Help for horse that finds lateral work v v difficult

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toomanyhorses26

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I have had my 17hh TB for three years and he has made massive steps in his schooling in this time - used to hold his head so high you could see his blaze and now can hold an outline (novice but consistent)at walk,trot and canter,through upwards and downwards transitions and through basic school shapes(20m circles,3/4 loop serpentines etc )He can also do flying changes in both directions(maybe wouldn't win us any dressage prizes but they are clean and obediant) however he really struggles with any sort of lateral work esp in the school. He is better out hacking but he still tenses and runs and if I have him on a bad day will rear as well. He is a long ,lanky horse who by nature is quite backwards thinking and naturally quite lazy. We have done lots of work to get him more reactive and responsive to the leg and he is much more consistent in this respect as long as I do keep the schooling up :D He can spiral in and out on a circle and will leg yield out hacking but as soon as I ask for anything in the school he tenses ,goes into backward thinking mode and is just generally unhappy. We have played around with different exercises to see if he found one easier than another - turn on the forehand provokes the biggest reaction then leg yield particulary in walk but on a good day he can do a relatively good 1/4 pirouette ( use them for when we are riding squares)The only way we have found to get him to focus at all is a pair of draw reins - I only use them with my instructor present - * puts on tin hat and takes cover*. He stops trying to evade so much and offers more - not perfect but more than with just normal reins. Is there anything else I can do to help him as he really is of a level that he could move on in dressage and schooling sessions are beginning to get a bit dull :D Should probably say saddle,teeth and full body physio treatment all done in the last 4 months approx and no issues found (this issue has been going on for 2 - 2.5 years - he is sound and feet in good nick and well balanced . He is ridden in a wilkie snaffle and drop noseband - have played around with other combos in the past but this seems to be what he is happiest - any thoughts/tips/ideas would be much appreciated :D
 
Have you tried teaching him the lateral work from the floor first?

Just getting him to yield his quarters first, then his shoulders and then you can work on leg yield and shoulder in etc.

I find it really helps to start on the ground as they already know 'over' from being handled around the stable.
 
work in hand , make it all gentle and laid back, don't hang on to the mouth,
when mounted try a little out hacking again with very little contact, if your're not moving forward properly could be the root of the some of the problem.
 
i don't think a wilkie snaffle is dr legal, is it?
i'd definitely teach him from the ground first, on voice commands, and then repeat those voice commands with a helper on the floor and you in the plate. if he's very sensitive to leg aids (which it sounds like) perhaps you can train him more on seat and weight aids, just a thought.
can he do baby shoulder-fore? and then very gently ask for a tiny bit more, with tons of praise when he gets it right? always be happy with a tiny bit, either circle and ask again or leg yield to get him back to where you wanted him to be and ask again...
contra shoulder-in is very useful too, it's easier for them to understand than shoulder-in because the fence makes it obvious that you don't want them to walk forward.
 
Thanks for all the help and advice . He does all his home work as such in the wilkie and then swaps into a french link loose ring for classes/shows/comps. He is quite strong and takes charge in the french link hence we keep it for occasions rather than everyday use. He is a really strange one as I have to ride in spurs to get him properly forward (little diddy ball ones) and naturally is quite backwards(has a tendency to nap and rear out hacking ) and if he finds something easy I can normally get a good positive response from a normal leg aid . In the lateral work I find it hard to get the balance right as he takes a massive amount of leg to keep the forward momentum but in a split second it can turn with him getting v strong and basically running away from the leg. Will try from the ground and see what response I get - should I have full tack,side reins on etc or should he be au natural ??
 
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