Argh! Help me please before I kill Ben!!!

Queenbee

Queenbee

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Ok, so walk is 'ok' halt, pretty good.... Trot... We will work on that later but is better than it was by far, Ben and I pretty much have a lot to work on for the in hand shows, but we are doing a bit each day. Buuuuut, I just can't get him to turn properly.... No matter what I do I start to turn and he keeps going straight.

It's so flipping frustrating, I've tried digging into his shoulder with my whip or elbow to get him to give me some space, I've tried, swinging the end of the lead rope in a big circle in my left hand to encourage him to move away from it, but no my dopey thick skinned brute just keeps walking like a tank. It's really starting to tick me off.

I'm leading on the left, trying to turn right and getting an epic fail. Currently we are just in a headcollar as I don't want him to get jabbed in the mouth whilst learning the ropes, for daily yard leading he is great, but he has a lot of learning to do for the show ground...

Did anyone else have a thuggish will fully ignorant gelding who behaved in a similar way and how did you fix it?

I've even tried starting on a 20m circle and making it smaller but he just won't have it, he will not get out of my space for a turn. Turning towards me, he's fine, away from me.... Gahhh! Nightmare!! :(

Please help before he becomes burgers:p
 
I find a poke in the nose with a finger does the trick; then all you have to do is raise your hand up to the level of his eye and he'll move away.
 
Me again:D Put his bridle on and lead him using both hands on the reins, use the right hand to turn him away from you, it should not be difficult as he is broken and can long rein, think of the same aids you use then.
 
Cortez said:
I find a poke in the nose with a finger does the trick; then all you have to do is raise your hand up to the level of his eye and he'll move away.
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I will try, but I suspect I would have to poke lots, and hard for it to have enough of an effect... He's being a real *rhymes with tick* over this :(

quirky said:
Does he move away from you in the stable when asked?
I'd get that established if it isn't already.
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Hi quirky, yep, he's absolutely perfect in the stable, and in the stable yard too, he will back up, move his shoulders away, quarters away and walk forward if asked. He's just being belligerent in the school on the ground, I think he thinks this is all "beneath" him. :rolleyes:

be positive said:
Me again:D Put his bridle on and lead him using both hands on the reins, use the right hand to turn him away from you, it should not be difficult as he is broken and can long rein, think of the same aids you use then.
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I have to say, I was tempted to do exactly this, but was a bit worried I'd jab him in the mouth, it probably is going to be the quickest and clearest way to get through to him isn't it?:o

I feel like such an idiot asking some of the simplest questions, and the stupid thing is,in general I know how to lead, and to teach to lead etc, but I do not show, and as such I simply don't trust my own judgement on this lol, so thank you for your ideas :)
 
Establish commands by voice either leading or long reining, I use 'Come' for turning left, towards me, and 'Turn' for going right. You will need both to do your 'lollipop' move at the end of your walk away from the judge.
Carry your cane in your left hand and raise it in front of you and towards him so he can see it clearly, in an upright position, while wiggling it slightly and saying 'Turn'. If it's just going left you are having problems with then you could try reversing your lead rein for a while, try going over his nose from left to right side so that when you tug on the rein it's coming from the offside of his face, this will help with both direction and control his speed easier. Just stick to walk until he clearly understands what it is you are asking. Worked for my thug!
I also found that when I wanted to slow him down from trot to walk, apart from my voice if he wasn't listening he would respond to a light tap on his chest from the cane.
 
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be positive said:
If he is going for burgers send him this way instead:D
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You can have him, we had a foot stamping contest both today and yesterday! Yesterday, He stamped his foot, I stamped mine... He stamped both at once and I growled at him... He gave up!:mad::mad::p. today, he stamped once, I growled... He packed it in. I do feel for him, he thinks its so boring! We only do five mins a day, but some of it is just standing nice and quite for a decent amount of time. He has a nice bouncy trot in hand now on the tracks, but he tries to sod off and spook forward if I ask him to trot in the school, I reckon the bit will really help there too!
 
Bobbly said:
Establish commands by voice either leading or long reining, I use 'Come' for turning left, towards me, and 'Turn' for going right. You will need both to do your 'lollipop' move at the end of your walk away from the judge.
Carry your cane in your left hand and raise it in front of you and towards him so he can see it clearly, in an upright position, while wiggling it slightly and saying 'Turn'. If it's just going left you are having problems with then you could try reversing your lead rein for a while, try going over his nose from left to right side so that when you tug on the rein it's coming from the offside of his face, this will help with both direction and control his speed easier. Just stick to walk until he clearly understands what it is you are asking. Worked for my thug!
I also found that when I wanted to slow him down from trot to walk, apart from my voice if he wasn't listening he would respond to a light tap on his chest from the cane.
Click to expand...
Thank you, some good tips, will try these too :)
 
I have done a lot of in hand with young horses and lead rein with a 4 year old child on a pony ,so that has to look like the child has control ,in all the classes I had a small leather showing cane in my left hand when teaching at home ,I used to point the cane at the side of the muzzle tap it if need be gently so as not to scare or hurt them and at the same time I say GO ROUND , in the ring I would only say go round and raise my left hand very slightly , the horses made the turns easily ,and were quick to learn the voice command ,also lots of praise when they get it right. Be patient practice and remember your best aid is your voice . I hope this helps .
 
shergar said:
I have done a lot of in hand with young horses and lead rein with a 4 year old child on a pony ,so that has to look like the child has control ,in all the classes I had a small leather showing cane in my left hand when teaching at home ,I used to point the cane at the side of the muzzle tap it if need be gently so as not to scare or hurt them and at the same time I say GO ROUND , in the ring I would only say go round and raise my left hand very slightly , the horses made the turns easily ,and were quick to learn the voice command ,also lots of praise when they get it right. Be patient practice and remember your best aid is your voice . I hope this helps .
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Thank you :) it's so hard sometimes to relax when it seems like he is deliberately being a sod... I know he isn't doing it deliberately, but it is so frustrating and I do want to get it refined and smooth, and so he is nice and calm too! I find myself having to remind myself to breath! I know Rome wasn't built in a day, and I also know that in the couple of days we have been doing this, he has made progress, he's just such a lummox! :o
 
Just thought I would add to this thread instead of starting another one!

Today we did a little bit of everything, we started working in a Pessoa a little over a week ago now. Just 10 mins in walk with one to two circuits of trot on either rein. Ben has been fab in walk bit a bit of a eejit in trot, a couple of bucks on on rein, so we just stayed at walk for the last couple of sessions. Today I decided to give the trot a go again and he was fab, he did mostly walk again with about four circuits of trot and was calm as you like, working nice and long and low. I'm really impressed with him :)

Then I took off the gadget :rolleyes: and we did a little bit of 'in hand' work, I've went with the following method: I have his bridle on and a cavasson from lunging, I led him off the cavasson but every time I wanted him to turn right, I would say 'turn' and pull slightly on another rope which I had attached to the bit on the right and trailed back and over his shoulder. He was still trying to walk into me but is getting better and better, and by the end of the session we managed a few decent 'turns' and the back up command I needed to use was less and less, so it looks like this method will work! Still a long way to go but thank you all for your suggestions and ideas. Oh, and you will be pleased to hear I remembered to breath and stayed calm and kept telling him he was a good boy even when he tried but fudged it :D

After this it was groom, dinner and turn out time for the night.
 
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