I have a 5 yr old that is quite wonderful under saddle. My problem is that if there is anything going on, people coming in and out of the barn, horses being hand walked, new horses coming in to the ring etc, my horse literally turns his head to look at them. He will rubberneck around the ring like a fool. I’ve tried wiggling my inside rein. I’ve tried inside leg and out side rein. I’ve tried shoulders in, leg yields, circles. He just goes through the motions with his focus CLEARLY not on me. Any tips or do I just wait for him to grow up?
I have the same problem with my baby and would love some tips, too! She’ll be great and then another horse comes out or leaves the ring and her brain turns to mush.
Usually I go into the sitting trot, do some exaggerated bending, and then do lots of circles (usually small) and figure eight-ish maneuvers, just lots of changes of direction and small circles and small circles around jumps to get her brain off whatever she wants to look at and on me. If she runs through my hands wanting to go towards the other horse, we halt and back up then go straight back into the sitting working trot.
When she gives in, I reward her with soft contact at the posting trot but as soon as she tries to change her pace or her bend, it’s back to the sitting trot and circle/change of direction spiel. Sometimes she gives up and gives in pretty fast, other times we just have to keep pushing through for as long as it takes. I’m hoping that eventually she’ll grow up and get over it…
It so weird how there can be five other horses in the ring, but the ONE that’s coming in or going out is the most interesting thing in the world 
Don’t just “wiggle the rein,” use the rein until you get an answer.
Look at his nose. Pull until it moves an inch or two past his inside shoulder. Keep it there. Inside leg prevents him from stepping in off the track.
Tell him to go up the longside looking IN, instead.
(Or, for the shorter, more technically-pure version: put him in shoulder in.)
I do that but I can tell he’s still looking away. He’s technically doing the shoulder in, but his head is ever so slightly cocked and his eyes are pointed at the object of interest. What a turd.
[QUOTE=triplethreat;7578048]
I do that but I can tell he’s still looking away. He’s technically doing the shoulder in, but his head is ever so slightly cocked and his eyes are pointed at the object of interest. What a turd.[/QUOTE]
He’s not a turd, he’s a young horse.
Imagine the face of a clock. If the object of distraction is at 2 oclock, put his nose on 11. If you still feel like he is subtly looking away, go to 10.
The second he gives you his attention go back to 11, ride a 20m circle long and low to “whoosh” the relaxation and focus back into your court.
[QUOTE=meupatdoes;7578075]
[B]He’s not a turd, he’s a young horse.
[/B]Imagine the face of a clock. If the object of distraction is at 2 oclock, put his nose on 11. If you still feel like he is subtly looking away, go to 10.
The second he gives you his attention go back to 11, ride a 20m circle long and low to “whoosh” the relaxation and focus back into your court.[/QUOTE]
I echo the bolded. Unfortunately, although there is a lot of training you can do to teach him how to be a grown up, to a certain extent, the only way to get a horse to “grow up” is for it to actually get older and for its brain to develop a bit more. Young horses will occasionally be young horses. Even when they try their best for us, sometimes they can’t help themselves from exhibiting young horse brain syndrome (i.E., turdlike behavior).:o
Your horse actually sounds like he is being pretty good. He is “going through the motions,” even if he isn’t being entirely attentive rather than shutting down, bolting, rearing, bucking, ewe necking or screaming, so you are ahead of the game. You just need him to learn that if his focus wanders, he needs to bring it back to you immediately. This takes time and won’t happen overnight, because, to an extent, it is simply a matter of the horse maturing, but there are things you can do to help him learn that giving you his attention isn’t simply an option, it is a necessity.
Meupatdoes’ advice is very good if he’s just being looky. If he is balking at going forward (say he wants to slow down by the gate where horses just left), you need to focus less on laterals and more on making him be as forward as possible. When my young horse totally loses his focus, I start throwing everything in the book at him. I ask for increase, decrease, change gaits, halt to walk, halt to trot, trot to walk, lots of quick changes in direction, shoulder in, shoulder out, 10 meter circles, etc., and I insist on quick responses. In other words, I ask him to do so many different things in as random an order as possible so the only way he can keep up with me is to give me his absolute attention. Eventually his brain matter stabilizes and we can get back to work. Over time, I have found that it takes less and less time to get that attention back. When he was 3 or 4, it might have taken the whole ride. Now that he is 6, except in the most extraordinary circumstances, it might take a few minutes.
I call him a turd as a sign of affection. My horse is perfect!
[QUOTE=triplethreat;7578402]
I call him a turd as a sign of affection. My horse is perfect![/QUOTE]
I totally understand and believe me, I’ve called my young horse far worse! He is perfect, until he is not. Earlier this year, he went through a period where he tried to bolt out from under me any time a car went by on the road or something moved by the side of the ring. Now, he only did this when I was asking him to do something that was hard or outside his comfort zone. His paddock is by the road, so I am reasonably sure he is not really concerned about the cars, he is just looking for an excuse to get out of working. Nothing for it but to teach them that trying that tactic just means they have to work harder. It is a lesson young horses have to learn, but it can take a lot of repetition to sink in.
I have this issue all the time with my 6 yr old-- I call it being a “monkey brain” (you know, from that one episode of the Simpsons where Homer has a monkey clapping two cymbals together in his head?)
I find that I must give him a task to re-focus him, no matter what that task is. I find talking to him, having him stop what he’s doing and do something else, or pushing him forward into the task is what usually works. Stopping and doing turns on the forehand, working on a perfect 20 m circle, doing transitions, serpentines, or spiral in/out… anything that demands him to pay attention and use himself. Honestly, sometimes there are days that you’ll only get 50% attention or 80% attention, and I feel like even if I get 85-95% attention that’s a victory. There are days when he is just not there and nothing I do changes that. Those are the days I get off, throw him in the lunge pen, and let him work it out until he’s ready to listen. Then I ask him to do one thing, and then stop. It’s not worth pushing him those days.
OP, can you do more ground work with him to try to get him to focus his attention on you better? I have found this helps with my guy. I’m not talking Parelli type stuff, I’m just talking doing more to ensure that he’s always looking to you to see what’s next.
My young mare is in this phase right now, and I echo what others are saying about keeping the horse busy when this happens. However, at the end of the day, I’ve learned to ride through it and not put so much focus on where her ears are cocked. She’s green and that means her attention isn’t always going to be 100% on me, but that’s okay, because I’m not asking her to do upper level movements here. I know she’ll settle out of it as she matures and it’s in my best interest not to nitpick at every little thing in the mean time. As long as she’s listening to what I’m asking her to do - even if I only have 70% of her attention - that’s enough for me. Maybe next month, I’ll have 75%. 
