Heavy in the Contact? Try These 2 Exercises (Guess Her Age 👀)

Is your horse feeling heavy in the contact? In this video, I break down two simple exercises I use to help horses lighten the forehand, rebalance, and stop leaning on the rider’s hand. At the beginning of the ride, this horse feels heavy, downhill, and braced—something I see all the time with horses of every age and level. I walk you through how I assess the contact, what I’m feeling as the rider, and how I use these exercises to create a lighter, more responsive connection. 👀 Before you watch to the end — guess her age in the comments! I reveal her age at the end of the video. In this video, you’ll learn: • Why horses get heavy in the contact • What not to do when a horse leans on the rein • 2 effective exercises to improve balance and self-carriage • How to encourage a lighter, more elastic connection These exercises work for: ✔️ Green horses ✔️ OTTBs ✔️ Horses returning to work ✔️ Riders struggling with heavy hands or a downhill feel If you found this helpful, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more realistic, rider-focused training tips. horse heavy in the contact, dressage contact issues, how to fix heavy contact, horse leaning on the bit, dressage training exercises, equestrian training tips, horse balance exercises Watch more of my dressage competition rides and horse training videos here on my channel.