Welcome to Trainer Tuesday! Each week we ask trainers a question and gather their answers for you. These trainers have a range of experience, backgrounds, and focus points of their programs, so the answers have as much variation as you would expect and also probably much more similarity.
This week’s question posed is: What exercises can you practice on the flat to help a horse that tends to get heavy and too much on the forehand while jumping?
Here are their answers:
“To achieve a lighter horse, frequent transitions and lateral work will help to engage the hind end and sensitize the horse to the half halt. A couple of my favorites for heavy horses are:
1) “Accordion” transitions. Begin with trot-walk-halt-walk-trot, then add canter, going up or down one step at a time and focusing on the “sit” in the downward and the “push” in the upward.
2) Canter, then return to the walk, perform a 180-degree turn on the haunches (which encourages the horse to “sit”), and then immediately canter again. Canter no more than half a lap before repeating.
3) Trot a single pole on the ground and then smoothly halt. If your horse leans on you, back one or two steps and then continue. Repeat until your horse halts easily and promptly. Once you can do this at the trot, try it at a canter. Once you can do the single pole, try a series of poles.” -Joanna Novakovic
Read more from Joanna here.
“Do turns on the haunches, turns on the forehand (keeping the neck straight), and shoulders in! Most heavy horses are not engaged in the hindquarter–the answer is responsiveness to a rider’s leg.” -Jamie Grant
Read more from Jamie here.
“I really like using circles and figure eights to teach a horse to stay off the inside shoulder. I like to keep a horse always moving from the inside leg to the outside hand. When a horse is heavy, it is because it’s leaning on the shoulders and often locks the neck and jaw.
If you offset the shoulders by moving them into your outside hand, and then using a figure 8 to keep changing that bend, it helps to train a horse to come back to you more easily. It’s important to always use a half-halt as you change the bend. I tell my students that their mantra should behalf-halt, set the bend, and soften the inside hand every time they come to a corner.” -Cathy Strobel
“There are a few reasons that horses can be heavy and on the forehand. Lack of fitness and conformation are both at the top of the list. Fitness is something you can change, conformation is something you have to work with.
Galloping on a light contact is an excellent tool to add to your program. In or out of the arena, doing some galloping and allowing the horse to be in their own balance will improve any horse.
Rider position for a heavy horse should focus on not getting ahead of the horse and allowing them to carry your weight on their hocks rather than on their shoulders/forehand. Think weight through your hip and down your leg.
Lateral work will also naturally lighten a heavy horse and motivate the hind legs. Practice taking a jump, creating bend through the turn while keeping the leg on and center through your hip, leg yield out while maintaining a steady outside connection, and moving the horse off the inside leg. Then soften and keep moving forward into the rhythm.” -Lauren Wheaton
“Always understand great basics make great flatwork. Great, educated flatwork makes great, correct movers. Correct movers make great hunters! Good Dressage is the basis of everything. Adding leg and half-halting while moving through corners, as well as doing shoulders in, are amazing exercises for heavy front ends.” -Missy Jo Hollingsworth
Read more from Missy Jo here.
