Why Does My Horse Feel So Heavy?
Do you feel like your horse leans on the bit, is heavier for a half halt, pulls through the bit or snatches it when you’re trying to ride a downward transition or rebalance the stride?
Your horse may be missing a vital piece to the puzzle that is his education: The rein back.
Rein back can be one of those exercises that people really struggle to get under saddle because they don’t understand how to teach it - so it doesn’t get taught.
Maybe you’ve tried? Pulled the reins, wiggled your bum a little maybe even attempted the leg aids and all you successfully taught was the horse to toss its head or snatch the bit. So rather than make things worse you gave up. “Oh well don’t need that any way... right?”
Well it may surprise you that you do need that rein back!! Especially if you’re struggling to get a square halt, a half halt or even steady head carriage and seeking the bit.
The rein back has an important role in the foundations of your horses training. It gets them thinking “sit” and “transfer weight onto the haunches” from bit pressure which is, in essence, engagement.
It is also important for head carriage.
Green to Self Carriage takes you through the process of developing your rein back to develop engagement, along with more exercises to develop true self carriage.
A true frame and self carriage (therefore head carriage) is directly related to the softness and flexion of the hind legs and hocks. The reins don’t control where the head is, they control how much flexion is through the joints of the hind quarters. This in turn influences the amount of roundness through the neck and crest.
A horse that just flexes away from the bit without getting into the haunches cannot develop an uphill action and will be working on the forehand and not able to half halt.
So before you give up on that rein back, think about all the flow on affects the exercise has on the horses understanding of the rein aids and how to use its body. And its actually really easy to teach if we start with using it on the ground first and then transfer to under saddle.
