From: Elena
Dear Jessica, Happy New Year and thank you for this so wonderful service. I have learned more from you than from any instructor. My problem is quite common I think but I just do not know what to do so I am turning to you, my trusted mentor. My horse for many years was a QH gelding who was my "perfect horse", he was my friend and companion and we did everything together, trail riding and some small shows and events. In the last ten years we hunted together and he was always perfect for me, I am a little bit of a coward and so do not enjoy the sensation of great uncontrolled speed in the hunt field! Marty would always "rate" for me and come back when I just closed my fingers, and I never felt any fear. But two years ago Marty died at age 27, and I am now riding his successor, a young mare (also a QH) called Lyra. Lyra is almost seven and has been jumping for two years, hunting for one season, and we are in our second season of hunting as I write this. Although she is a QH, she is much more sensitive and quick than Marty was, and although she is perhaps not any faster, she seems faster to me, and I always feel as though she is out of control and racing downhill all the time. Perhaps it is because she has more Thoroughbred Blood in her, since she is an Appendix-registered QH. But I am now fearful in the hunt field where I was never fearful before, and I do not want to give up my favourite sport, or my lovely mare, if there is something I can do to change my fear. Some of my fellow hunters tell me that I should get a stronger bit, but I am reluctant to do this. However if you tell me to do it, I will! What do you think I should do in my situation?
Thanking you in advance, I am yours truly, Elena
Riders who ride primarily (or exclusively) one particular horse for years and years develop such a strong partnership with the horse that any change of partner becomes quite difficult. Part of your problem, I suspect, lies in the fact that you had so many years with your gelding, and your entire body and mind are attuned to his way of going, just as he was attuned to your way of riding.
You can develop a similar partnership with your mare, but give yourselves time. She is young and energetic and highly bred, and hunting is exciting for youngstock! You might consider going out for part of the day only, or going with the second field, or even the third if your hunt is large enough to have three. ;-) If you are very worried about your security, it might even be a good idea to spend part of this season hilltopping.
First, though, you need to spend some time in a school or a field, working on the flat. Your mare needs to learn to rate, and to rate effectively, she needs to learn to balance effectively at all gaits and at all paces within each gait. Horses that are well-balanced can lengthen and shorten their stride easily when the rider asks -- horses that are NOT well-balanced find it not just easy, but imperative to lengthen their strides, and very difficult to shorten them. Such horses will typically fall into the canter from a long, unbalanced trot, and will then fall into the gallop from a long, unbalanced canter... and at that point, it will be terribly difficult to slow the gallop or come back to a proper canter! Balance is the key to most of what you have described: the excess speed, the feeling of being out of control, and most of all, the feeling that your mare is constantly "running downhill."
It will take work to achieve balance, but balance is fundamental to everything you will ever do with your mare, so the time spent will be well worth it. My suggestion is that you do exercises -- not just large ring figures and some minor lateral work, but TRANSITIONS, hundreds and thousands of transitions!! Play with your mare's gaits until you find her best, most rhythmic and consistent walk, trot, and canter, and then learn the tempo of each one and make it a point to KEEP that same tempo as you practice shorter- and longer-strided versions of each gait. Your mare will become more balanced and stronger, she will gradually develop her hindquarters and her back, and indeed her entire topline. And -- an added incentive -- she will remain much calmer, because moving with longer strides at a particular gait doesn't excite or agitate a horse, whereas moving with faster steps DOES.
Do easy gait-to-gait transitions:halt to walk, walk to trot, trot to canter, canter to trot, trot to walk, walk to halt. Then do the harder ones: halt to trot, walk to canter, canter to walk, trot to halt. And all the time, work at your basic gaits AND at lengthened and shortened versions of the gaits. And work on simple, straightforward half-halts: just for the space of one or two strides, deepen your seat, send your horse forward from the leg, and close your hand to let her know that this increased energy is to be used for ROUNDNESS not for speed. Then relax your fingers, and don't forget to praise your mare for her efforts. ;-)
All of this will pay enormous dividends in the hunt field, because you are teaching your mare to balance and carry herself with more weight on her hindquarters, and you are teaching her to lengthen, come back, shorten, and then lengthen again while staying in balance at all times. And here's another bonus: the better balanced she is, and the more weight she CAN carry behind when you ask her, the shorter her stopping distance will be. ;-)
Working on balance will help you to develop your mare's physique in a different way, so be sure to take all the time you need to allow the changes to take place. It's work, and it's fun. Enjoy yourself!
As for the bit -- a more severe bit isn't the answer to a training or balance question. Having said that, however, a good rider with a soft following hand is not going to put her horse at risk if she chooses to use a Kimblewicke or a pelham in the hunt field. I would recommend the pelham if you're comfortable using two reins; otherwise, the Kimblewicke may give you the extra "brakes" you need cross-country. It's better to use a stronger bit, or a bit that gives you more options, than it is to use a plain snaffle and end up in a pulling contest with a horse. But it's best to leave the bit as it is and spend some time schooling for balance instead; that way, the bit can be used as it should be used, for quiet communication and an indication of which way you would like your horse's nose to tip. ;-)
Jessica
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