how do i get my wp horse to lift her back and drop her head

Hi, i’m new here and I was wondering if there were any exercises I could do to get my western pleasure mare to lift herself up and drop her head?

If it were easy enough to do with a quick internet exercise I’d be out of a job :wink: Basics: Get your horse forward, driving with BOTH hind legs into your hand, and get her as flexible as possible. Then you can put the horse wherever you want! Start with a dressage foundation and go from there. Get control of the body parts - be able to move hind end wherever, shoulders wherever, and get her bending through the middle both directions. Then she can push, lift, and softly use her head for balance wherever you want her to.

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That’s a loaded question.

Are you working with a trainer? Ultimately, the horse needs to be soft, broke, and collected. If you get them driving from behind and using their body correctly, then the head comes down on its own.

Visualize sucking the horse’s withers up into your lap.

If you are an otherwise good rider, you will figure out how to do that. Obviously draw reins are not the answer, nor is bumping the bit. Horses want their bodies to be an arch - it helps them carry your weight… Think of how horses look when feeling really good in the pasture. If you can drive the hind quarters up under them with your legs, (not spurs), and suck the withers up with your thighs, seat and back (half halts) their whole front end will come up and they will eventually WANT and need to lower their head and neck w/o rein pressure at all. .
Make sure you are sitting as far to the front of the saddle as possible, not leaning forward at all, and your legs are back where they can be effective.