We all want our horses to show that beautiful dressage outline of the horse ‘
on the bit’ or as Mary Wanless calls it ‘
The Seeking Reflexes’. This is the feeling that the horse reaches out towards the rider’s hand to a steady contact, the back lifts and the horse’s sides fill out. The horse feels half a hand higher. Getting the horse to work in an outline is a huge topic which cannot be covered in this article. I would suggest you have a look at the webinar course hosted by Mary Wanless;
Rider Biomechanics, Improve the Seat and Gain Influence.
I will say the following; if you find yourself fiddling with the reins, obsessed with getting your horses head down, fighting with the contact or other issue of contact then get yourself a good rider biomechanics coach.
https://dressagetraining.tv/ride-with-your-mind-coaches-network/
Such focus on the use of reins is incorrect, and says that something more fundamental is at fault AND that your understanding of how 'on the bit' works may be incorrect. You are not alone if this is you, and I think that there must be something wrong with the way the teaching of this stage of riding is undertaken. I myself in my early twenties had my head in the culture that it was the horse that was resisting me, and it was the horse that was being difficult and it was up to me to 'teach' it to obey and work. It is a common thought pattern, but really horses are just being horses and have no idea how to be anything else, it is up to use to improve, learn and work out how to ride better.
Let me say that once you know how to lift a horses back, get it to reach into the rein and seek the contact, getting a horse to work in an outline is easy. Until you get there it can seem a difficult task. Do not get seduced into thinking getting the horses head down is what dressage is about.