I was riding a lovely young horse who loves to jump. Unfortunately we were working on yielding that day and to get this horse to even walk at a respectable pace was a struggle.
The instant I took my leg off of him he would slow right down. We had him going over a couple trot poles just to wake him up a bit, but after that he went back to sleeping.
This horse simply loves to jump. If we were doing a jump course he would be completely different but flat work? Not so much.
He isn’t mine, but what can I do during my lesson to get him going? I try to use my leg and seat, and not just simply kick him on. He’s very sensitive of the whip so she didn’t give me one to hold.
But after all of that struggling to get him to move I was too sore to get the saddle off after. :no:
Someone needs to get the horse in front of the rider’s leg. If your trainer does not think you are the one to do that, then they should. If you’re paying for lessons on a “school horse” you are entitled to a horse you can learn on; it doesn’t sound like this horse is that one.
There are many exercises to get a horse in front of the leg; pretty much all of which IME involve asking them to move forward quietly and then insisting on it whether by kicking or using a whip if they don’t. Then you go back and ask quietly again, repeating until you get the desired response. Don’t settle for “better” or anything less than immediate response. In any event, don’t nag with your seat and leg or leave your leg on.
I suspect his sensitivity to the whip is a manifestation of not being in front of the leg as opposed to fear.
Sounds like someone has taught this horse that flat work is relax time and not a job that he has to perform.
Also sounds like someone needs to get on and install a proper go button and maybe a little work ethic into this horse.
That person might not be you.
Very little drives me more crazy in terms of horses, than people who let their lesson horses get lazy and develop bad habits then expect people to just accept that they’re crappily trained because it’s a school horse. Negative. What I ride goes forward when I put my leg on, end of story, full stop.
Maybe I can request that we do some walk trot transitions to start? We do this at another stable with a very forward horse to get him listening. Maybe if we were not only walk into trot and switched it up, he would start moving his feet.
I’d have to give him a good kick to get him even walking fast enough to trot…
There are a lot of little kids riding at this stable though, I think the horses get really bored. They had one practically fall asleep during a lesson, stumble and bruise his knee. When I used to ride that guy we had the best time. He was steady, responsive and loved his work.
We are primarily a jumping stable and the horses love it when they get to do a course.
[QUOTE=Skitten;8441709]
Maybe I can request that we do some walk trot transitions to start? We do this at another stable with a very forward horse to get him listening. Maybe if we were not only walk into trot and switched it up, he would start moving his feet…[/QUOTE]
With all due respect, this does not make much sense. For a forward horse, it would work as you are trying to get him to respect the “slow down” aid. For a horse that is already slow, you are still facing the same problem … he is not going to want to go forward. The trainer needs to get on and install a “go” button. That’s the solution. Trot to walk transitions will slow him down more, and walk to trot transitions will get harder and harder without that go button.
[QUOTE=Skitten;8441709]
Maybe I can request that we do some walk trot transitions to start? We do this at another stable with a very forward horse to get him listening. Maybe if we were not only walk into trot and switched it up, he would start moving his feet.
I’d have to give him a good kick to get him even walking fast enough to trot…
…[/QUOTE]
If you always kick to get him going, you are always going to have to kick. The point is to teach him to move off on an appropriate aid. Doing what you suggest is likely to only reinforce the “I don’t have to trot until she kicks me” situation.
I am fortunate enough to ride a super schoolmaster. Even on him, there are times that I have to reinforce the go button, which in his case is to trot off from a complete halt when I push down on my seat and wrap my legs around him. Go means go each.and.every.time.
[QUOTE=sammicat;8441792]
With all due respect, this does not make much sense. For a forward horse, it would work as you are trying to get him to respect the “slow down” aid. For a horse that is already slow, you are still facing the same problem … he is not going to want to go forward. The trainer needs to get on and install a “go” button. That’s the solution. Trot to walk transitions will slow him down more, and walk to trot transitions will get harder and harder without that go button.[/QUOTE]
:lol: I suppose so. I was reading a post that said, when you slow them before they try to slow down, and keep repeating the transitions, it makes them understand that it would be less work for them to just keep going… or something of the sort.
Here is the excerpt from the post
“(1) Pick up the trot (using whatever you need to to get him to go). Then before he has a chance to slow down/stop, ask him to go back to the walk. Walk for a minute ot two and then repeat. Trot only as long as he will go without needing you to urge him on. Then go back to the walk or maybe even let him have a momentary break. The key is that you need to ask him to slow down before he decides to slow down anyway. Keep stretching the number of strides of trot that you get before asking him to slow down.
After a little while of working at this he will begin to understand that if he just keeps going you will reward him by giving him a chance to do as he pleases and take life a little slower.”
[QUOTE=Skitten;8441709]
Maybe I can request that we do some walk trot transitions to start? We do this at another stable with a very forward horse to get him listening. Maybe if we were not only walk into trot and switched it up, he would start moving his feet.
I’d have to give him a good kick to get him even walking fast enough to trot…
There are a lot of little kids riding at this stable though, I think the horses get really bored. They had one practically fall asleep during a lesson, stumble and bruise his knee. When I used to ride that guy we had the best time. He was steady, responsive and loved his work.
We are primarily a jumping stable and the horses love it when they get to do a course.[/QUOTE]
Are you interested in riding dressage? If so, perhaps this barn is not a good fit for you.
[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8441841]
Are you interested in riding dressage? If so, perhaps this barn is not a good fit for you.[/QUOTE]
No I love jumping which I why I chose there. But I also understand that dressage is a great foundation and discipline and my coach said it will be very helpful. I was doing flat work and leg yielding when this problem occurred during that class, hence my posting it here.
I think you’re likely to have a lot of trouble with learning a proper leg yield if your horse is not obedient to the leg - both that leg on means forward but that one leg means sideways.
[QUOTE=Skitten;8441854]
No I love jumping which I why I chose there. But I also understand that dressage is a great foundation and discipline and my coach said it will be very helpful. I was doing flat work and leg yielding when this problem occurred during that class, hence my posting it here.[/QUOTE]
I haven’t jumped in years, but back when I did I found it very useful to have a horse that was responsive to all my aids. You have to ride them around the course too.
The first thing I was going to suggest was: Get a whip.
It’s alright for a horse to be laid back. It is NOT okay for them to be downright lazy.
I understand that the horse loves jumping. But that doesn’t give him a free pass to be a sloth for everything else. He still has to respect your aides.
Ultimately, if this is a school horse, then it is the responsiblity of the instructor to make the horse more responsive. You’re there to take lessons and learn; not to have to fix the horse.
But if it were my horse (and I’ve got a horse that will be lazy if I let him), I’d use that whip. Start at a standstill, and then ask the horse to go into a walk with your seat and legs. If the horse does not immediately and briskly respond, SMACK them with the whip. And I mean smack them. Be prepared for the horse to lunge forward, and that’s okay. Let them go a couple strides, then stop them and try again. If they do not give you a brisk response to your aides, then use that whip. Of course, make sure you end on a good note; meaning that you did not have to use the whip and the horse goes into a nice ground-covering walk the instant you ask.
Use this exact same method for other transitions (like trot to lope) or even if you have asked the horse to maintain a certain speed and they start to lag. It is the horse’s job to maintain what you have asked them to do, until you tell them otherwise.
Usually the horse catches on pretty darn quick, and quickly you don’t even need the whip. Of course, stay consistent with it going forward.
If you just keep kicking and kicking and kicking … you are training your horse to have to have the rider keep kicking and kicking and kicking. It shouldn’t be WORK for the rider to keep the horse moving. The horse should do so willingly. Doesn’t mean they have to love flatwork; just means they need to be respectful of what you are cueing them to do, and they do it because you asked.
