Favourite schooling exercises for sensitive horses?

[iknowmyvalue]

I’ve tended to have horses who turn into recalcitrant slugs in the school, so I could give you a hundred exercises for lazy horses, but this is a whole different ball game! So those of you who’ve had sensitive/forward horses, share your wisdom! More details below

Had my first proper schooling session on new boy tonight! Overall super pleased with him, he needs a fair bit of work on the flat which I knew buying him, but he seems to be a fairly quick learner with lovely basic paces.

He’s a sensitive soul who I don’t think humans haven’t always been very nice to. I also don’t think he’s done much in the way of flatwork lack of strength/practice/understanding is definitely a factor.

Top things that need work:

Reaction to the leg is a bit dramatic sometimes, not nasty but just shoots forwards.

Canter has a tendency to get quite rushed and unbalanced, but when I try and bring him back he just trots. It starts off lovely but gets progressively more strung out as you head down the long side ?

(not lameness, was fully vetted less than a week ago. Saddle fits well. Could possibly be teeth so will check them this week to rule it out.)

 

[shortstuff99]

Lateral work is your friend. He needs to start recognising leg can mean move away and not just go faster. I also like ground work for sensitive horses as you can teach new things in a more relaxed way to start.

 

[scats]

Echo the lateral work. I had to ride P leg off for ages because the second you put any on, she was off like a rocket. So I got her used to a light leg aid for sideways first.
Also riding squares. If they are very forward and gung-ho, they can sometimes drift out through the shoulder simply because there is almost too much energy to make the turn.

 

[Goldenstar]

On this type of horse I would do transitions lots of them .
I would move between the walk trot frequently on a curved line and straight .
I would ride five and ten metre loops sometimes walking the loop bit .
I would walk going into the corners of the school trot coming out of them .
I would use serpentines walking over the centre line sometimes and sometimes walking the loop bits where they meet the track .and trotting across the straight bits
On the canter I would start on a big circle and canter / trot a lot until the horse settles itself because it realises there’s no point in getting quicker .
That would be my start point .

 

[tristar]

i use a slow warming up period, lots of trot until they will walk and stretch out and , for me that equals relaxation, then move on from that and use it throughout the session to cool things down

 

[millitiger]

Lateral work… one of my horses is so hot, we only really go in a straight line when jumping.
Anything lateral or on a curved line, means I can get my leg on.
Majority of work in walk, leg yield, shoulder in, travers and walk pirouettes.
Mix it up so shoulder in to half pass, leg yield zig zags etc so any time we start to gain momentum I take control back and get my leg on.

Cantering, we do lots of square turns to get him to sit back and wait, without trotting but without pulling and then a bit of leg yield if he starts to race on the straight sides, however the square turns really help.

 

[quiteniceforacob]

And could you start a thread with your hundred ways to work a lazy horse!

 

[Riding_my_Rozi]

Lateral work can help. I do lots of circles and spirals to get my horse bending and focusing to me.