The nose in chest technique involves a strong connection with the horse through the core. Notice the alignment of Melissa with the horse as she flexes herself to the horse's position. She presses her left finger tips through the cheek onto the float blade. The blade is yawed out to follow 207/8.
Melissa follows the horse as he moves his head to his right. Because she is connected through the core, her body and float are still in proper alignment with the horse. She is demonstrating the pool cue technique with her right thumb.
Here the horse decides he does not like the hand in mouth and raises his head very high. Notice that Melissa attempts to not reward this bad behavior by having everything exit the mouth. She was successful in keeping the float inside the mouth which gave her a point of connection to restart the process. The horse doesn't feel like he "won" but did get his message that he wanted another approach.
With the head raised, it becomes difficult to perform the hand in mouth, but not impossible. Often, with patience, the head will drop and you can continue working.
Melissa remains in alignment with the horse's head as he bends to his right. She also bends her body to accomodate his lowered head. The core connection she displays is clear and the horse is responding well to it. This is a great example of the power of the nose in chest.
Even with the horse "jack knifed" to the right, Melissa keeps her position the same relative to the horse by moving and bending with the horse.
Melissa hunches over this Mini to keep herself in alignment with the head rather than pull the head into a higher position. This does a few things. It keeps the horse comfortable which is always good. It also keeps her energy with the horse. As the head rises, so does the energy of the horse. Stay close to those that might want to react adversely. It diminishes the horse's energy.. ALSO note how she has choked up on the shaft of the shorty to approach the flabby cheeks on 406.
