Finally rode today + would appreciate some advice.

JustKickOn

JustKickOn

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My mum's friend has offered me the ride of her horse.

One of them has to be walked for half an hour each day as she had an op on her stifle ligament about a month a go. She's got another 5 months of box rest to complete bless her so she seemed happy when she was being walked (owner did that as she occasionally takes off apparently)

And the mare I rode is a dun cleveland bay x welsh and she has a really lovely personality.

Thing I found with her is that she can be very stubourn and slow. She lacked 'oomph'.
Think she has a small hard feed at night and is stable kept whilst the other one has to be in otherwise she goes nuts.
She was fine when R put a small jump up for me and seemed to perk up when I took her for a gallop on the field, it's just the flatwork where she lacks energy.
I was using plently of leg and she didn't really respond when I used my stick.
So, does anybody have any tips on how to get her going?
I think we need to get used to each other, but would like my next ride to be a bit easier on the legs :smrik:
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Thanks, Lizzie x
 
What my instructor told me to do with osk was if you ask them to go, and the dont give the a huuuuge pc kick, and make them canter/trot or w/e for about 10 strides then bring it back to whatever pace you were in when your ready.
Then eventually all i had to do was raise my leg a little bit out the saddle and he would go
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obv dont do it all the time cos they go dead on it, but it worked for me, i only did it about twice tho, then he changed
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Its probably not admired by most
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but it works!
You have to be reaaaly constistant dont give up on them cos then they just think ahhh she dosent want me to do it anymore, you have to keep at it sometimes they just need a big hit with the stick to wake them up.

Gooood essay, oo i have thought of something else, loooads of transitions, like walk for 5 strides trot for 5 , and so on
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Lots and lots of transitions!
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Walk for 20 strides (or 10, I can't remember
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, don't think it makes an awful lot of difference), then trot for the same, then walk, then trot etc. Do the same on both reins.
Then, when she starts to get better you could do a three loop serpentine in walk to begin with, then when you get the centre line, ask for halt, then walk on again, when she starts to get the hang of that, same in trot.

It will probably take a bit of doing but it does work
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Try not to use more leg I presume you are using a schooling whip, maybe put on spurs as well .Make it clear to her what a squeeze means .
Squeeze and if you don't get a reaction use your whip behind your leg ,if she responds make sure you do not pull back .Do lots of transitions with the same method, if you get no reaction to the whip use it again with your spurs and when you get a reaction reward by sitting still and taking the pressure off, do not continue to ask..
If you are asking her to improve her trot, ask for flexion to the inside on a circle so that when you ask she can respond with the inside leg and move it under her,again ask, if no response back up with whip or spur and reward by sitting still but use you r aids clearly and don't nag.Think of it as a transition with in the pace
 
Did lots of transition work today + also did the serpentines Daniele!
Will ask the owner about spurs if she's not better the next time I ride.

Thanks for the tips
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