I tried sea-sawing. I can't get his head down all the way. And how do I keep it down?
See-sawing never works properly and you can hurt your horse's mouth. To get your horse on the bit he needs to be bending and flexing properly on all turns and circles, and needs to have good impulsion from behind. He needs to be balanced and listening to you completely. I find it helps to work on a 20m circle when trying to achieve roundness. Make sure you have correct bend, flexion, impulsion and rhythm before you ask your horse to come onto the bit. Some horses will automatically come round once they have these four things, but sometimes you just need to use you outside rein a bit and squeeze it like a sponge - keep repeating until the horse yields and then reward immediately by stopping the squeezing on the rein.
You also need to make sure that you are in the correct position - inside hand higher than your outside one and a bit forwards and sideways to ask for flexion. Outside hand should be down near the saddle blanket and steady - make sure you don't lose the contact on this rein or the horse will fall out through the shoulder. You need to have more weight on your inside seat bone than your outside. Look where you want to go, shoulders back, heels down.
Getting your horse on the bit is not as easy as you may think and it takes a lot of practise to achieve it successfully. Good luck!
You also need to make sure that you are in the correct position - inside hand higher than your outside one and a bit forwards and sideways to ask for flexion. Outside hand should be down near the saddle blanket and steady - make sure you don't lose the contact on this rein or the horse will fall out through the shoulder. You need to have more weight on your inside seat bone than your outside. Look where you want to go, shoulders back, heels down.
Getting your horse on the bit is not as easy as you may think and it takes a lot of practise to achieve it successfully. Good luck!
If his head is way up in the air, he is probably hollowing his back and traveling stiffly. Being on the bit isn't about keeping his head down, it's about his whole body position. Try doing some bending and flexing excersizes; make sure he is using his whole body, not just moving his neck. Try circles, leg yields, and transitions to get him to balance and start using his back muscles. You should be more focused on him rounding his back - the head will follow, and you will have a more balanced and comfortable horse that is ACTUALLY on the bit instead of SEEMING like he is on the bit.
Here's a good article with some suppling excersizes in it. It is geared towards hunters, but the excersizes are good for any horse that needs to become more flexible and learn how to use his body correctly.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...
Found another article with exercises that aren't quite as advanced as the ones above
http://ezinearticles.com/?Softening-Exer...
Here's a good article with some suppling excersizes in it. It is geared towards hunters, but the excersizes are good for any horse that needs to become more flexible and learn how to use his body correctly.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...
Found another article with exercises that aren't quite as advanced as the ones above
http://ezinearticles.com/?Softening-Exer...
Please don't see-saw; it can hurt your horse's mouth.
The correct way to get a horse on the bit is to get them to engage through the hind end and then flex through the poll, not bring their nose in to their chest.
To get them to stretch through the neck, try bending. Bend for five seconds to the left, then bend for five seconds to the right. Eventually they will stretch through the neck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0hyOmMUL...
watch the whole video. It's very educational. :)
The correct way to get a horse on the bit is to get them to engage through the hind end and then flex through the poll, not bring their nose in to their chest.
To get them to stretch through the neck, try bending. Bend for five seconds to the left, then bend for five seconds to the right. Eventually they will stretch through the neck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0hyOmMUL...
watch the whole video. It's very educational. :)
Its NOT about the horses bead being down. And DON'T see-saw! That is very incorrect. I suggest reading articles about hyperflexion and having a horse on the bit at http://www.sustainabledressage.com
AND getting a 10$ subscription to http://www.epona.tv/uk
AND getting a 10$ subscription to http://www.epona.tv/uk
SAMD
use a full cheek and wiggle your rains also once in a while give a little pull up as a "test"