Advise needed for lazy horse

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Abiworthington98

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I have an Irish cob who is very lazy in the school, he doesn't go off my leg at all and the whip does nothing ! My instructor has suggested Spurs , if I was to get some I would get the rubber roller ones which a supposedly the less harsher ones. What does everyone think about Spurs ? And people with lazy horses what do you advise ? Thanks in advance x
 
I don't agree with Spurs for a lazy horse. Spurs are to my mind a very refined aid for a horse that goes off the leg.
I would approach your horse as though he is just 'dead to the leg' not necessarily lazy. A positive attitude makes a great deal of difference. I would be ensuring your horse is straight and in good balance before you ask for any change of gait and then ask with a very quick slap on his sides 'bang, bang' then nothing. Use a long whip with a flappy noisy end and if necessary back up your quick sharp shock leg aid with a whip flap against your boot. This all really works for my friends dead to the leg horse and he has improved so much he actually enjoys his lessons.
You have to be very mindful to stop aiding as soon as you have achieved a reaction. It is so easy to make a horse dead to the aids, but you can improve it with patience and consistency. It's like bits, people are quick to go to a more severe bit rather than change their riding. Good luck..
 
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My new boy can be very dead to the leg when he's schooling. I have tried spurs and didn't find they helped much. Without them I can do a good hard double kick. i would be worried about applying too much pressure with spurs on and marking him. something that was suggested to me was riding on occasions with a schooling whip in each hand. I haven't tried it yet but it might be worth a go. also i find my boy is more forward if he has a light seat canter around the arena several times before i ask him to knuckle down.Also having a few poles on the ground helps keep him interested in a flat work session
 
As hard as it is, you need to ride with your legs off and ONLY use them for a change in gait/tempo. Constant nagging with the leg will only make him deader. You want to try and aim for that instant reaction the moment you use your leg.
 
YasandCrystal's advise is absolutely right. You need to vary the aid - not make it harsher. A strong double kick and then legs off - or a plastic bag tied to a whip to make a noise rather than a pressure aid. Even a whipwop rope. He's learned he can ignore signals from your leg so you need to teach him another way to respond.
 
Is your horse fit? Is it overweight? Is the surface of the school deep and the horse is finding the work hard as a result? Is the horse fed according to the work he is doing? Does he understand what is required of him? Does he have physical issues that may make him appear lazy?

I would ask yourself all these questions first before resorting to spurs.
 
How hard are his bum muscles? Does he ever stamp his feet or look at his flanks as if he had colic? Is he worse if he hasn't been ridden for a few days? If so, check out EPSM/PSSM, I think a lot of 'lazy' horses probably have it, and yours has the right breeding for it.
 
teapot said:
As hard as it is, you need to ride with your legs off and ONLY use them for a change in gait/tempo. Constant nagging with the leg will only make him deader. You want to try and aim for that instant reaction the moment you use your leg.
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This. Easier said than done though for most of us mere mortals. It's taking me an enormous amount of self discipline. I never mean to nag, but...
 
My horse was super lazy in the school when he arrived. Lazy out hacking too. Now he is very fit, very forward and on less feed than when he arrived. It was fitness not laziness. Oh and hunting- that helped a lot
 
Abiworthington98 said:
I have an Irish cob who is very lazy in the school, he doesn't go off my leg at all and the whip does nothing ! My instructor has suggested Spurs , if I was to get some I would get the rubber roller ones which a supposedly the less harsher ones. What does everyone think about Spurs ? And people with lazy horses what do you advise ? Thanks in advance x
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We had this issue last year. We fully reviewed feed & supplements etc, put her on a probiotic & micronized linseed (good for energy), ensured salt lick or salt/electrolyte added to diet. My daughter started using spurs for lessons/schooling & pony is far more respectful now of leg aids. Our instructor gave us very good tip which is fabulous, when trotting down straight side adopt jumping position & give alternate kicks trying to kick when hind leg pushing forward. This seems to really up the propulsion, along with varying the gaits & paces which keeps them awake! We have also added some haylage as well as hay which has given her a pick up but at the end of the day we bought a steady bombproof pony so she wont have abundant energy but she shouldn't be lacklustre either, which she was & now because of the above changes she isn't.
 
How old is he and how well schooled is he - does he understand what you are asking for? Is he fit enough for what you are asking him to do?

When backing my mare she didn't understand the leg aids and I didn't want for her to end up being dead to the leg so yes, for a very short time, I rode in short blunt spurs. She would get a squeeze and verbal command first, tap behind leg with schooling whip if that didn't work and then heels on to nudge her with the spurs if that still didn't work but that was because she didn't understand that leg meant that I wanted her to do something.

She now goes off seat more than anything - I used the spurs for perhaps a week - but she does understand that when I ask her to move forward I then expect her to stay moving until I ask her to change pace.

If he doesn't understand what you are asking him then it will need to be explained to him. Will he go off a verbal command?

I would say that spurs are a refined aid/training tool - if you aren't confident using them then don't. If your instructors reaction has been to put some spurs on to get him moving then have they ridden him? Can they get him going forward? If you are being told to put spurs on without any logic of why to support it I'd maybe look for a different instructor.
 
My mare is not naturally forward going so I can sympathise.

Assuming there is nothing physically wrong with him / his tack fits and there is nothing stopping him from going forward then what I had to do with my mare was take my leg OFF!!

Ask him to go forward with one sharp squeeze and if you get no reaction do that same but use your whip behind your leg at the same time - as soon as he moves forward take your leg completely off and only use again when asking for a change in gait. Use LOADS of transitions too.

I did this for one lesson with my instructor and by the end we were doing halt-canter!

Also getting poles out makes my horse more forward - she gets quite excited by them!
 
Abiworthington98 said:
I have an Irish cob who is very lazy in the school, he doesn't go off my leg at all and the whip does nothing ! My instructor has suggested Spurs , if I was to get some I would get the rubber roller ones which a supposedly the less harsher ones. What does everyone think about Spurs ? And people with lazy horses what do you advise ? Thanks in advance x
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Personally I'm not a fan of spurs at all and would never ride my horse in a pair, and he's not the most forward going at the best of times. Luckily for me, he does respond to a light tap from a whip, but my previous lease horse was an Irish Cob and sounds just like yours!! Very lazy, no response to a smack or shout etc so I spent months working with him on transitions, shortening and lengthening, and re-sensitizing him to the whip (look this up, it's worth a try) so by the time his owner ended the lease, he was unrecognizable from the lazy horse he'd been before. Good luck!!
 
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