I’m leasing a 7 year old OTTB right now. He’s a really sweet boy, a bit larger then I’m used to (16hh) but I like him a lot. Lately I’ve been having some frustrating lessons and rides with him and I feel my my trainer isn’t giving me the information and help I need regarding it. He’s very lazy, I can get him going if I need to so that’s ok but he tends to completely stop, either in front of the gate or in front of my trainer and if I try to move him forward, he starts backing up. If I consistently use my leg or crop when he does this he does a mini buck, so I’ve had to just turn him in circles when he does this. He tends to know when our lesson is reaching an end and that is when he will do most of this behavior. He also has been resisting me pulling on the reins lately. We pass this one window in our ring and out of it he can see a bunch of mares (he was gelded late) so he also stops or try’s to look at them, no matter how much leg or strength I use on the reins he wins in the end. The big thing is the stop and backing up thing, I know it’s a bad habit, but I don’t know how to correct it properly without him being a snot! Any help would be really appreciated! Thanks!
What is your trainer saying?
Are you sure he’s lazy and just not behind your leg?
Has his health been checked out?
Your horse doesn’t sound lazy to me, he sounds naughty!.
in what way is your trainer not helpful? Do they just ignore tbe behaviour or is what they tell you to do not working? If you haven’t already, talk to them about this issue and ask for help correcting the behaviours. It might be good for the trainer to ride your horse and show you how to work through tbe resistances.
Have you talked to his owner? They might have experienced this and can tell you which aids he would rsspond to.
Horses are humbling - most of us have had a horse(s) who had our number. Learning how to deal with resistance tactfully but firmly is as important a part of your riding education as getting the perfect distance to a jump.
It does sound as though you are relying too much on the reins, and not insisting he answer your seat and leg. He may be a horse that is beyond your present riding capabilities. Your instructor needs to teach you to ride him properly
Agree, it sounds like he’s behind your leg— he should always be focused on you and forward enough that he doesn’t even get a chance to think about pulling any of those moves. It can be hard to achieve this if you don’t have the education and your trainer should be giving that to you…
There are 2 things going on here.
The horse may well be "lazy " that is sucked back, minimal energy, slow and dull gaits. Often this is a combination of things, but starts from physical discomfort. That can include saddle fit, subtle lameness, various illness, or a poor rider. It can also be caused by lack of energy from over work, a poor diet, or hit weather. I would define a low energy horse as one that is basically obedient but has slow and reluctant gait transitions and little enthusiasm.
This horse is however also balky and stoppy. This is a behavior problem. It may or may not be connected in any given case to low energy. It often starts initially because the horse is in discomfort but then he learns he doesn’t have to move if he doesn’t want to.
I have been dealing with this in my horse. Here are my suggestions.
Get all the physical angles fixed including saddle fit, back checked with a chiro, feet and Hooves. Review his diet for missing elements of minerals and vitamins. Increase his grain a bit. Make sure he has regular rest days, maybe one in five days.
Ride in trails forward at a good working trot.
Longe lively walk trot canter before a ride to wake him up.
Pay your trainer to do training rides on him to school forward.
A big part of the solution for me was learning to ride well enough that I wasn’t continually pissing my mare off 
Balking and stoppy is a huge and difficult problem to solve and it is quite possible your trainer has no other suggestions beyond “more leg!”
This horse has your number so to stay safe do not increase his feed and take him out on the trails. That is a recipe for disaster. You might find the horse that won’t go in the arena, won’t stop out on the trails.
What you are describing is not laziness. It is disobedience. As others have said it is up to the trainer to give you the tools. If the trainer is not, find another trainer.
You are right going backwards is not allowed. If the trainer has not addressed that find another trainer.
Talk to the horse’s owner ASAP. You are currently training the horse to behave badly, whatever the cause, and this needs to be stopped before it becomes a habit.
It sounds like a combination of ring sour, possibly not appreciating the way he is being ridden and definitely has your number. Without seeing video, I’m guessing you’re in his face too much. Yes you need contact, but it has to be following and forgiving. That gate sour thing needs an immediate and firm correction. I’m guessing you’re reluctant to get after him and he knows it. Like another poster said, I’ll bet that same “lazy” horse would run away with you if you took him out of the ring. Lots of different things in play here, all bad. If you’re current trainer cannot help you get over the hump, find a better one, definitely one who understands TBs.
Yeah, I didn’t pick up on the fact this was a beginner rider on a lease horse. The trainer or the owner should be doing these kinds of things, not the leaser.
I think it’s quite likely the owner knows about the problem and was hoping it wouldn’t cause too much trouble in lessons. If the owner is the coach, she definitely knows.
We lease horses in lesson barns to have a problem free safe horse to learn on. We don’t lease them to do all the training and problem solving for the owner.
OP, get some specific techniques from the trainer and be more proactive, firm, and deliberate about moving him on. Assume he will stop every ride and be alert to preventing it which could mean for Instance just a little extra leg when he looks at the gate.
If however the behavior escalates and he is unrideable, cancel the lease.
Tell your trainer, “I am concerned about ____ behavior. I do not feel you have adequately helped me address it.” Your trainer works for you. They might not understand that you feel this way. Make it clear. In any interpersonal relationship it is up to you to communicate your wants and needs clearly. Give your trainer the benefit of the doubt and make sure they understand that this is upsetting to you. You may look more capable than you feel.
I agree that the owner of the horse should make sure that no physical issues are causing this behavior. If this horse is feeling fine physically, then it’s a mental issue.
I think the worst thing that you can do is force yourself and the horse to work through the behavior. This may eventually shut down his outbursts, but you still have a pissed off, albeit silent, horse and no solution to the root of the problem.
IME with lazy horses, the horse with stiff, I wasn’t riding well, or the horse was bored. I’ve found that with lazy and unwilling horses, riders tend to give harsher and harsher cues until they get a response, which isn’t always the response they want. I used to be this type of rider. If the horse doesn’t want to move forward when you’re soft and light, why would he want to move forward when you’re thumping his sides and smacking him? You’re not making the forward movement or contact any more desirable. Soft, light, and consistent is key - don’t let it escalate. Make the forward cue and movement pleasant, not a punishment.
The horse (should) know what you want, so if your horse is ignoring soft cues, they’re communicating an unwillingness to move forward. Why is the horse unwilling to move forward? Do you flop around at the canter or hold onto his face at the trot and make it uncomfortable? Did he have a negative experience with another rider and is anticipating something negative? Is he just plain bored? The horse should WANT to move forward, work should be fun and enjoyable. Take him out on trail, create some new patterns in the arena, saddle him up and just do groundwork. Ask him to move forward, and when he does, praise him and give him a break! Let him see that ‘forward’ doesn’t always mean ‘trot circles forever, canter circles forever’. If he thinks the forward cue signals lots of hard, boring work ahead, he’s going to avoid it at all costs, and I don’t blame him.
Definitely talk to your trainer. It might help to work on each of his little issues one at a time. instead of trying to erase them all at once.
Agree with earlier posters. It sounds like this fellow has your number and is simply finding ways to get out of work. Stopping at a window to gaze outside is not acceptable behavior in a lesson. If he were mine, I’d ride him with a dressage whip. Every time you ask him to move forward correctly and he sucks back or is balky, a little flick on the flank with the whip will remind him who is in charge. If you don’t possess the skills to carry a dressage whip or you don’t have permission from the owner to do so, talk to the trainer. Tell them you are having trouble. Tell the trainer the horse is not listening to your cues to keep moving forward. Everything about your post suggests you are simply dealing with a horse that is trying to get out work.
I agree that talking to your trainer and asking for better strategies to deal with this (and checking this isn’t a pain issue) are a good starting point.
Going off what @myamego said, I ride a horse that is somewhat “testing” and I used to really struggle to get her moving forward (and still do occasionally).
One thing that helped me a lot was that when I ask her to move forward and she ignores me, I escalate (always in the same order) to bigger squeeze > thump with legs > crop/dressage whip until she moves forward. I had to work with my trainer to get the timing of that progression down, and to be consistent in how I was asking.
Then I pretty quickly (within a few steps) bring her back to the slower gait we were transitioning from and ask again starting with the smallest cue. The goal is to get the transition on the tiniest cue possible (AKA have her really listening to me). When I first started practicing we would almost always have to transition back down over and over again until she was doing a nice upward transition with just a leg cue, but after just a few rides doing this consistently she was actually moving forward when asked!
Now I occasionally will have a ride where I just practice how small I can make my cue and still have her add forward, which is a great thing both for me being more subtle and keeping my lower leg steadier and for her being more willing to move forward.
Another thing that has helped me (and probably her even more so) is that I really focus on “pushing” my hands forward during transitions while maintaining a contact. To clarify, I don’t actually push my hands forward, I keep them where they are, but the feeling of having that “pushing energy” in my forearm makes my elbows more flexible and makes it less likely that I am holding her face while she is transitioning.
As already said, he has your number. And, I would be looking for a different instructor NOW if you are not getting advise for how to address these problems in person. This horse has shown you he will escalate things to get what he wants… You need to learn how to nip this in the rear now! This is probably going to take help from a trainer who will get on him to re-adjust his attitude.
He is gate sour and instructor sour. The gate is where he gets to leave the arena, and the instructor is where he gets to stop and take a break while something is discussed. Why wouldn’t he want to be there?
Not knowing your skill level though, I am hesitant to suggest how to fix this. Gate sour I start dealing with on the ground, by making him work, work, work, work by the gate and then letting them take a break any where else that isn’t the gate. This eventually translates to if he wanders to the gate of his own volition while under saddle, he gets to work, work, work! Haunches-in walk, 10m trot circles, tap, tap tap with the whip, 10m trot circle change of direction, 10m trot circles haunches in, shoulders in… However, I know the horses I work with know that the whip means forward not that the whip is an option for an opinion (buck) so don’t recommend this right now for you based on the information you provided.
Instructor sour, I never stop by my instructor AND my instructor makes it not fun to be by her.
As for the bucking when tapped with the whip, he was learned that you will back off if he does that. You need to have a trainer re-school him to the whip, now. If I was on him, I would make sure he had a loose enough rein that I wouldn’t catch him in the mouth, but then I would touch, tap, tAP, TAP, whack, whACK, WHACK, WHACK with the whip until he took off. Then he would stay at the at speed until I said otherwise. This isn’t something I would recommend you do because he has clearly shown he has an opinion about the whip and there will probably be some fun bucks as the whip is applied.
The backing up is bad… He is setting himself up nicely to rear especially if your reins are a bit short. I don’t know if he has ever offered to get light in front, but you need to be very, very careful right now to not get in a situation that might encourage it. Active walk circles with him having to step under himself are what I would suggest.
If you can’t find a different trainer/instructor to help you, I would strongly suggest not riding this horse. All the things your write are signs of escalation that you don’t yet know how to deal with and signs of your horse being willing to escalate to avoid work. Please be safe!
