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  Discussion on How do I correct a 'Broken neck'?
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 24, 2001 - 3:23 pm:

I have just bought an ex-flat race horse who goes behind the vertical. When that happens he gets a very pronounced broken neck. I have been told to get the horse to stretch down and bring his nose forward. Is this correct and is there anything else I should be doing? Or will any medication help?

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 25, 2001 - 7:34 am:

HI Anthony,

generally a horse that goes behind the vertical is avoiding pressure from the bit. It's a good clue that your hands might be putting too much pressure on the bars of his mouth. You do want a horse to stretch into the bit and stretching exerises are good for opening up the back and loosening the muscles. I would concentrate on riding from the inside leg INTO the outside hand to produce the correct head carriage. As my instructor always reminds me "remember to ask politely" using gentle squeezes on the outside rein, but my horse was above the bit before which is a different problem...... You could also try lunging with side reins (if you know how to use them or get someone who does) to encourage him to move into contact.

Remember that it's a long process towards self-carriage and you can't expect it all at once but look for steady (sometimes slow) process over months/years. There is no medication that will teach a horse how to carry his head correctly.


good luck

TeresaA

Posted on Thursday, Jul 26, 2001 - 9:40 am:

Very often through their training, racing thoroughbreds think that nose out means lean on the bit (strongly) and GO and think of curled as slower and under control. Also, to make these pretty horses more elegant for sale out of racing, draw reins are used, often incorrectly, to get the horses round (often falsely) in their frame. These horses have a strong desire to please and so think that behind the vertical is a good, safe place to be. It's very difficult to untrain.
Once you've determined that you are soft and gentle in your hand and not giving him a reason to hide from you, forget about where his nose is for a while. Give him lots of reasons to stretch on his own. Walking and trotting over poles, both in straight lines and on a circle, will encourage him to use his whole topline. Focus on riding the hind end, forgetting about the front. A true reaching for the bit will only come when he is working actively behind. Get one of those 101 Arena Exercises books and use those to activate the hind end and loosen up his front end. The more he is asked to be flexible, the more he will need to use his neck for balance. And certainly, every single time he stretches forward or reaches for a contact, praise him - these workhorses thrive on your praise.
Try to find a good instructor - If you find one who says he can fix this quickly, keep looking. It will take a very long time for him to stretch and accept a steady contact, you cannot rush him, he will only do it when he's strong enough to carry himself from behind and trust his own self-carriage. Right now for him to take a steady contact, he thinks you'd have to hold him up and he's right, you can't!
I went through this with an off the track TB and it took a very long time, but my horse loved to work and rewarded me with lots of improvement. I also had a great trainer with a lot of patience and a strong background in classical training.

Good luck and enjoy your training!

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 1, 2001 - 4:32 pm:

Thanks for your comments, Teresa & Mary. We have trained horses before with all the conventional methods you have mentioned. It is just that we have never handled a horse with such a bad case of a 'broken neck' and wondered if there was anything different we could do. Short cuts!!!
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