The Riding Lesson w/ JP Giacomini - GETTING THE HORSE ON THE BIT & ROUND!

[ShelleySGiacomini]

I'll get JP to reply to your questions....everyone LOL.... Thanks, Shelley

[kerrycan69]

That horse looks absolutely Gorgeous <3

[goldeena]

i am having such a hard time collecting my stallion... he has very big gaits and it's difficult to sit and i push with the legs all the time because he's heavy and i play with the reins to collect him and i still can't... the worst part is at the canter! his head is up and i'm trying to bring him to the bit all the time and pushing with the legs and i fail, i get dissapointed and you can imagine the result.....

[Myponies4eva]

my pony only goes down on the bit in canter. what can i do because whenever i twiddle my hands about she either puts her nose to the ground or raises her head. is there any sort of rein i could use or any technics. shes 16 so its quite hard as her old owners probably didnt care about her going down on the bit or not. basically i would just like tips or advice. thank you :) xx

[Bubble734]

this was so helpful :) I do this with a horse I ride on camp and it works really well but i basically had to figure it out on my own (the seat aids + setting the hands) so it's good to know I'm doing it correctly.

The horse that I do it on though is very well schooled, and just needs those aids for him to do it, but horses at my local riding school are ridden by beginners a lot, and are hardly ever made round. So, when I try it on them, they just put their heads in the air + harden their mouths

[spurpop]

I can get my horse very round in the trot and pretty round in the canter but in the canter to trot transition and throws her head up and runs into the trot and it takes a while to get her slow and round again. How can i fix this? If it helps she an off the track thoroughbred.

[ShelleySGiacomini]

Slow down the canter by repeating steps of reinback BEFORE you start the canter. This can also be done on the lunge by repeating transitions with the help of side reins and the use of a circle of diminishing size. The other is to use the diminution of the circle size to make the transitions happen under saddle. It is also a good idea to try to get the transitions with using one rein only (see which one works best). However difficult transitions are, do many of them before he gains speeds up.

[tooprettyforpink]

DO you have to keep your hands over there the whole time?

[xXGirlforeverXx]

you're just an AMAZING teacher :] but is she supposed to keep her hands in such a distance, i mean, so deep and so far away? although she wants to get him on the bit my teacher always tells me i should lift up my hands a little bit, because I also tend to put my hands so wide.

[AnnieT1998]

Is it your horse?

[AriatBrat0103]

He is very flexable. I stretch him everyday. He can touch past the saddle with his nose, but no such luck when we're moving. Its frustrating!

[AriatBrat0103]

My thoroughbred is very stiff through his neck and resists my hands when I ask him to give me his head. He also likes to not bend through his barrel. Nothing physically wrong. He is off the track (3 years ago). One of my trainers suggested to uses spurs because he ignores my leg and won't bend at all. But I don't know what to do about getting him to bend through his neck. I'm hoping to do jumpers this winter and I need some flexion! Help!

[darknightfall]

I like how straightforward the trainer is about what he expects of the horse and rider. Not 'wishywashy' like ive seen a lot of trainers..

[XSpinDriftedX]

What a beautiful boy. And thanks so much, very helpful

[oreborder]

This is a GREAT point of reference video. The hands are not held the way I have learned, but this video helped me to understand what I need to do to stop getting a counter-canter. I will watch it repeatedly.

[moonie014w]

he is so beautiful, im trying to get my mare on the bit but she tosses her head alot im not sure what to do she will toss her head just randomly if you have any tips that would be great!

[pikkparis]

I'm having a lot of problems learning how to keep the horse on the bit.. and I have been riding for about 6 years now and it is embarrassing :( I will try to use what I saw in this video on the next lesson. anyone got any gooood tips to share with me on how to do it? I kind of know how to do it, it just doesnt happen! and I ride many horses btw. almost never the same one. I HAVE to learn it soon!!!

[ching962]

@pikkparis

hi! :)

what i do first is to make my horse moving in the circle(20m), with nice bend. and loads of transition. when i change the rein , i do a 10m circle. i do these exercises for 5-10 minutes, to make sure his neck is flexible but not stiff.

and then i'll play with my fingers.

MY horse likes little twinkle, if i am too strong he's gonna stick his nose in the air :P. but horses are different, for MOST horses i hold my outside rein and then do little twinkel in the inner rein.

[ching962]

@pikkparis

Once he's round, i'll stop the "twinkle" for a fewl seconds, once he wants to put his head up i move my fingers again.

If you haven't ridden that horse before, and you don't know how to make him on the bit, you just make him to circles and play with you fingers :)

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU!!!

tell me if it works! :)

[pikkparis]

Hello :) Thank you! That is basically what I am trying to. And also keep my legs as close to the horse as possible. sometimes it works, other times not. I do have a feeling that I need to increase my concentration... But I will try these things and hopefully it will be better! too bad I almost always ride different horse each time

[palfreya]

Thank you, this is a helpful video. I found my seat kept locking up and not following whenever I concentrated on getting my horse on the bit. It helped when I got myself looser.

[EllzeeOMG]

this is a really good video.

i've been trying to get horses on a bit for a while now.

i didn't know that you had to move forward everyso often to give that feeling to the horse.

but one question. do you have to keep your hands that far back and close to your legs? it just seems so unatural

[melindama96]

how do you get your horse on the bit

I have a two year old cob.

and i would like to know how to do it

I have used side reins and running reins before.

but after i take then off he resists.

how do i make him more round and flexible?

[elyoung09]

very helpful thank you! i know what its like when it seems like nothing you do it right! in our barn january is dressage month so i am getting all the pointers i can before then. beautiful animal by the way!

[lil12paws]

Very encouraging for myself to watch. This is exactly what I am learning to do with my horse who doesn't want take contact. We are still not quite there as this video because he is quick a putting his head above the vertical and or will flick his head the moment there is contact. We are practicing 4x week, so far it has been a long process, but some rides are alot better than others! Thank you for posting this video.

[inline6359]

I loved this video, and watched the entire , uninterrupted lesson! I found the leg tapping facinating and wondered if the horse had been trained with the endo stick before it was ridden, so that its response to the leg tapping was a natural extension from that pretraining?

[ShelleySGiacomini]

Yes, Fabuloso has been trained using Endotapping. However any horse would respond in the same way, but may just take longer at first. The Relax Reflex Reward technique elicits a NATURAL reflex of relaxation, but the horse may go through the predictable phases of "resist" (fidget, move away, etc.) "ignore" (pay no attention to the stimulus), "Relax" (put the head down and start chewing) and "change" (finally move forward and change his range of motion).

[callierocks6]

I'm having difficutly getting my horse round on the bit...I guess part of it is that she's only 4 and 1/2. But she will push a little with her back end, but her head just stretches out. She's getting a little more levitation in her neck though. Any suggestions?

[ShelleySGiacomini]

She probabbly needs to be made to go more forward and then learn to yield on each rein separately and then on both hands. Age has nothing to do with it, if she is not trained now, she might just get harder to train with time - JP

[callierocks6]

That's a good point, we're working on leg yeilds. It's pretty new to her, to her she thinks I'm asking her to canter, so we're working on commands and stuff. Yup, I've got her round a few times, she'll put her head down into the frame and then bob it back up. So we're starting at a good age. So should I just push her more foward and then give her a lot more give and take?

[ImmaSayWhatAWanna]

@callierocks6 Hey i've recently had this problem... how did you solve it? :)

[egasserd8888]

Great teaching, Great confortable horse for lessons. I just wonder why you would have this horse going thru such torture. Why not putting her on a lunge line for a year before giving her the privilege to ride this horse.

[ShelleySGiacomini]

Reply to BAROQLVR: Yes, Working Students regularly get lessons on our stallions, clients usually take lessons on their own horses. Working Students get a large furnished apt. w/all amenities; they take care of the horses in exhcange for lessons. We currently have 4 working students (3 part time), but we are always looking for more; If you want to be considered as a Working Student call or email: 859-339-4345 ~ Shelley

[Baroqlvr]

Thank you for your response. :) I wish I lived closer to you to give that a try. Maybe in the future I might be able to bring my horse to you for lessons. Best wishes and keep up the good work! :)

[ShelleySGiacomini]

Part 3 - When the horse and rider are fully trained, the horse will stay round (a condition indispensable to carry the rider's weight effectively) with very little effort from the rider (if the rider is educated). This horse is a good schoolmaster because he will not stay round unless the rider is absolutely correct, yet he is so gentle that he will never take advantage of an unbalanced rider. JP

[ShelleySGiacomini]

Part 2 - High hands imply a horse that stay round in the back practically on his own, as well as a rider with a very correct seat. In horsemanship, everything is a progression: you need to know where to start to make it easy on both the horse and the rider and progress from there. Low hands are a temporary "prop" just as well as the increased inside bend or the shoulder-in. JP

[ShelleySGiacomini]

The reason for wide and low hands is that it is the easiest way for an inexperienced rider to achieve a correctly rounded topline (working just like side reins used while lunging). The key to a good result is to encourage the rider to soften their arms as soon as the horse soften his neck. As the horse becomes rounder just as a reaction from a correctly acting seat, the hands can come back up towards the withers in a more natural position.

[Fanwi]

it encourages the horse to begin working long and low correctly using their backs. Its not harsh on mouths and allows the bit to roll across the horses tongue. This method is more used for horses that are young or new to dressage. It also stops a false impression of an outline by allowing more independen movement of the horses jaw and stops the rider hanging on. Hope that helps dustnrose :)

Really good video!

[Baroqlvr]

That horse is gorgeous! I'd love to ride him :) Do you regularly give lessons on your horses Shelly/JP?

[dustnrose]

I am curious to know the reason why you have the riders hands so wide and low.