BTB: Riley is overflexed -- What would Lendon do?

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Riley is overflexed -- What would Lendon do? Posted: 14 Dec 2010 12:56 PM PST  Lendon Gray wrote in a 2001 Practical Horseman article that this is one of the hardest problems to fix. Riley, why'd ya have to pick a tough bad habit? I'm not sure I'd try the first method on my young boy, but the other three Lendon suggestions are pretty idiotproof, and interestingly, the "distract him" idea was one that occurred to me right off, when Riley was particularly overbent. It worked. The upjerk Is the horse on the aids, moving forward? Try a little "upjerk": First close your leg (he must learn that the leg can push his nose out); then give his mouth a little bop upward and toward his ears. Now, be careful not to direct the bop toward you-there is absolutely no backward pressure. It's just a little tiny jerk up into the corner of his lip. And it's not finished until, as your hand starts to come down, you immediately give it slightly forward so he has room to go out in front of the vertical to the bit. Do Transitions. Doing lots of transitions, back and forth between gaits and within gaits, is another way to get your horse to step toward the bit. Go from normal trot to a forward trot and back again twenty times in a row. Try to do your downward transitions with your voice, so you don't have to put pressure on the reins. Go Sideways. Simple lateral work where your horse has to cross one hind leg over the other, such as basic leg-yielding across the diagonal or along the wall. This will just naturally push him toward the bit. Keep it going forward. Distract Him  Put down some ground poles, change directions, circle, canter, halt, whatever gets his attention. What I love about these fixes is that they don't require a ton of expertise. Thanks Lendon. Excerpted from His head's too low! Practical Horseman Apr 2001. Vol. 29, Iss. 4;  pg. 108.

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