Trot. Back to the basics of the trot. Darrien's back is up! Asking for...

"Darrien is now using his back at the trot!  Who says you can't teach an old horse new tricks?"

We have been going "Back to the Basics" with our horses these past 5 weeks. I showed you how the canter has changed earlier this week, now you can see what happened in the trot that led to such beautiful canter work. In this session Susan asks Darrien, her new horse,  to keep his back up as she balanced him between her legs and the reins. (Before this week Susan was riding him on a longer rein and simply following his head movement where ever it was)  Darrien is not thrilled as this is when his past issues with connecting come up. He has a big trot and most riders in his past probably could not ride it. In fact, he was being ridden in side reins. You will see Darrien trying to take the reins from as she asks him to connect more from the back to the front.  A few months ago, even in a double bridle (we put him back into a snaffle)  he would "root" pulling Susan out of the saddle, rear and run.  We are happy with the changes he has made since than. Now, we are getting ready to start competing again in a few weeks and are Susan is asking Darrien to balance more so that he back is up all of the time.  

Have you ever taken a horse back to the basics?  Did it make a difference for you?