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Norsk's First Lesson
On a very cold Sunday in February, I met with Dana Metheny, my webmaster, to work with her and her young Friesian, Dirk van de Strubbenhof, aka DrømmeNorsk. We trailered Norsk over to Cheryl Painter's arena where there is plenty of room to work a big, young horse.
Norsk, a 4-year old, was purchased by Dana when he was a yearling. He is now almost 17 hands and is agile, sporty and bold. Dana feels that she is too inexperienced to break in this energetic youngster without help. Norsk is not entirely green. He longes beautifully and has been carrying tack for some time. Because of extensive round pen training inspired by Pat Parelli's natural horsemanship program, Norsk is very attentive and well mannered. Dana has ridden him sparingly in her round pen so he is already familiar with rider weight. Dana wants more help and support to teach Norsk to walk, trot and canter forward and under control.

 

Video of Norsk lunging with the draw reins. (31 sec.) Teaching Norsk to give back to the draw reins and follow them down. This will supple his back. Norsk hasn't figured this out yet!
Step 1: Take the edge off on the longe line. This is Norsk's second time away from home, so he's up, ready to go and scared all at the same time. I longe him in draw reins set long enough so he can move out under control but on contact enough to encourage him to slide down them as he relaxes his neck.
Step 2: Mount up. However, we are not quite ready to boldly walk off. Up to now, Norsk has only been inside the small enclosure of a round pen. Dana leads me around for a few minutes with the longe line attached to the bit ring until I can ride Norsk away from her and make several walk to halt transitions with aids and voice.  
Step 3: Turn us loose. We walk further into the arena and I ask Norsk to speed up. Now I'm controlling the forward energy, but not necessarily his direction. I want control of his hind feet first. So now I can steer a little, stop easily and we are ready to trot.

Step 4: Trot, trot, trot. We trot as forward as he can manage in balance, keeping the turning and bending lines large. I do not care at this time if he comes down to the bit as long as he responds to leg pressure by moving on and stretching his neck out to the rein. We won't canter today, he is not ready for this until he bends from leg pressure and can absorb rein contact through his neck. This way his first launch into canter with a rider will be balanced and safe for both him and me. We did however manage a  turn-on-the-forehand, thanks to Dana's ground work.
Now it is Dana's turn to ride. With me walking alongside and Norsk back on the longe for safety, Dana learns to relax and follow Norsk's big walk with her seat and her arms. It is very important to allow a lot of rein-following movement on a young horse. They need their necks for balance and a restrictive or grabbing rider could scare them.
Dana has practiced this on her previous rides and in no time she is walking and trotting with no longe line support. There is not much for Dana to learn today except to gain confidence in her natural ability. Norsk is already exceptionally soft due to all the round pen prep work and I am very pleased with his progress in this first lesson. There is no reason why he should not remain this soft and responsive throughout his life.

In this first lesson, Norsk has learned to move off from leg pressure. He goes where he's pointed by keeping his nose lightly between the reins and he stops easily from a closing rein and a settling seat.
In our next lesson, Norsk will learn to bend and turn from leg pressure and take a more solid contact to the bit. If he feels ready, I may even ask for a canter.