Fed up with horse, we SUCK at dressage or in fact any flatwork!!

[Lill]

Blue is driving me nuts lately. First ride after i got back from holiday he was brilliant went really well!!

Had a lesson on Saturday he wasn't very good *understatment really* instructor got on him even she had trouble getting him to go nicely (made me feel a little better i suppose) and i couldn't at all for the rest of the lesson.

Rode him yesterday got fed up with him and gave up.

Have spent the best part of 18months trying to improve his way of going on the flat, he will now bend both ways nicely in walk but as soon as we take it to trot it falls apart and we can't keep it. Both instructors (have had 2 different in past month) have told me to be firmer and tougher with him as he doesn't like to accept a contact.

I should have more lessons really but can't afford to.

Am at a dead loss now and feel quite depressed about it all.

Am going to do a bit of jumping tonight and maybe tomorrow night with him to see if a change helps and maybe try flatwork again on Thursday....

Just looking for any ideas to help really?

Showjump2003 i think it is has had amazing results with her mare would like to know the secret!

 

[AmyMay]

Do you have to keep schooling??

So much can be achieved out hacking. The horse (hopefully) will naturally be more forward, enabling you to work more effectively on him and you. You can leg yield in walk and trot (helping him get up in to the bridle), shoulder in (same result) plus a multitude of other things.

I think we can get too bogged down in the detail sometimes, rather than letting it happen naturally.

 

[Lill]

Well the only hacking we have is roadwork and thats not much fun to be honest!

 

[hannah87]

chin up, horses are meant to be fun!!some horses are never gunna be dressage stars (i know, i own a half giraffe!) but i perseve with him , some days hes brill other days hes crap - crap days i jump him instaed bcos thats wat hes good at and enjoys - find something he really enjoys and alternate ur schooling with that to perk him up, if u get frustrated with him and tense, then he becomes frustrated and tense and then u both go like sh*t , remember if hes having more fun hel go better for u

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Well the only hacking we have is roadwork and thats not much fun to be honest!

[/ QUOTE ]
Can sometimes be better than going around in endless circles in the school though not achieving much.

We have a lot of road hacking round by us - some of it is really quite lovely.

You sound down about the whole thing - we all get like that sometimes.

Chin up. I bet you're much better than you think.

 

[Grumpy Herbert]

Do you need him to go correctly, ie are you going to try to compete in dressage at some point? If yes, then paying for some intensive lessons may be worthwhile in the long run. I had to accept that my boy was never likely to go brilliantly. He was 12 when I got him and had only ever hunted - he had no idea what a contact was and thought any contact at all meant stop! He has improved, but it is slow and frustrating going. I only really bought him to hack, so I'm not too disappointed, but if I wanted to compete I would have to have a rethink. Keep going, though - I'll bet you'll get there in the end!

 

[pottamus]

That's why I don't bother with all this schooling in a menage lark! Me and my boy do our schooling out hacking...much more fun and the horse does not switch off like in a school. We are all road work here...so have to wait for a clear straight stretch but we manage bits and pieces quite well!

 

[Breezesbenefactor]

Do stacks of transitions and keep him in the school for 15 minutes at a time no more sqeeze the best from him and end on a high note. If he descends into sleep mode perhaps a trot passed a pig farm may help to fire him up

 

[Tierra]

Dressage IS hard. The art of making a horse work correctly on the flat is, as i said, an art Its also something most people can spend many, many years learning to do and still often not get it right.

You say you can hold things together in walk but it falls apart when you move into trot.. Are you losing impulsion? The biggest issue I see when taking things from walk to trot is that its easier to ride quite a lot from the hand in walk.

Trot shows up peoples position flaws much more and you really do need a good position to get the horse working correctly.

Id focus primarily on getting the impulsion first. Spend a lot of time getting him off your leg and completly ignore what he "looks" like. Its so easy to get bogged down in what the head is doing and thats really the last piece of the puzzle.

Make sure you assess your position and check this is correct, you need to be generating the energy from your legs and containing it with your body and hand - this will only happen if your position is good.

Again, try not to get too bogged down in the issue over the head positioning. Weave pole work into your schooling to help make the horse more alert and sparky. Dont just mindlessly trot around fighting with him over his head cos he'll switch off.

How is your canter work? People often find canter work easier than trot as its easier to gain the impulsion needed to start collecting up and asking for an outline.

 

[Lill]

Thanks for the replies

Well did some jumping, only crosspoles, 3 down the centre line and did figures of 8 and circles over them and then whilst i was waiting for my friend to warm up and have his go i tried some flatwork and Blue actually managed it!

He was much better on the right rein than the left and once he had accepted the contact he was so light couldn't quite believe it!

He managed a bit of trot on the right rein too although only walk on the left.

So am going to try this again tonight, a bit of jumping and then try some flatwork...?

We did do some canter work in the lesson on Saturday lengthening and pushing him on down the long sides and then collecting him and doing a small 10m circle once i got to the first corner... he wasn't great. He has nice paces its just sorting out the rest of him.

I don't want to compete in dressage particularly but i do want his dressage and flatwork improved to help with his jumping