Slower and Lower - Tips for engaging the haunches

Leo and I went along with Jen to her lesson with Gayle Molander last weekend (before the abscess/soft sole issue). Gayle was at the height of her career in the late 90s, with her horse, Sir Nicholas, who she finished second with in the Fair Hill 3-star in 2000 and rode around the Rolex 4-star a couple of times. Her farm is right around the corner from AOPF.

I've learned that with Leo nothing beats having an experienced upper level rider give me feedback. I demo-ed Leo for Gayle and then she got on and worked him so that she could ultimately give me some pointers for his training. Interestingly, she rode him very much the same way Rebecca Howard rode him: deeper behind the vertical, slower, and didn't worry about achieving a right bend at all (in fact, like Rebecca, she never had him in a right bend despite his stiffness to that side).

Gayle's thoughts on Leo:

• Leo has a very long back. Which means (1) getting him to engage his haunches is naturally more difficult and (2) when he doesn't use his haunches properly, his hind legs will trail behind him which puts more strain on his hocks and lower back. 
• Leo pulls himself forward rather than pushes himself forward. This is very common for a hot horse and further exacerbates the long back / trailing hind-end problem.  

What the movement of the horse's back can tell you:

• Gayle said when a horse engages their haunches, their back should move up and forward so that it feels as though your seat is moving upwards on a circle, forward and then down. Instead, Leo's back goes down first, then forward. She said to note his back movement at the walk and it will tell me what his haunches are doing. 

Tips for engaging the haunches and lifting the back: 

• Slow everything down. She only rode Leo at the walk and trot, and mostly the walk. Who knew you could ride at just the trot and walk and accomplish so much? 
• Work him deeper behind the vertical. It's not correct form, but it puts him in a position where he is free to lift his back and helps prevent his fore-legs from getting too quick and pulling himself forward.
• At the walk, use my leg to ask him to engage his haunches while my hands prevent him from coming above the vertical and lengthening his stride. Breaking into trot is fine, as long as Leo's head doesn't come up. The trot steps are Leo's attempt to find his balance and he will eventually find he can control the movement without the trot steps. 
• Do lots of back-to-back walk-trot transitions to engage the haunches and educate Leo that the leg aide is not just a go-forward aide. Just one or two steps of each gait before asking for the next transition. 
• She was not concerned with the bend (or lack of bend to the right), rather she was always evaluating whether his shoulders were straight and correct his shoulders if they weren't. She said suppleness and bend will more easily come when he is straight first. 

With Gayle in the saddle, I could really see how she was able to engage Leo's back and haunches. Even though she only worked Leo at the walk and trot, his steps became much more deliberate and had more suspension. There were moments when he was resistant and started to be argumentative, but Gayle just stayed quiet and showed him where she wanted him to go and how she wanted him to get there. Like Pheobe, she kept her voice soft so she didn't unintentionally excite him.

We talked about how "slow and low" isn't always going to be the right workout for Leo, but it's another tactic to add to my tool-kit for training Leo's mind and body. Now, if I can keep Leo sound we just might start making some progress again :)