if it’s every other stride. I will sometimes give my students those little bats with the hand at the end to use in conjunction with their leg on a particularly dull horse initially - the pop is often a good motivator for a horse who just isn’t getting the idea from leg alone.

2. Keep your rides shorter and busy. Do not spend tons of time in one gait, or one pace within a gait. Vary it up. Lots of transitions (CORRECT transitions) between gaits and within them. This will get her tired quickly, hence the shorter ride, but it also serves to never allows her too much time to get heavy or get fast.

3. Learn to use a bending inside rein to help your mare rebalance when she does get fast. It’s instinctive for a lot of riders to tighten up on the reins when the horse rushes, but all this does is put the horse more on the forehand as then lean harder on the bit. Instead, using an opening inside rein and tip the mare’s nose to the inside, creating a circle, and keep her on that circle until she slows up and settles into a more balanced rhythm. The size of the circle will depend on the horse - you will need to experiment to find the natural circle size your horse can easily balance on.

4. Do lots of practicing teaching the horse to step over with the inside hind from the ground. Call it disengaging, untracking, turn on the forehand, whatever you like, but the act of stepping over and under with the inside hind is extremely important for a few reasons: it’s a submissive gesture (watch horses out at pasture, they will move one another by driving the inside hind), it rebalances the horse by getting them on their outside pair of legs instead of leaning on the inside shoulder, and most importantly it is how a correct corner is elicited. Learning how to do this well will help your horse immensely in her balance which should take care of the rushing.

5. Watch your own balance. Looking down is a surefire way to put your horse’s balance on the forehand, as is leaning forward or hollowing the low back and “perching” in the saddle.

[outerbanks77]

I have a very similar horse and it is challenging! Think of riding in a little shoulder-fore, or basically riding the inside hind towards the outside front at all times. Spiraling in on a circle, and then leg-yielding back out can help a lot. You are trying to get the hind legs to step under your center of gravity. Once you get the hind leg on the ground, and stepping under a bit, you can do a small step into the stirrup (this is like a little push down with your toe, not stomping a bunch of weight down) on the side where the hind leg is grounded. Think of just holding that hind foot on the ground a fraction of a second longer. This can help to slow down the tempo and free up the front end a bit.

Also, going over cavaletti or ground poles can help to develop better cadence. Small jump grids are also great to teach your horse to rock back and coil her body a little bit, then you can carry that feeling more into the riding. My mare finds even a little x-rail very motivational, and then I can put her together more.

Don’t let her talk you into longer and longer reins. My last lesson, my instructor pointed out that my mare will get as long as my reins will go if I let her, so I have to be vigilant as they magically creep out while riding.

When you ask for forward, think a bit of sitting back and getting a larger proportion of the horse up and in front of you. I like to think of sitting on a big tube of toothpaste and my leg aid is squeezing that toothpaste forward to the bit and in front of my seat. It’s easy to get into more of a forward-tilted seat which is not very helpful for getting the hind legs under and flexing, and bringing the front up. Over the arc of a ride, I work towards a more vertical feeling with more horse in front of me, but eventually this will be the default through most of the ride.

[exvet]

You’ve received some very good advice and suggestions which I definitely employ with mine. The rushing tendency is well entrenched in my breed; but, in addition to what has been suggested I have found that counting the beat out loud and using my own internal metronome (or one that clips to my lapel, if I could find it) helps me greatly. Re-balancing the power with half halts and transitions is important but I find that it is ME that also has to learn to teach the horse how to power up and reach out to the bit without running through it. My horses feed off of my energy so I have to make sure that I’m asking for forward energy/power but not speed and the counting helps me regulate and time my aids/requests along with receiving and recycling the energy in a way that makes the cadence, tempo and size of gait stride I want. One additional suggestion, I found that many times I have to slow down the gait and make sure I can control each and every step in the gait before I can add the power/forward energy; so, regrouping and reminding the horse how to use itself from time-to-time also helps. It’s amazing what happens when you remove the momentum which can be much harder for the horse; but, at the same time very educational for both horse and rider.

[GraceLikeRain]

Moving the shoulders is something that I find really helpful. My mare can give me quick legs but if I apply my leg I don’t get a response, which tells me she isn’t truly forward and in front of my leg. Starting in warm up I will ride short diagonals on the buckle pushing her shoulders from one line to the next. My only goal is to let her have a long frame and to get her shoulders moving. I then start introducing shallow serpentines and circles with a huge focus on the shoulders and not allowing the outside shoulder to escape and bulge. When I take the time to get these pieces in line from the start, a lot of the quickness goes away and then I can use my leg to create energy without speed. If tension creeps in I’ll go back to those exercises during our walk work. She is one where meandering around on the buckle with no direction is going to have her legs going a mile a minute because her brain is going at warp speed. Gentle structured shapes and exercises gives her brain a place to focus and then we get relaxation and true rhythm.

[J-Lu]

I suggest singing a song in your mind that has the cadence you want. Employ bunches of half-halts to lift the front end a bit. If the horse is just coming back to work, respect that it might get tired and resort to rushing. I also suggest ground poles used creatively. You can space them from a “normal” trot to a bit of a lengthened trot. COMFORTABLE for your horse right now and you can space them out a bit more in the future. I’ld longe the horse over them before riding over them so your horse figures out the spacing and you can see if you’ve spaced them correctly. You can apply lengthening aids as you ride through so your horse associates the aids with lengthening.

Horses rush when they’re out of balance. Either your aids aren’t effective or your horse has been out of work and isn’t strong enough to carry for the whole ride. Or a combination of the two. I like to use ground poles to really spell it out to the horse - they’re a great visual aid.

[outerbanks77]

I can’t seem to edit posts since the board came back up, but realized while I was riding that I made an error in my previous post. If you step a little into a grounded front foot, that can hold it on the ground a fraction longer so the hind has more time to come under. It can be useful to step on the hinds as well, but in the case of a horse that runs its front legs away from the hind legs, this is a technique to help the hind legs catch up. It comes in handy later for lateral work too, when one part of the body is tending to get left behind, you can slow down the “runaway” body part with a little SS.

[merrygoround]

Reach back into your body memory, and remember what you did with your seat and legs to hold her to the speed and tempo you want. Those inner thigh muscles will scream for a day or two, and the build to the point you need.

When you do transitions within the gait, use your body, not your hands.

[the_sandiest_shoes]

I’ve found that working on straightening exercises (getting an honest bend to both sides on big circles and then moving onto leg-yields and other lateral exercises), with really focusing on keeping an even tempo and not letting the horse rush in the up/down transitions, really helps. I was in a Christine Traurig clinic this weekend and we worked on getting better outside rein contact on the crooked side and getting better bend on the hollow side, while constantly keeping a focus on tempo and not letting it rush on any straight-lines. I focused on getting better connection into both sides, which allowed for a softer, dynamic feel that didn’t create so much rushing. Helpful moves after the big circles and leg-yields were shoulder-in and haunches in onto 10 m circles, keeping the right amount of bend and tempo, moving into renvers and pushing the renvers into a leg-yield away from the bending leg. We also didn’t work on any types of transitions where the strength didn’t feel ready yet, so as to eliminate the chances to run-through the transitions. At home we were practicing simple changes and flying changes, but Christine said we should stick with simple changes through trot until the horse gets stronger behind to do a smooth, up-off-the-forehand simple change through walk.

All we did were these bending lines moving into very careful, deliberate use of straight-lines and careful transitions. Even the transitions from rising to sitting trot we worked on, to make sure there was no change at all in the trot tempo and she wasn’t anticipating a sitting trot to mean an upcoming canter transition. By the end of the weekend, I realized not only was the horse much better connected but the rushing had stopped as well. Usually when I do the stretchy trot at the end of the ride, it feels like she wants to run off, but not this time.

[sweetsalute]

Thank you for all the responses! To answer the person who asked about why I want more forward, the videos pretty clearly show she is pistoning those front legs at warp speed, and letting her hind legs trail behind in la la land! So she isn’t actually forward at all. We’ve been working on things the last few weeks, and I’m seeing a huge improvement. Warming her up on a loose rein in walk and trot really seems to be helping her to move out in a relaxed fashion, and then keep that when I do take up the contact. Also lots of transitions and half halts within the trot. I also saw a friend post something about staying as balanced as possible and letting the horse do the work. That was a bit of a lightbulb moment, and I swear my mare, the little angel that she is, breathed a big sigh of relief like “finally, now I can do my job!”.