2016 Miniature Horse WORLD Issues Spring - E-Magazine | Page 10

Ask

The
Trainer

By Cassidy Blanton

Q.

Hi, I was wondering
if you know of any
ground and driven
exercises to get my
horse to work long and
low and engage his hind
end? He is built uphill and
even when he does lower
his head and look alright in
his movement, he still feels
quite stiff and he still fights
back and lifts his head when
asked for a transition.
A: For those who haven’t heard the term

“long and low,” it typically refers to a horse
who carries his head in an exaggeratedly low
frame in order to help work on flexibility and
muscle tone. In the dressage horses I ride, it
is used to help build up horses core muscles
and their topline as well as work on rhythmic movement. You want the horses to be
reaching down in order to find the contact
from the bit, pulling their abdominal muscles
towards their spine and not hollowing their
topline. I use this exercise on my roadster,
single, country and classic horses as a training
regiment but not for a show headset.
I tend to work on engaging the hind end
and working horses long and low separately
in the cart because it is difficult for a horse
to get propulsion from his hind end with his
head down. With that said, I am going to
answer this question in two parts. The first
thing that strikes me about your question is

8 Miniature Horse World

SPRING 2016

that you mention your horse is “built uphill”
which means doing work that is long and low
is going to take your horse some more time
than a horse who is built a little bit downhill. On the positive side, it should be slightly
easier for him to engage his hind end with a
naturally uphill build.
Once they are in the cart I typically do a lot
of circles to get our horses accepting the bit
and yielding to the pressure with a relatively
loose rein. I work on having them yield to the
bit laterally (side to side), before I ever worry
about them yielding vertically, (tucking their
nose). Once they are starting to make contact with the bit and becoming framed up in
a circle I will start doing serpentine patterns
with cones. The lateral yielding in a short
amount of distance will help the horse start
looking for contact on the bit and reaching
their head down. After I do a few serpentines
with them then I will let them go straight for
a few strides or until they come out of the
bridle. Once they become unbridled then I
go back to circle work until they are in frame
again, and keep repeating this until they can
hold their head in a somewhat steady frame
for a few laps. Just like us, when we start a
new workout program it takes time for them
to build up their muscles, so be sure to set
attainable goals for your horse. Maybe within
the first few weeks of their training if they
can make it one lap around the arena with
their head long and low- call that enough
and build up their stamina from there.
While trying to get my horses yielding to the
bit and finding a natural headset, I do all of

this work without a check so they are comfortable carrying their head without bracing.
To get my horses working from their hind
end, I like to do transitions from backing
to trotting. I will ask them to back about
four to five steps then cluck and insist that
they trot within one to two steps. This helps
teach them to engage their hind end and
propel themselves forward by pushing with
their hind end rather than pulling from their
shoulders.
I hope this information helps you with your
driving horse!
About the trainer: Cassidy Blanton basically grew up training horses at her Drive
‘Em Wild Ranch with an emphasis on natural moving, balanced, and happy horses.
Cassidy focuses on training performance
driving horses with only natural methods,
to achieve a safe, confident and competitive
driving horse. Cassidy has had a long and
diverse history with equestrian activities that
include; western pleasure, english pleasure,
horsemanship, showmanship, western trail,
hunter, jumper, reining, dressage, trail riding
and ranch work. Cassidy continues to ride
and train large horses as well as working with
Miniatures. When not at the barn, Cassidy
attends college at the University of Nevada
Reno, pursuing a degree in communication.