Training Level/First Level Warmblood...

I didn't catch this horse's breed, he is a 7 year old WB whose rider wanted to work on elastic hands and accepting contact as well as working on the horse's tendency to go BTV.

The rider had a tendency to ask for flexion at the jaw, instead of the poll, which is why the horse was going BTV.

She also was not following the horse's mouth with her elbows so the horse was nodding *in* because he couldn't poke his nose out as he walked and his neck naturally oscillated.

Jane started out with a visualization of imagining the reins are two solid sticks that you need to push forward; push your hands forward until the elbows are almost straight.

If one arm is more elastic, bridge the reins and let the elastic arm guide the stiff arm (this rider had a tendency to follow well with the right hand, but not the left).

We can't ask the horse to be on the bit if the contact isn't elastic.

The horse is built like a parallelogram, you need to get it slanted forward, with the neck out and the hind legs under the horse, rather than the horse's neck sucked back with hind legs trailing.

The nose should be 5 degrees in front of the vertical, though can be on the vertical during some Grand Prix movements.

Flexion-pinkie goes as close to the center of withers and stays there when you flex it (suppling the poll, not the jaw). This closes the gap between the jaw and the muscle in the neck under the poll, not the throatlatch.

This is also what's called being "through the poll"; flexibility is needed at the poll

Uberstreichen tests that the horse is really in the left poll (after asking for flexion to the left) because he won't look to the outside when given that release

The horse should be flexed at +1 in the direction it's going, meaning, head directly center is 0, and 1 inch to the inside is +1 and 1 inch to the outside is -1.

***Really good suppleing exercise that when done correctly, it's really good, done incorrectly, it does a lot of harm (see below)***

"The horse's neck is simply his back out in front of you"

Suppleing in the neck is when you bring the horse's neck to +6 above the regular +1, so for a total of +7.

What the rider does, quickly and without holding the horse in the flexion, is go +7, back to +1, +7, back to +1, +7, and then +1 again.

However, don't fall into the trap of replacing the leg with rein; squeeze with the leg on the same side as you're suppling when you supple the horse, this is why this exercise can do more damage than good, when the rider depends on the rein

Keep your hands in a box, side by side, and don't leave that box...don't give too much with your outside hand and don't pull your inside hand back too far

This exercise is like giving a fit 3-day event horse valium; it relaxes the body, which relaxes the mind.

It's important to do the suppleing with the horse, but it's just as important what you do AFTER the suppleing (ie row the boat when walking or wash the clothes when trotting), in other words, keep an elastic connection

After suppleing the horse would chew the reins out of the riders hand instead of needing it to be wiggled down.

When doing this exercise, ride at least 6 or 7 strides between suppleings, this gives the horse time to answer you.