How do reiners ( or any other discipline ) get their horses heads down 

I teach my dressage horses to lower their head and go long and low. Will Faber from Art to ride has some excellent videos on how to teach the horse to go "long and low"

Abbey Johnson Look up one of my videos called Bonding with a new horse.

Was he like that when you went and rode him before you bought him?

@WarwickSchiller yes but i believed him to be 10 years old so I wasn't so concerned with that - I've mostly ridden dressage and figured i could fix that easy enough (I'm 53 and beyond my yea haw rodeo years..he was quiet which was my most important requirement). sadly i rode him yesterday and used my hands a good bit just closing my fingers til he gave - he actually smothed out when he would yeild to the rien pressure..I know going forward is more important however he is 1/2 shire and 1/2 appy so he is already strong and as supple as a brick so trying to sit or even post as you move him forward is difficult..but after your video I know I went about it all the worst and wrong way..For his sake/age its probably best just to let him be what he is and use him only for easy walks around the farm. maybe another opportunity will arise and I can get another horse more suitable..will have a vet check if I ever do get that opportunity..sad over it..I've waited a long time to have time again for the horses and I go & let myself get suckered..I need to focus on caring for this new fellow more than getting him collected. you are a talented horseman sir. thank you for sharing your skills with us..

Total suppleness of the whole body, its like straightness training, you find all the little sticky spots.

+Dani Bee Most of the time, on a trained horse, turning is based off of the position of the rider's seat and the position of the rider's weight. He's cantering a circle to the left, and while he's doing it, his right hip is in front of his left and his left stirrup is weighted more than the right. You'll also notice that his body is "on the arc of the circle," meaning he it positioned to ask the horse to canter that size of circle and he is not overly twisted to the inside or outside, but rather his shoulders are in line with the horse's ears. Its this position that allows him to counter-bend the horse without turning it. Its the same but reversed when circling right. If he were to simply look right, that would change his body position and the horse would go right. Hope this makes sense.

You can start in the round own teaching them that they can bend their neck while traveling forward. Isolate and recombine

You pull the head to the right, the same moment the shoulder sticks out to the left. The horse follows the shoulder/front legs, not the head. In a well trained horse you ride the turn with the outside rein and your weight, the inside rein just provides the bend of the neck, but the bend of the neck is not what makes the horse turn.

If the head is turned to the right on a left circle use a bit more right leg to keep the horse going forward

It is. After a training session, they stretch out and it makes them feel good. It’s because they’ve worked those muscles for an hour or so, so relaxing it and putting it straight out is like us stretching out flat after we’ve done a bunch of push-ups.

@@clarkosteo yup but in western its a by product of suppleness.

lauca6969 ? Horses are horses, whether they’re ridden English or western. Good dressage horses are the most supple of them all. Perhaps I didn’t understand your comment?

@@clarkosteo are you telling me dressage horses are more supple than western ? Lmao I've seen grand prix horses who have no lateral flexion. I think your idea and my idea of suppleness is different but go on...

@@lauca6969 What could have been an interesting discussion became a my way is better than your way. You probably both use a combination of flexion, stretching, collection and relaxation to get the best from your horses. The fact that you both like Warwick says it all. We should share our experiences with the same goal in mind, happier horses everywhere ;)

You can do the same thing at the trot, and in fact we lots of it !

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When I put my head down at my horses, they know I'm ticked off, and they stop messing around and pay attention to me immediately. Usually it's when I'm asking them to come in and they ignore me... I learned it from them. So, I agree, it doesn't seem a natural state- certainly not a relaxed one.

My horses spend most of the day mooching around with their heads down. Occasionally they have a yee ha and bomb around with their heads in the air unless they're bucking. When a horse is being aggressive they lower the neck but extend the chin not relax at the poll. Just my observations of my horses.

Have you ever noticed what horses do out in the pasture? they spend all day with their face in the grass. How is that unnatural or uncomfortable?

head up = hollow back, tensed muscles, unable to carry a rider. head low = rounded back, muscles are actively engaged in the movement. that's why.