[love eagle]

Im in the process of training an OTTB. He is very quiet and has a lovely soft mouth, and id like to start by getting him to be more balanced and to start flexing. He carries his head high, which im not fussed about yet, but this makes it hard to ask him to flex. I just want him to slightly look the right way. He is alright on the left leg (his racing leg) but he usually is flexed left on the right leg. And he isnt too responsive to the leg aids yet so i cant ask him to bend around my leg. So how can i get him to flex a bit more?

And balance, which i suppose i should work on even before flexion. He isnt too bad, but what exercises can i do to work on balance?

Cheers! Amy.

[NeighNeigh]

Your OTTB sounds like mine was 3 months ago...like deja vu. Anyway, we started out just walking and trotting to get accustomed to the arena and the concept of staying on the rail. We did lots of big circles in both directions. We also worked on halting and walk/trot/halt transitions. Once the basic "steering" was down, we started making the circles a bit smaller, and introduced big serpentines. Now we are doing much smaller circles and tighter serpentines, and we play with vertical bend poles (spaced out pretty far) and some ground poles to trot over. He LOVES the trot poles and it makes arena work a little more interesting. Honestly, it's been SLOW progress. He is bending much better to the right, but to the left is still a struggle. I also lunge him in a surcingle with radial side reins (loose) just to get him used to the feel of working through bit contact. Oh, and we do carrot stretches, too!

I don't know if you're into Clinton Anderson, but here is a wonderful article on gaining lateral bend:
http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com...teralflex.html

[UnDun*]

Ground driving will help for the flex issue, from the ground anyways.

[VA_jumper]

Side reins [if used properly] will help a lot. A Pessoa system is amazing, but more pricey and less available.

As far as being on his back and flexing, square him up in halt. Hold each rein in a steady constant pressure until he gives to it. Practise this until it comes easily. Then, try picking up both reins, and holding them til he flexes at his poll. Don't pull, just hold a steady pressure, and don't give in until he softens.

Once that becomes easy, get him bending, and them ask him to walk off. Practice keeping the bend through the transition, and if he loses it, ask in walk. Remember to keep him in a simple, long and low frame until he masters that, and give him lots of breaks and stretches.

I'll try and find an article later [know of loads of good ones] but now I'm off to school

[JBandRio]

Forget about his head for now. All you want, at this point, is forward and relaxed. His head is in the clouds because he's not relaxed. Do a LOT of walking and trotting. Make sure he's forward and in front of your leg. This doesn't necessarily mean fast, but since it's likely to be "fast" for a while, don't worry about it. Use seat and voice to steady him, not reins. While you walk and trot all over the place (and up and down hills if you can), do a LOT of figures. Don't just w/t around the ring/pasture. Throw in large circles and serpentines and figure 8's and any other funk pattern you can think of. Often. Everywhere. No sharp turns, no sudden halts. Just forward and flowing. He needs to find a rhythm that's comfortable and THEN he will start to relax and THEN his head will come down. THEN you can start finessing his front end. But if you try to work on his front end now, you'll end up with a tight back and a horse that pulls himself along instead of pushing from behind.

[ShadyGirl82]

carrot stretches ROCK!!!

my horse amazes me with them. (OTTB - 2 months off the track)
he bends so far back its great.

right now i can only handwalk/trot him but he bends ok doing that it seems (as much as i can tell while not tripping over myself LOL)
he does seem off balanced some but only time will get any of that better.
i cant wait until i can really start working on these things with him (lunging/poles/etc)

good luck - i know i didnt help any! but its nice to hear other people with the same things im going through right now!

[Super_Trooper]

I agree with JBandRio, forward and relaxed, dont bother with side reins. Try to get him relaxed, give him a long rein, let him stretch, dont keep on his mouth or try to get him on the bit, just long and low...the rest will come and you will end up with a much more relaxed horse.

[Jumps4Eva]

I am having the same difficulties with my OTTB mare. She was doing really well bending to the right and left and then just the other day all of a sudden she is back to skidding and leaning for the right lead and some for the left. I didn't change anything, we hadn't stopped working on them or anything.