Help I feel like I'm pulling on his mouth all the time.

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SAL66

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I rode my new youngster last night in the school, I haven't been in the school for about a week as I have been concentrating on hacking him out.

So I know he is green and unbalanced and I am taking my time with him and having lessons with a great trainer but during the school holidays she doesn't teach as a rule, so I have missed a couple of weeks.
Now I was just walking him and this is fine he really strides out, when I want to trot I put my leg on and we move up to trot the problem is he just wants to plow on even when I bring him on to the circle, then when I do this he thinks yippee a canter is coming.

I try to half halt him by asking with my outside rein and putting my legs on slightly to bring his hind legs down, but he doesn't really know what I am wanting and I feel then I am just pulling on his mouth which I certainly don't want to do.

he is just starting to work on the bit and we have a few nice strides where he really works well, then we loose it , I know this will come with time. I am more bothered that he seems to anticipate the canter transistion when I am trying to control the trot, when I feel he is really rushing I don't canter at all.

Toward the last 10 mins of my session last night I felt him becoming calmer and was more able to contain him into something half reasonable.

Is this rushing just a youngster thing, what can I do to steady him up without the feeling of pulling. I ride him in a french link snaffle which I think is part of the problem and I don't really know what to try instead, he seems to be playing with the lozenge and sounds as though he is chomping on it more noticeable when he is standing still.

Any help and advice would be great.
 
do you use your seat at all when asking for a downward transition/half halt?

I had a very onward-bound ex-racer with a fussy mouth and in the school he was easier to control with seat/back (hacking was a free for all gamble for any sort of control). My instructor told me use the front of my seat to press downwards when asking for trot-walk or walk-halt, and it was very effective.
 
I do try and use my seat but maybe it isn't as efective as I would like it to be and end up tipping forward. On a hack he is really good even when we trot in company, its just the schooling where the issues of rushing seem to occur.

I will make a conscious effort to use my seat more and see if that helps.

Thanks for the reply.
 
put all your weight in the saddle when you half halt. Also try some trotting poles to slow him down and as far as anticipating the canter, i would try lots of downward transitions. eg trot 5 strides,walk 4, trot 3 etc. Ive found this to work on all my youngsters
 
Make sure you're doing a lot of double line lunging (with a bit) so that he gets his balance - if you're unbalancing him aswell (which alot of us are guilty of) it's not giong to help him.

Agree with lots of transitions but also slow your rising to slow him down....lots of serpentines aswell and he'll be concentrating more on changing reins rather than motorbiking!
 
PR- I have just started to introduce serptines mainly in walk just to help him with his suppleness and straightness, but will start to do them in trot, I do slow my rises down and also tell him to "steady" and it does seem to for a while and then we are off again.

I have never lunged with a double lunge lein but a friend has offered to long rein him for me, do you think that would be beneficial for him?
 
My 4 year old went through this stage, went from being a bit of a lazy baggage geting him to work forwards nicely in trot to taking a contact and enjoying his schooling a little too much once he'd mastered trot, he loving it but pacing along and pulling me a little, think he was just finding his legs and learning what it was all about, he doesnt do it now, did it for about a month and it settled down and phased out. Again when introducing the canter, he'd do the same he's be ready and waiting and steping into canter (once he'd discovered that also) but again he's fine now.

Dont get ahead of yourself and or let him should I say, make sure you mater the trot correctly before letting him canter.

Might just go on its on accord, maybe he's enjoying his schooling...which is good thing, but if it carry on all the time then yes, definatetly nip it in the bud an explore the reasons behind it.
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Thanks kenzo, he does seem very eager and I think this is all new to him , its funny bit when I lunge him he goes quite nicely and calm . I get on his back and we are off.

I do think we are getting better and I did canter him for a while last night and to start with he just goes for it not bolting but just huge strides I let him do this for a couple of circles and then he seems to regulate himself and I guess starts to balance and we have a bit of collection. I am trying to give my inside rein away every known and again so he can learn to balance himself.

He has 2 weeks off now for my holidays and I'll start my lessons again and really start to focus on this.

Again thanks for the reply.
 
I think you sound like you're doing lot's of good things. I would advice playing with the trot quite a bit so doing lot's of changes of speed within the pace. This will help him realise that there is lot's to think about in trot and it's not all about the canter. With this i'd do some very exagerated half halts so literally bring him right back to the brink or walk, and go to sitting trot, then go forwards again. these can be brilliant.

Don't canter until he is really listening in trot. It's quite useful to intersperse canter transitions with the nearly walk half halts, i'm finding this really useful with my 5 year old at the moment.
 
My mare used to want to just plow on for the fast bits
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I got some flexi reins from eBay and they worked really well - they stopped her getting strong. They don't work for everyone though. Mine were the Stubben ones
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I'm having exactly the same problem with my 4 yo!! on the lunge he's a plodder and i have to chase him on but as soon as i get on him he gets so excited all he wants to do is hoon about in trot. he's quite unbalanced still and just doesnt seem to realise he's making it worse!!
I've been trying to do loads of transitions and some poles to make him think and it's definitely helping within a pace and with downward transitions as long as we dont want to actually stop. If we have to halt it takes about half a circle to get from walk and wobbling about and tucking his chin into his chest to stop!! Let me know if you find anything that really works. I think I'm going to try and hack for a while until he's got better at carrying my weight out of the school in straight lines!
 
Also try and think about what exersises you are doing in walk and trot, riding squares and serps help them to listen and think what they are doing with there legs rather than just trying to set their own pace, walk and trot transitions and halts so they dont just think arrrh right were trotting now and its full steam ahead. If there was times when he was a little too forward going (but not actually being naughty) then I would compramise and put it into good use, hack him round the yard or up the lane...keeps a nice even balance plus you dont want to make them stail with two much schooling.
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Thanks Zalacca and AutumnRose - yes I agree he has to learn what the trot is about I think before we go on to canter, during my lesson I am told not to even think about going into canter until he is soft and as balanced as he can be on the circle within trot and just as I'm about to ask for canter he rushes so I have to start again. This does work eventually.

alex_buster your post made me smile to myself it so sounds like us, he just wants to go, he doesn't frighten me because there is no malice with it, his ears are perked fowards and his inside ear is always listening to me telling him to steady.
I will try poles and see if that helps him, I guess it will because in the top corner of the school is a rather large puddle(poor drainage) and I make him trot through there, he does slow down and take a long hard look at this strange thing.
I think its the only time in the short space that I have had him that he has stretched his neck down, the result in being in draw reins- the horrid things!.

As previously mentioned he will trot out with others up hills with a degree of calmness so he can do it.

Good luck with yours and I'll let you know what I manage to do to sort in my next lesson.
 
If slowing the rise is helping keep doing that, he is only starting to speed up again because you are letting your rise quicken. I used to ride a very rushy mare and it was a real battle to keep the rythm of the rise steady all the time even when she tried to tank off. It really works when you get it though and you can regulate the pace without using the reins at all.

To help you keep the rythm and keep your rise slow sing, the best songs to use are "there once was an ugly duckling" in trot, and rise in time to it. Then for canter try nelly the elephant!!
 
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