Excercises for getting a horse to trot!!!

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moocow

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Anyone suggest anything to get my mare to settle in trot? She wont keep a steady pace, races forward getting faster and faster but the lightest check and she stops. A normal check and she stops goes ridged and starts to shake. She has a very sensitive mouth and is very response. She is constantly mouthing the bit and salivates loads and gets really wound up.She also over bends. I have tried changing her bit. I nornally ride her in a snaffle but have tried a flexi rubber bit and basically she races and gets really strong, leans on it and gets faster and faster. She is fabulous in canter - really balanced. She does a lovely collected canter then will extend and back - basically whatever you want her to do. She accepts the bit and comes down really nicely with no over bending.

Have have all the usual checked - teeth done regularly, back fine,saddle fitted etc.

She tries so hard to please and knows we have a trotting "issue". She has been really badly beaten in the past and I think thats where the stopping and shaking comes from.

Any ideas of stuff i can do with her? Lunging is a disaster with her as she goes straight into a canter and wont stop - well stops and starts to shake.
 
Might be worth trying a flexi rein with her having a sensitive mouth (or a cheaper version) or maybe lunging in a type of pessoa training aid. I'm not particularly a gadget person but I have tried both of these with some sucess
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Thanks tiffany. I have tried the pessoa and no joy. I dont like using gadgets at all on her. Did you find the flexi reins good then? I think that might be something to try. A good few people have suggested a bitless bridle but I do want to maybe event her at some stage so i want her to accept a bit. Anyway, she accepts it in canter just not in trot.
 
How about asking her to steady up with your body rather than the reins?
I have found that if you insist on doing a rising trot at the rhythm YOU want it helps them settle, as I guess, they can feel what you want also speeding up become uncomfortable all round.
As you 'sit' try sitting really deep as if you were going to stop, and sort of tense your back & shoulders so that you resist the forward movement (but don't actually tense your whole body...does that make sense??)
Or ride with a very light contact and in rhythm with her stride clench and relax your hands so that you have a very slight 'slow down' command.
Or saying trot trot trot at the rhythm you want.

Basically I have found that it helps if you can indicate the rhythm you want it some calm rational way.....good luck!
 
Can you teach her to do a one rein stop? Sounds a bit parelli like but it works and seems to calm them down as well. Everytime you feel her tense and rush off, calmly bend to a stop and wait till she relaxes then praise and walk on and try again. It might take a while but she should realise that you dont want her to rush and that trotting isnt too scary! Or every time she rushes start asking her to work laterally, yield her from side to side in quick succession so that her energy is being used up yielding and she is less able to rush as she isnt really going anywhere?
I've also had good success withflexi reins with a horse that would shake his head, they do dull the rein contact quite a bit. Another tip i was given for this problem is to reverse the contact with the reins, i.e thumbs towards the bit and fingers underneath. Feels really odd at first but horses seem to respond really well to it.
Hope some of that helps!
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Do you have a school to work in or are you working out on hacks?

I'd but a neck strap on her and use that to slow/steady her down instead of the reins - She sounds unbalanced and rushed - the more panicky she gets the faster she goes (probably on her forehand) and becoming more and more unbalanced...

I'd forget the canter and would go back to basics with her - start really slow - aim for a gentle tick-tock easy rhythm trot - use your legs to hold her and push her forward - push your hands forward (to push out her nose and get her to ride forwards towards the bit) It sounds like she's tucking her nose to evade the contact and that's a downward spiral to get out of
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Lots and lots of slow steady trot/halt/half halt/walk transitions using the neck strap for breaking and not the reins until you are able to slow her down and balance her with your seat.

I don't think that there's any quick fixes for this problem - just lots of time and patience.
Kate x
 
I agree with Felicity 09, my boy was like this in trot, it's quite hard to do but you have to just keep thinking slooowww,sloooww and rise slooowwwly, she'll pick this up and adjust her rythmn to this, don't worry about gadgets and various reins, just try to focus on yourself, your body language and slooowwww!!
 
I agree with the above (though it's always easier said than done!), and also focus on your school figures rather than the speed. I.e. do lots of circles, changes of rein etc that will get her stepping underneath more with her hind legs and make her think and steady up a little. For me, it helps psychologically too as you focus more on balancing the horse with legs and seat instead of trying to slow down through the reins.
 
Is she ex polo/racer? My ex polo mare is still learning to trot. I echo the above.......rise REALLY slowly to slow her down. Also use loads of transitions, 10 steps walk, ten steps trot etc. Also maybe some pole work as this improves Zoomy's trot as she has to think about what she's doing rather than just running away.
 
I also meant to add - does she long line? Much easier to control pace than when lunging and i would change her direction everytime she rushes. All of this should help to break the pattern of rushing.
 
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