A few questions

skully

skully

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Ex riding school pony is being a tit again, too stubborn for his own good! If anybody has any advice please share, I'm at my wits end with him!!

Problem 1 - he's fine in walk, will do school movements etc and walk/halt transitions but if you ask for trot sometimes he will just stop, plant and refuse outright - doesn't do this from trot to canter. Sometimes a good pony club kick is enough to get him moving again but sometimes even a hard tap on the bum doesn't work. Don't want to have to beat up my pony to get him into trot! However as soon as we do get a bit of momentum he's fine and will keep going as long as you ask!

Problem 2 - constantly falls in towards the centre of the school for no apparent reason so I have to always be holding onto the outside rein to stop him, causing him to be very stiff and tense and overbending towards the outside sometimes. I don't know why he always wants to head for the middle?

Problem 3 - very hard on the bit and can be quite nappy, if you're trying to go away from his friend you have to yank on his mouth to get him to turn away. Currently in a full cheek waterford - maybe worth trying bitless or something softer just for schooling?

As I say he's an RSPCA-case riding school rescue so was booted in the sides and yanked about for a couple of years before we got him. I know it will take a while to get rid of bad habits but have been trying for 4 months and obviously doing something wrong - or he's just incredibly stubborn!

Thanks for reading :)
 
problem 1 - go hacking and forget school work for a bit

problem 2 - teach him to move off your inside leg (can be done hacking)

problem 3 - do not yank, try little pulls until he gives, once he gives stop fidgeting with the bit. Make sure you pull towards where you want to go with fingers towards sky and not towards you.

have you thought about getting dressage lessons?
 
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Good on you for asking for some advice about it. A good instructor, even for just few lessons will be able to give you some great advice.

For the first one he is not off your leg. He needs to understand that the second you give the aid he must react. Give him a little squeeze and if he doesnt listen follow it instantly with a quick tap with the stick behind your leg. The most important part though is to make sure you are not blocking him, either with your hand or your seat. If this doesn't work, try the hacking incase he is bored of the school, get a good instructor to ride him to see what he does then, or get him in fornt of the leg off the lunge.

For the second one, pulling him to the outside is making the problem worse. You are forcing his weight to the inside. You need to really get him off the inside leg, and push him over with that. Think a lot about your weight aids, which way are you leaning? What's your inside and outside legs doing? Wheres your seat at? Forget all about the hands. This is really similar to the above as its ignoring your leg.

For the last one, its a vicious circle. Yanking on him to get him where you want to go, and pulling him to the outside will create a hard mouth. You yank he pulls. Like a tug of war. You need to work on softness with him. A good instructor will really help here :)

They are all really related problems, so don't worry that you have 3! You will find as soon as one is sorted, the rest all click into place :)


Good luck!
 
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