I ask because riding a horse like this is something i've never done before...i'm so used to giraffe pony that overbending and backing off the contact has never been an issue.
However a family friend had a fall a week ago that means she can't ride for a month or so and she has asked if I could exercise horse a bit.
Said horse isn't a spring chicken- think about 16 but she still has lots to give and I feel she's not past improvement (even from me lol!). Saying that at her age, I wouldn't want to be doing any exercises that excessively work her in a different way. She does work quite nicely and does well at prelim. She is also very manouverable and can do ly/si/travers which is pretty useful! She hasn't however been taught reinback and I feel its not my place to do this so that's not a possibility.
So atm, i'm doing lots of transitions direct and progressive to try and activate the hindlegs and lift her up a bit (she tends to curl up onto her forehand). I have also been using si to engage her a bit more. Though manouverable, she can be a bit slow to react to the leg so have been working on this too. Aparantly she never has done medium trot/lengthened strides. Not sure as yet whether this is physical or just a lack of understanding but I am trying to build this in a tiny but just by slowing her and looking for an instant move forward when I put my leg on. I'm really not sure how to go about this tbh- I could just ride her around and make her look pretty til owner can ride but thought I should use the opportunity to learn and hopefully improve her even a bit. Therefore any suggestions/exercises anyone can give would be very much appreciated. Thank you
