Thursday, April 23, 2015

Going round and round in circles

I've been longeing Paddy quite a bit of late, mostly to let him work on his balance in the canter without having to deal with a less-than-stellar rider as well. I haven't really done this before because at some point in his life, Paddy learned that longeing means to run around the human as fast as possible in each direction, randomly slamming on the brakes and spinning around to change direction. Not precisely what you want for a productive longe session. He's also a pro at throwing out his shoulder and bolting off if you're not longeing in a round pen. After being dragged across the pasture a few times (we don't have a round pen), I took the coward's way and decided we would just skip that whole longeing thing.

Until now. It's become glaringly apparent that we have got to pull out all the stops to work on his canter. Sure, we could try things like a little shoulder fore in the canter, or maybe some shallow counter-canter serpentines, but his canter is literally such a mess that I can't do anything with it. Cantering more with him splatted on his forehand isn't going to help, so we opted to try about a million trot-canter-trot transitions on the longe line in hopes he would be able to sort himself out a bit on his own, and get a little stronger so that when I'm on his back we don't flail quite so much.

Our first try was with my old stand-by, side reins. When I had Cash, I used to longe him often, just for a few minutes. I wanted him to have a chance to feel the bit contact without the instability of a rider's hands, and over time, side reins definitely helped him. With Paddy, the goals are different - steady rhythm and tempo, and better balance in all gaits but especially the canter.

Paddy in side reins. Note that he's BTV and tight in the base of his neck.

One thing I discovered about using elasticized side reins is that Paddy likes to lean on them. That meant when I got in the saddle to ride him after longeing, he was SUPER heavy in my hand (and having him more in my hand is really not somewhere I want to go). I also tried side reins without elastic, and he sucked back behind the bit the entire time with those. So while the elastic side reins might be OK if I'm ONLY going to longe him, they aren't great if I'm also going to ride.

Based on a little research and recommendations from other bloggers, I decided to try a chambon. The action is entirely different than side reins - it works off poll pressure and bit pressure when the horse raises his head. When the horse lowers his head, all pressure is released. He's allowed to go with his nose poked out or in and his head way down or slight up, and the chambon won't activate. It's only when he flings his head in the air that it kicks in.

Paddy with a chambon. Note how he's relaxed along his neck and top line, stepping under (for him), and has his nose poked out and down. This is actually a GREAT free walk for him!

It took him a few sessions to figure out the action of the chambon, but now he goes in a big, relaxed, swinging walk, and he's relaxing into the trot more and more. It's interesting to see how hard it is for him to balance in a trot over his topline for more than half a circle without anything to lean on, but he's getting better day by day. The canter is still very hard for him, but it's only been two weeks and he's finding his balance a bit more. I'm keeping sessions short, maybe 10-15 minutes total, mostly walking, and it's definitely making a difference under saddle. His walk is much freer and his trot and canter are both a bit more balanced. Yay progress!

Do you use longeing as a regular training aid? 

32 comments:

  1. i have been wanting to put auto in the chambon, but we've been halted by many things. it's ready to go as soon as he's sound. glad to know it's having a positive effect on paddy. please keep us posted!

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    1. It did take Paddy a few (short) sessions to figure out the release. He definitely gets it at the walk, but it's harder for him at the trot and currently impossible at the canter. So I would say, don't expect them the "get it" right away - but it seems like it can be a good tool if used carefully and sparingly!

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  2. Awesome! My mare also plays the race around the human game while leaning in around the cicle. I also skipped the longing as she doesn't really need it for riding but I would like to use it as a training tool. I have a chambon in my repertoire of training aids and now I am wondering if this might help quell the Giraffe Mode that my mare is so fond of and help her balance a bit more.

    Thanks for putting the idea in my head!

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    1. It definitely discourages the giraffe mode and offers immediate release when they give. Good luck and let us know how it works for you!

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  3. I actually don't use longing with Suzie as a typical exercise because she is older and circle exercises can be hard for her - I find it is easier to ride her and "guide" her in the exercise. Things like leg yielding, shoulder in/out, haunches in/out, and even counter bend really help her.

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    1. Circle exercises can be hard on any horse for sure, which is why I keep longe session short. We work on all those exercises under saddle as well, but letting Paddy work on himself without my weight seems to be a good thing.

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  4. This is really interesting! The canter is my pony's biggest challenge and I have plans to longe him to help him learn to balance without me. We had a minor disruption in training while we are attending to ulcers, but I will be incorporating longing with a neck stretcher (seems like the same action as a chambon).

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    1. Cool, please let us know about all your work with cantering, because I could sure use all the tips I can get!

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  5. I let him work in a round pen with me when I can't ride and he needs to move his leg. I ask and then let him work it out on his own. He lets me know when he's done. My only request is that he work in both directions equally. I have to stand and not watch or he struggles to maintain the correct lead, because of how he twists his body to watch me.

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    1. It's SO NICE to have a round pen so you can do that with your boy. I wish!

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  6. I had never used a chambon before I used one on TC and it's made SUCH a difference for horses that get retracted in the neck! I really should longe him more often... I can totally relate to being dragged across the arena while longeing (we have a round pen but the footing is kind of hard). Paddy looks great in that walk picture! Awesome!

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    1. Yes, your experience with TC is one of the things that led me to try it with Paddy, so THANK YOU for sharing that! And I'm glad I'm not the only one being dragged across the arena... little snot...

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  7. I use longing as a training too and I LOOOOOOVE the chambon! I think it's one of the only pieces of equipment that truly does not allow the horse to cheat or hide behind the contact - I love how it rewards correct stretching and lets the horse unlock the topline!

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    1. Alli, yes this! Exactly! So glad to hear someone else has used it and with good results. Thanks for the encouragement!

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  8. Innnnnnteresting. I don't think we're quite ready for it right now, but I'm fascinated by the concept. I used a harbride martingale (like if the chambon went straight to the bit) for a while last year and I've been doing the outside-side-rein with inside lunge line lately.

    If he could hit a chambon without panicking, it might be the ticket for us.

    If.

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    1. Yes, you do have to be careful about the poll pressure. Paddy was a bit unsure for about a minute, but I just sent him forward and he was fine. Good luck!

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  9. glad it's working for Paddy! i recently started long-lining my mare with the goal of helping her straighten out and stretch out her back, and so far it seems to be working out pretty well. haven't ever tried a chambon

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    1. I know nothing about long-lining but I sure wish I did. I don't think I'm coordinated enough to do it lol!

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  10. I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has a snotty pony who takes off with the line. I'd like to lunge him more but that bucking and bolting has us backing off to relearn the concept of lunging on a line.

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    1. Here's me raising my glass to those of us with snotty bolting ponies. We need a a facebook group or something...

      Bad, BAD PONIES!

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  11. Interesting! I always tell myself things like "I should longe the horses more often" but rarely do. I've never used a chambon, so that's certainly interesting to hear about!

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    1. I think it's important to not longe too much, since going around in small circles isn't terribly good for their legs. But when you have a specific goal in mind, I definitely think it can be a good training tool!

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  12. Since I don't make it out every day, I lunge before every ride (which is every other day). I like that it allows Dassah to get her bucks and squeals and tightness out without the added (potentially unbalanced) weight of me on her back. I also use the entire arena during lungeing - I'll do a 20m circle at one end and then trot with her down the long side to the middle, do a 20m there, and then trot again with her to the other end and do another 20m. Then we do lots of spirals in and out.

    Sally Swift wrote about the importance of lungeing in Centered Riding and I took that to heart. I definitely want to up my game to long-lining soon.

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    1. Oh man, I WISH I could longe in an open space without Paddy bolting and leaving! Sounds like Dassah is much more experienced on the line than Paddy is.

      You know, I've never actually read Centered Riding? Might be time... ;)

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    2. Jen, I have a copy if you want to borrow it.

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  13. Harley did not have a balanced enough canter for longeing for a long time (years). His build is very different that Paddy, obviously, so I am not sure how many parallels can be drawn. I tried side reins for five minutes once and could tell that it was not having a positive effect. My teacher taught me to longe in just a halter. My longeing posture had a huge impact on his posture and balance. It took a long time, but he learned to release his topline and balance on the line in just a halter even at the canter. Seriously, it was all about biomechanics. I am not sure if I could reproduce it with another horse, but my teacher clearly can! Good luck.

    By the way, the turning point for Harley's canter was learning to jump: trotting in to low obstacles. Later on, double longeing at the canter became possible. I never thought that would happen.

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    1. Paddy rarely canters even when out in the pasture and the other horses are galloping around - he's much more efficient at trotting at mach one-Haffie. I truly think that some of our problem is that cantering just isn't his gait!

      Good point on learning how to jump. Paddy has jumped in the past and certainly can do it, but I haven't really been interested in a long time. I seem to remember his canter was better when we were jumping a year ago... I'll have to go back and read what we were doing then that helped so much. Thanks for the tip!

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  14. What about putting down ground poles for him to canter over? (starting with just one) I did that with my horse to help him get off his front end & engage his hiney, & it really helped! He HAD to be balanced over them to not fall on his face (win!), & it carried over into his regular work. :)

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    1. The idea of him cantering over a ground pole is kinda hilarious - legs everywhere! But it's a great idea, and something we'll start working on. Thanks for the tip!

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    2. I hear you about the legs everywhere... I seem to own the worlds clumsiest Arab, he will trip over a leaf! ;) But the poles really did help him. :) Hope they work for you!

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  15. Chambons are great!!! And such a big difference in Paddy too.
    I do lunge quite regularly (mostly Archie because he's the one that needs help with balancing and strengthening) but I rarely use my side reins anymore. I've been exploring Jenny Rolfe's breathing techniques, and found that I can get a better result without side reins, than with. Arch is a pretty laid back and amiable fellow, though. haha!

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    1. I definitely longe without any equipment to warm him up, including a few transitions each way. Right now his natural balance point in the canter is head up, back hollow - but that's OK as long as he's balanced somehow! I'll have to look into Jenny Rolfe - the name isn't familiar but her technique sounds interesting. Thanks!

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