I just found your video. My vet has asked me to incorporate hills to strengthen my horse's stifles. When I go down a hill my horse doesn't want to sit down into the hill and instead feels like he's jamming into his shoulders to slow his forward momentum (though he also tries to just run down them). Is there anything I can do as a rider (or even from the ground) to encourage him to use his hind end more? I've tried leaning far back in the saddle and it doesn't seem to have much effect.
I would encourage you to use daily exercises such as backing up (30+ steps daily), turns on forehand, turns on haunches to help your horse shift weight back when asked.
Thanks for the video. I’ve indeed done the lunging exercise with my horse and we have lots of different gradient hills around us which is great. My question is, when I back him up, he always turns his bottom to his left. His right hind, interestingly, is the weaker one. How do I go about correcting this? It is usually either from the first step, or definitely more or less from the second, back he steps to the side.
In general, to correct this situation I recommend putting the horse's left side close to a railing or barn wall and backing him alongside that barrier. If/when he tries to drift to the left, this boundary will help him self-correct. Practice like this for a week, then try practicing again in an open flat area without the barrier assistance.
Thanks for the clear explanation!
I just found your video. My vet has asked me to incorporate hills to strengthen my horse's stifles. When I go down a hill my horse doesn't want to sit down into the hill and instead feels like he's jamming into his shoulders to slow his forward momentum (though he also tries to just run down them). Is there anything I can do as a rider (or even from the ground) to encourage him to use his hind end more? I've tried leaning far back in the saddle and it doesn't seem to have much effect.
I would encourage you to use daily exercises such as backing up (30+ steps daily), turns on forehand, turns on haunches to help your horse shift weight back when asked.
Thanks for the video. I’ve indeed done the lunging exercise with my horse and we have lots of different gradient hills around us which is great. My question is, when I back him up, he always turns his bottom to his left. His right hind, interestingly, is the weaker one. How do I go about correcting this? It is usually either from the first step, or definitely more or less from the second, back he steps to the side.
In general, to correct this situation I recommend putting the horse's left side close to a railing or barn wall and backing him alongside that barrier. If/when he tries to drift to the left, this boundary will help him self-correct. Practice like this for a week, then try practicing again in an open flat area without the barrier assistance.
On the trail riding exercise, how do I get my horse to have his head lower than his withers?
ua-cam.com/video/Ggqbr7shlf8/v-deo.html