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Michael Poulin 10/7/99 Forum

Question #1- How could Jessica have improved her first halt at x?

Answer # 1 - Horse was not enough collected in preparation for halt, horse fell on f/hand & went left.
Especially in ctr line - horse should have been gathered up into a more collected canter. Aids for the halt should be applied while maintaining a collected canter to the transition and when rider asks for the halt the horse will be engaged enough for the square halt.

Question # 2 - What is a good way to prepare a horse for the shoulder in?

Answer # 2 - Before you consider shoulder in, rider needs to develop the collected trot and horse must be engaged & balanced. Horse needs to be underneath rider's seat and be responsive to the leg aids. Then when rider applies outside rein towards the inside, horse wil go into the shoulder in. This is an exercise to prepare for a higher degree of collection.

Question # 3 - In the text it says, "neck should be steadier", what's the best way to achieve that?

Answer # 3 - What happened was, horse fell on forehand in corner. Rider did not use sufficeint half halts, which resulted in horse continuing to be on the forehand and become unsteady in neck.

Question # 4 - When a horse does a flying change, how can the rider help make the horse "more through" ?

Answer # 4 - The key here; flying change is a transition in motion and horse must be in front of the seat & leg. When you ask the horse for a change, the horse should be on the haunches as he does the transition, horse needs to be up in the air not down in the ground and losing self carriage.

Question # 5 - Weston broke during the first extended trot transition, I have that problem trying to train my horse to do a trot lenthen. How do you keep the energy and power without breaking into a canter?

Answer # 5 - What happened here is rider leaned back and horse came against hand. Rider gave too much leg & horse lost balance and broke. Rider should have asked for more engagement but less quickly.
Engagement should have been gradual especially during transition. Rider did use an effective half halt and recovered quickly and nicely.

Question # 6 - How could Jessica improve Weston's steadiness in half pass?

Answer # 6 - To improve the steadiness, rider needs to do traverse towards unsteady direction. Also rein on unsteady side needs to reamain soft & elastic.

Question # 7 - What benefits are draw reins for a horse?

Answer # 7 - There is also a danger with draw reins, if the rider does not have a correct seat. The benefit is, first that draw reins allow elastic resistance so the horse becomes supple. They are often used to re-school badly trained horses. Only riders who are experienced and have been trained on the proper use of draw reins should use them.

Question # 8 - If my horse is recovering from a back injury what strenthening exercises would you suggest?

Answer # 8 - First I would suggest having the back x-rayed to make sure no bone fragments are cutting the back muscle tissue. If the back is ok, the horse should be put extremely low & round and on contact.
Contact with the rein, as horse thrust forward and extends down is very important. Always start with the horses good side when riding this exercise.

Question # 9 - Should rider slow down to show some collection?

Answer # 9 - Rider needs to reorganize, which is why horse is going faster. Rider needs to ask herself,does horse have pushing hind leg but does not carry his weight balanced? When off balance & rushing, if horse pushes, he pushes into the ground, or falling and does not become through. Do not allow horse to run. To get the horse forward but not running, practice shoulder fore and shoulder in to regain the balance.