# Exercises to get a horse off the forehand ?



## MILLGREENLADY (14 March 2012)

Any exercises or surgestions would be great ?


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## PolarSkye (14 March 2012)

Lots of short/sharp transitions to get horse bouncing off your leg and stepping under.

Pole work . . . walk over the poles, bend (left or right) and then canter away (walk to canter) - gets the engine working.

Lateral work - particularly anything that gets them using their back end as opposed to their shoulders, e.g., leg yield.

Hill work - it's harder for a horse to pull itself along on its forehand when going uphill . . . assuming horse is sound, try lots of transitions on the hill.

Make sure you are "carrying" your hands - low hands both block and load the shoulder which would impede a horse from freeing up its forehand and engaging behind.

Ditto how YOU sit . . . make you are sitting "up" and not loading the horse's shoulder.

When you ask for a walk/canter transition, try and time it with the outside hind coming under either by feeling it in your hips or taking a sneaky peek at the shoulders - that should help stop that "forehand hop" some horses give when going into canter (including mine!).

I'm sure you'll get some far more useful suggestions on here . . . but these are what came to mind for me . . . 

P


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## Polotash (14 March 2012)

Ditto transitions.

Start with halt to trot and trot to halt. Then walk to canter and canter to walk. Then rein back to canter, and canter to rein back.

Quarter turn on haunches into trot and especially canter also very good as engages hind leg for you (this is good for anyone struggling with correct strike offs too).

Finally, grid work, only small, using raised poles and/or mini cross poles. Bounces and single strides, so nothing to get them onward bound. Just trotting through raised poles is excellent too - have someone on ground to space for you, or set up a fan, so you can go more collectedly through the narrow end of the fan, or push on a bit through the wider end of the fan.


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## Tempi (14 March 2012)

I dont know what level you are schooling at so its hard to comment.  However try raised trotting poles, canter poles dotted around the school.  Loads of transitions within the pace and up and down the paces - dont canter or trot around for ages without doing anything.

Also (if you are a bit more advanced in your schooling) 1/2 piroutte left/right (in walk) followed by a canter transition, then back to walk, 1/2 piroutte the other way and into canter again.  

In trot, shoulder in for 4 strides, renver for 4 strides, shoulder in for 4 strides then quarters in for 4 strides all around the school (including short sides/corners) i find that really helps to lift my mares shoulders. 

Finally, quarters in in canter on a 10m circle and spiralling in and out in canter alternating between quarters in and leg yeilding out etc.

To control and elevate the shoulder the horse needs to be soft and through from behind and working over the back first.  All the above should help with this.


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## madhector (14 March 2012)

Shoulder in in trot with walk transitions still in shoulder in, dont try to hold the head up, keep hands light and try to picture what you want and allow the horse to lift its frame. 

Loads of transistions esp trot walk, really getting the horse to sit in the transistion downwards, use your legs to create loads of energy in the downwards trans so the horse can come up in front.

Energy and lightness, otherwise you will never get the back end under you and therefore the front end up.


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