I've been backing from barrel to barrel around my playground, and it's doing wonders for my goal of getting "back-up" to be a gait rather than a task. Of course, Dixie has quite a few LBI tendencies, so point-to-point is a good impulsion program for us at all gaits. Those of you with more extroverted horses might not have as much success, but it's still worth a try!
I set up 4 cones and got Lola sideways to the first cone. We did our back-ups to the next cone, but then she started to do the sideways game.....so we did the sideways game to the wall then back again.
I turned up the excitement by having her turn towards the cone once we got there and put her nose in it. Then it became more interesting. We did this a few times before she would turn on her own at the next cone. Tomorrow we will try the other side and do more forward and backward. Maybe move the hind-end around the cone, or put the hind end on the come and move the front end around.
I've been backing from barrel to barrel around my playground, and it's doing wonders for my goal of getting "back-up" to be a gait rather than a task. Of course, Dixie has quite a few LBI tendencies, so point-to-point is a good impulsion program for us at all gaits. Those of you with more extroverted horses might not have as much success, but it's still worth a try!
ReplyDeleteI set up 4 cones and got Lola sideways to the first cone. We did our back-ups to the next cone, but then she started to do the sideways game.....so we did the sideways game to the wall then back again.
ReplyDeleteI turned up the excitement by having her turn towards the cone once we got there and put her nose in it. Then it became more interesting. We did this a few times before she would turn on her own at the next cone. Tomorrow we will try the other side and do more forward and backward. Maybe move the hind-end around the cone, or put the hind end on the come and move the front end around.
One thing I'm learning from this is that it really does help to use your reins in time with the front feet (in the nine-step backup).
ReplyDeleteActually, Fancy is a LBE and she had no problem with this one. We backed from point to point and also all around the arena. She likes to back.
ReplyDelete