It eludes me as well...😒 This was very good information, though!

PM D thank you!!! Glad you like them. Where are you located.

Joseph Newcomb I am in Bromont, Québec, Canada where WEG was supposed to be! Your voice and accent is clear. As french Canadien it is easy to understand. Thank You!

Shirley Broady thank you Shirley!

What do you mean by, we need the horse to be “through”? Thanks, New rider

@@Brooklyn_isurfav “Throughness” constitutes a state of being where the horse does not block his flow of energy, ideally, with any part of his body. He is straight meaning his body is in alignment with his line of travel, straight on a straight line or curved on a bent line (circle). His back is lifted not dropped and without negative tension, he allows positive contact with the bit, he moves in steady rhythm and tempo with forward energy that in time give elevation and expression to his trot and canter and energy to his walk but without tension. He is supple but not sloppy. He carries himself and therefore he carries his rider in a way that should be easy to follow. Negative tension destroys this state of being and makes it hard to follow the movement which makes it all the harder to give clear aids. If the rider struggles to keep her balance she can’t give clear aids and the horse is confused and frustrated and shows this in a variety of ways that new riders tend to take personally as if the horse had human intentions. To TRAIN a horse the rider must be so skilled that she can follow the awkward movement of the untrained horse. Ideally a new rider should ride a trained horse under the supervision of an expert instructor/trainer. This is how we learn to RIDE. Than we still need years of riding experience on many horses with direction from a trainer to TRAIN horses that are “through” because the catch is that horses in general can do a poor immatation of the movements in stiffness and tension driven by force.....but it is never beautiful or rewarding for the rider or the horse. The time this takes depends on the level of commitment, time to ride, and some talent. I have seen that riding, especially dressage, comes easier to some than others. We all have to work at it but some of us have to work harder. Throughness is the essential element. Learn the theory of horse training and then the practice.

I try to have my horses organized so they can carry me when I sit.

This explains why I could not sit the other day... My horse usually has a very slow rhythmic trot, but she was a bit forward when I tried to sit it last time, she had much more implulsion than usual, it was probably a bad time to work on sitting trot the way I was going about it...

Debbie McNally thanks Debbie

another rider who doesn't understand what on the bit is. Down and on the forehand Ufff??

Young horses has trouble doing that. But if Joseph let him strech, he will still have trouble in his older years, Thats why it's important, that the ridder works on it

BeautifulDancingFreestyle2016 Do a lot of up and downwards transitions. Try to keep your horse motivated in the work by allowing short breaks.

Lady Rock Horsemanship I have spent this time doing this, and her transitions are awesome! Issue is, is staying at a trot she gets tense on me and wants to canter. Ever since she learned how to canter properly, she enioys it. And falls apart while doing a lot of trot work. Ive tried transitions, upward and downward. It seems to not have helped... I give her tons of walk breaks, I also ride her out in a pasture with other horses on a weekly basis.

BeautifulDancingFreestyle2016 it's your seat, have you done any biomechanics?

The horse only looked hollow when he was on a loose rein and the rider wasn't asking for anything and was focussing more on explaining for the audience, the back was quite straight during the trot. I didn't see the horse being held in a fixed frame btv, just a young horse in training who started to lift when he was engaging. If you watch videos of Amber on Legolas and William Faerber on Bailador they often go btv as well, why are you being so critical of other trainers?

I'm sorry that I came off as critical, I didn't mean to be. I just want to further my education as I work toward collection. I was a great fan of Will Faerber and Art2Ride. I felt like he helped me build the back of my horse to do collection and I worked at that for years, but now I'm a bit lost between stretching the horse to build his back, and asking him to engage his hind legs and come under himself and truly be through and pushing into my hands. I'm working at Second Level and my lazy 12-year-old homebred Dutch Warmblood needs to be OFF his forehand and the stretching deal just isn't cutting it any more. I live in Wyoming and there aren't a lot of resources for me so I watch a lot of video online and read a lot of books. Just trying to find my way.

The horse is behind the vertical when Joseph starts to trot, that's true. But you have to consider that it is a very young horse and it's just starting his training. At the beginning the horse is not concentrating on the rider. It is normal for such a young horse that it struggles a bit with his balance and has to learn to softly pull to the bit. Joseph does it absolutely correct here to keep calm and relaxed, bringing him softly to the connection the horse want's to give him in the first step and when the horse found the connection to the reins, he tries to extend the reins, ask the horse to look for the soft connection a little bit more at the front. You can clearly see that the horse develops a better outline when he starts to concentrate on the rider and finds his balance. For a 4 year old the gelding do a good job (Joseph as well :-)). You always have to distinguish between a horse forced to stay behind the vertical with a rider pulling on the reins and a horse that hasn't yet find the correct position and the rider takes the connection the horse give him as starting point, but stay soft in his hands and bring him to search for the contact. That is a process. Some horses are strong pulling to the bit, others are shy and stay away from the bit. If you want to build the back of your horse, streching is only one part. It's the same with you when going to the gym: only streching won't train you rmuscles to gain more power. But you have to strech the muscle first, because strength training shortens the muscle. Thus you have to change between streching, engaging and streching again. If your horse is a bit lazy and slow in the hindlegs, you have to get him quicker in the hindlegs and become more engaged by riding lots of transitions. I hope that helps?

Thank you Eva. An excellent explanation of the video. I totally agree with your third paragraph as well!

Yes I was thinking this! And he seems to be fiddling with the inside rein more than necessary 🤷

Ally xx tha k you!!!

Would you ever stop and think that this horse is not perfect? No horse pops out with a strong back, which is why it is such a coveted goal in dressage. This I quite obviously a young horse, evident from how he came above the bit when Joseph first began trotting. May I ask if you think it is better for a horse to travel above the bit and with a hollow back, which builds up the wrong muscles and can lead to serious physical issues, rather than having the nose a few inches behind the vertical? Also note how Joseph says “not pulling back with the hand” which leads one to assume that the horse is behind the vertical purely because it is green? Pay a bit more attention before you leave hate to make yourself feel better :)

@@caoimhecollery2199 Very well said! 😉👏👍