dropping the shoulder

Susie emailed me about her reining mare wanting to drop her shoulder in the circles- here is a copy of the emails we exchanged with different ideas on what to do with a horse that wants to cut corners.

Hi Tim,
Just wanted to let you know that I got the magic bit today... Great service from the Tom Balding Bit Co.
Anyway quick question, Chilli is dropping her shoulder when I lope a right hand circle. I have been picking up the inside rein and moving her over, then dropping the rein and going back to center. It is helping a bit. She is mostly doing in coming into the center of the arena.
Anything else that I could do to help that problem? She is really coming around with moving her hip over on the canter departs and keeping her nose in on her turn arounds. We are headed off to a big arena on Friday for some speed control work. Would love to be able to work on this shoulder thing. Hope I am doing the right thing.
Let me know when you get the chance
Thanks
Suzie

Hi Susie- was wondering how you were doing as we count down to the Derby- first off try not to make a huge issue out of the shoulder problem- and dont work on a big fast circle to that side until you can keep that shoulder up at a slower speed- what I might try first is not worrying about the shoulder and just steer her out wider and make the part of the circle where she drops in bigger- you wont be fighting to keep that shoulder up- you will just steer her body out with the neck rein- she may feel like she is two tracking but just keep her steered out- let her gallop around (not fast) like that a few times around and keep things relaxed- sometimes when they know they have to stay way out around in the circle and are not allowed to cut across and you dont try to force them to keep that shoulder up they will self adjust and get a little better. Also- try loping squares- if she wants to drop in just steer up the arena and forget the circle- keep things relaxed go around the ends and try again - point her right back up to the end of the arena when she tries to drop her shoulder again- the idea is to try to get her to quit anticipating the circle - so you could even do some serpentines- so....when she drops in to the right you just point her to the left until she is straight - headed up the arena- then, point her a little to the left (she may try to change leads- no biggy.) then point her strait, then right, then strait, then left- very gradually- Think of it like this Susie, you are going to run poles only instead of a regular pole pattern there are only three poles- and they are evenly spaced in a huge arena- so its a very long slow spread out pattern- very gradual shallow serpentine up the side of the arena- we are just trying to deprogram her mind from thinking circles to thinking "listen to Susie"- this is all with minimal guiding to keep her from getting defensive. Mess around with that at a relaxed pace and see if you can get her a little better and see what she feels like..... Other things to try....Stop her (softly) right where she begins to drop the shoulder- fix the shoulder at the walk, then the jog- you can do this by knocking her head down into that bridle, bumping it down and lift up the shouders by softening that chin- instead of just using the inside rein use both.- After youve corrected her - start the circle over and repeat this correction over and over until you feel a little improvement then move on to other things. If you make a big deal out of it it could backfire and make her more defensive and therefore worse! Also you might try to stop her queitly where she wants to drop in and roll back to the outside then break back to a walk.- repeat the process over and over- all this is to be done smoothly and quietly- not in a rush. You could also stop her and quietley spin her a few times to the outside- or you could stop her, pick up the inside rein to pick up the shoulder and walk her in a circle to the left counterbent to the right. Get her fixed at the walk and jog and solid- then youl have more control when you need to fix her at the lope- do not scare her in any way going into the middle - or really any where in the circle- if you need to tune on her and make a believer out of her do it at a walk Or Jog be extremely judicious with the spurs!!! or dont use them unless absolutely necessary.- You could also use draw reins and bridle her up real good for a few strides in each quarter of the circle and release when she picks up her shoulders and drops off the bit- get so much control of her that you can soften that chin and re-aligne her shoulders in the trouble spot where she wants to drop- as she gets better- over the next couple weeks increase her spead and try to ultimatley build some speed in that circle keeping her soft and bridled up- remember when you get her bridled up good and rattle / bump her down and get that chin soft- her shoulders ARE up . So it may be a matter of stopping her- bumping that chin down HARD (like I know you can) and repetaing that again and again until she respects that bit Lastly- dont be afraid to put her in the draw reins in that new bit with a loose curb strap and letting her know you own her. Remember to release when she gives- and dont try to get to much- but get all you can for a stride or two so you can totally control that shoulder. If you find anything that works better for you than any of the above be sure to use it- its about whatever works- remember, it has to work in the show pen. Try to use this letter as a guideline for ideas and assurance and dont forget to think your way through the process- and follow your gut. Tim