Exercises to help my horse be more off my leg?

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dulargy10

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Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any ideas on effective exercises I could try with my 10yr old warmblood to get him more off my leg? He is sooooo lazy and riding him is knackering me out as I feel that I am having to work so hard to get him going forward?

I am currently trying to keep schooling interesting for him by using trot poles, doing serpentines, 20m circles, leg yields, turning on the forehand, lots of transitions etc but to be honest after 10 mins of trot and I am knackered! I am also trying not to kick, kick, kick and will ask for a transition and if I don't get it, he gets a tap of the stick but he seems pretty immune to that too!

I had lost a lot of confidence with him as he had been running off with me however I then discovered he had a broken wolf tooth so that has now been removed and I am back on board trying to build my confidence with him again so whilst I definitely feel better with him, I probably am reluctant to really smack him with the stick just in case he tanks off! I have only had him for about 3 months so we are still getting to know one another I guess but any tips would be much appreciated!

cheers

Katie

p.s. I do not wear spurs and don't really want to but open to ideas and if I was to wear them, no idea which ones would be best?
 
Loads of transitions, and lessons :)
And be firm! If you are scared of him tanking off then get someone else to get on him. I am not talking beat the crap out of him, I am saying you ask once for trot or canter or whatever, and if he doesn't respond give him a firm tap behind your leg. he might shoot off a bit but you need to have the confidence to drop the reins so he doesn't think you smack him, he goes forward then you pull him up, that would confuse him!!!
Get some lessons, with an instructor to help you both gel :)
 
Damnation said:
Loads of transitions, and lessons :)
And be firm! If you are scared of him tanking off then get someone else to get on him. I am not talking beat the crap out of him, I am saying you ask once for trot or canter or whatever, and if he doesn't respond give him a firm tap behind your leg. he might shoot off a bit but you need to have the confidence to drop the reins so he doesn't think you smack him, he goes forward then you pull him up, that would confuse him!!!
Get some lessons, with an instructor to help you both gel :)
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^^ This and lots of patience have made my horse much better but it is still a learning process, 3 months isn't that long to change what may have been his way of going for a long time in his previous home.
 
Echo above, transistions. You may think you do a lot of these, i certianly did but then had an instruction shout all the changes in pace (to different one or within) for 40 mins when she thought i needed to one. Oh my god did so many transistions my head hurt but had a horse which was responsive and soft and improving.
 
Ditto the suggestion of transitions - I'll spend one schooling session a week primarily focusing on these. My cob can sometimes be lazy off the leg but after 5 minutes of transitions he's usually flying.

Start with some simple halt to walk, then add rein back, then move up to trot and then canter. Make sure you vary the amount of strides so that your horse keeps focused on you and doesn't try and anticipate the transition.

As you feel more confident start doing your usual schooling exercises i.e. serpantines, leg yielding with transitions added in.

Make sure that when you ask for your horse to go forward you get a response and be consistent - I use the scale of squeeze, kick, smack - so he gets asked forward with a squeeze and then legs off, if he ignores he gets a pony club kick then legs off, if that doesn't work he get's a smack - as long as you are consistent the horse will learn that if he doesn't move forward he gets a kick or a smack and will hopefully start moving off of a slight squeeze - make sure you take your legs off though once you have asked - don't keep nagging with your legs as that sends mixed messages and will cause your horse to switch off to your leg.
 
Babybear said:
Ditto the suggestion of transitions - I'll spend one schooling session a week primarily focusing on these. My cob can sometimes be lazy off the leg but after 5 minutes of transitions he's usually flying.

Start with some simple halt to walk, then add rein back, then move up to trot and then canter. Make sure you vary the amount of strides so that your horse keeps focused on you and doesn't try and anticipate the transition.

As you feel more confident start doing your usual schooling exercises i.e. serpantines, leg yielding with transitions added in.

Make sure that when you ask for your horse to go forward you get a response and be consistent - I use the scale of squeeze, kick, smack - so he gets asked forward with a squeeze and then legs off, if he ignores he gets a pony club kick then legs off, if that doesn't work he get's a smack - as long as you are consistent the horse will learn that if he doesn't move forward he gets a kick or a smack and will hopefully start moving off of a slight squeeze - make sure you take your legs off though once you have asked - don't keep nagging with your legs as that sends mixed messages and will cause your horse to switch off to your leg.
Click to expand...

I too, have problems with getting my Horse off my leg. I found this very helpful. So thank you :)
 
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