One of the questions I usually get asked is how to get the horse to stretch in the lunge without side reins. I will try to respond on that in this post.

Side reins

First, I would just like to say that we use side reins. But we do not use them to make the horse bend his neck. We use them to teach the horse to seek contact on the bit.

When we use side reins they are initially so long that the horse can stretch all the way down to the ground. That is, the horse can lift his head as much as he wants. The horse, therefore, does not learn to stretch due to the side reins, but they teach the horse to seek contact on the bit.

There are really many good reasons to work the horses in hand.

I would like to tell you when I use work in hand and for what reason

When autumn and thus the rain comes, I can have periods where I only work the horses in walk. The arena can simply get too wet to do much more than walk work. Then I often do work in hand with the horses.

I also work the horses in hand if I'd like to have trained all four horses, but don't have that much time. It's quick to put on a bridle and then go out and get them to work over their back for 4-10 minutes.

Lucky Lady

Whether the horse is on the forehand or carrys the weight on the hind can not be determined from the neck's position. A horse that goes in competition frame, with the neck high and slightly in front of the vertical, can easily still go with the weight on the forehand. So even if everything in front of the saddle looks perfect, that is not necessarily the case. A horse that goes with the head and neck in a deep stretch, even very deep position, may well carry weight on the hind end.

Gitse steps deeply under herself causing the neck to stretch and the back to lift just behind the wither. You get an impression that the horse goes "uphill"