Suppleness | Catherine Haddad | PART 01

Part 1: Catherine makes her initial assessment of the nice Thoroughbred mare taking the lesson. She suggests the rider not work in sitting trot too early in the warm up, as the mare seems rigid in the topline. She begins working with the rider on relaxing his arms, reminding him that every time they are tense or bracing the mare matches that muscle tone with her neck. Catherine coaches the rider to keep his head still, reminding him it weighs 15 pounds and has a big influence on the horse. They work on developing a quiet core and add more challenging exercises such as haunches in and counter canter as the horse warms up.