ground training leg yield

[cellie]

I have decided to do some ground work as my horse is recovering from splint.He is very green as we couldnt do much schooling because of past injuries and has never learnt to leg yield .If you were asking from the ground where exactly would you put pressure on,he soon got the hang of it tonight but I want to make sure Im asking in the right place and I cant find it in my books.He releases his hindquarters and backs up really well but I dont want to give him the wrong signals.

 

[Natch]

Can you get him to disengage - i.e. turn on the forehand, and move his shoulders away when you put your hand on his quarters/shoulder? Does he understand the concept of hand on means move away? (or whatever you choose as the aid)

Ideally he should know the above and move forward and backwards to a light cue from you, all on a headcollar.

If so, place your hand where your leg would sit if you were on board, slightly behind the girth.

Leg yield is quite hard to teach from the ground, as sideways can be hard for them. If you are competant on a 12ft and "carrot stick" (without the negativity associated with The P word, thank you everyone!) you can start to introduce it by circling him, and take that towards a fence. if you can get him to go toward the fence and meet it like a T at right angles, the next step is to try to keep him moving but ask him to go sideways along the fence away from you. Its easier for him if you can give the aid without him stopping first, so he comes around in and arc to the fence and walks down the fence line away from you - its ok at this stage if he doesn't leg yield but walks away from you. Try again but when he is going away from you give more "push" to the quarters, and reward even an effort or a thought towards a more sideways movement.

And don't overdo it so he's bored solid!

Good luck, PM me if I need to make anything clearer or point you in the direction of good books or dvds.

 

[cellie]

After applying pressure on his shoulder a few times he moved his front legs everytime he moved I rewarded him verbally.He does this with his hind quarters with no hand pressure and moves over on the verbal command.Hes keen to please but tries to get out of my way without realising what area Im asking for movement.Ill try hand pressure for a few more days and then move on to the fence I knew I had seen a good way of doing this just couldnt remember exactly.Thanks for that I wanted to make sure I was asking him properly it should relieve his boredom a bit as well hes had a long time off.Ill do a little tomorrow and build up .

 

[Natch]

Let me know how you get on!

Don't forget you can do other things that will keep his brain occupied, like yield head lowering, and head up, can he flex his head only to the left and to the right when you stand at his side and lift the rope to guide him.... can he place a foot on top of something solid on your cues. Can he walk over and back over a single pole? Can he walk between and stand between two poles on the ground?

Just have fun - I'm sure you will! x

 

[cellie]

That gives me some projects for tomorrow .I did some pole work but didnt think about back up.The flexing will be like carrot flex so that shouldnt be a problem.Ill let you know how we progress.ta

 

[Cop-Pop]

I taught my mare to do it by teaching her the command move out when lunging then sort of wiggling the end of the whip at her belly and saying move out - it took a couple of sessions but she does it brilliantly now. When I started riding her the first few times my trainer held the whip while I gave her the ridden aids then we took the whip away

There is an excellent video by Richard Hinrichs called Schooling Horses in Hand - it's fabulous

 

[cellie]

I love all these tips cant wait to get back in the saddle to try them all out.Thanks