I've been working at the lope for almost two weeks now. I was told that I should shorten my reins, which in turn shortens Gunny's body, so she can go into the lope nice and easy. Unfortunately, when she does lope, she lays back her ears, and throws her head almost so high, you'd think she'd hurt her neck. I don't know why she does this. She does on the lunge line too. Don told me to yank her to a stop and back her up on the lunge line whenever she throws her head when I ask for the lope. Ever since I started doing that, she began to start going very fast and uncontrollable at the lunge. I can't get her to slow down...not to mention she still tosses her head when asked to lope. It's like she's trying to go fast to get out of working..which is a weird thought in the horse world.
I've also tried this under saddle. The minute I shorten my reins, she anticipates that we're going to go faster and gets "jiggy". I feel like I'm on a pogo stick because she trots in place at times and has her head way in the air. I figured that I should ride with a short rein at the walk, also...and let her relax so she won't anticipate me asking her to lope. Once I do ask her to lope, she goes from relaxed walk to HEAD UP, EARS BACK, LETS GO FAST AND UNCONTROLLABLE. She braces against my hands, keeps her head up and is very difficult to control. When I ask her to lope I kiss and push with my legs...however, any time I put a leg on her side now she thinks it means lope. I was told to stop her when she shows resentment at the lope and try again...however it's very difficult to stop her...she wants to go...and braces against my hands. If she does stop, she won't stand still...so I feel like I have to walk for 10 minutes to try the lope again...otherwise she's on that speed "high". I can't ask her immediately after that because her head is sky-high and she wants to run. As soon as I ask her to lope again, it's FAST, and she often bucks a little bit. This becomes very frustrating because I feel like I get nowhere. You think she's calm and relaxed...and the moment you ask for the lope she changes into a different horse...0 to 60 in 3.5.
I worked so hard getting her to calm down at the walk and the jog...and as soon as I started working with her at the lope, it's like all my progress was lost. I don't want to back track, I want to move forward. Even today, I went on a trail ride...just so both of us could have a mental break...and all she wanted to do was go. She wanted to jog down hills... it's like she won't calm down. How can I get her to calm down and be relaxed...if my progress is always reversed whenever I try the next step (loping)?
Here's a video of me riding her and her behavior:
Click here
I want to continue doing well together, it can be so frustrating sometimes. I know it's probably me making tons of mistakes in my training, which is making her worse. All I want to do is get better and be successful.
