Help! My horse is really lazy at competitions

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mareish

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Hi,

I compete my horse in dressage at Prelim level. She is well schooled but has always been a bit nappy and lazy. She has her back and teeth checked regulary and her saddle has been fitted properly.

She is a bit lazy at home when I school but she is fine once I get her going. I have lessons and my instructor thinks she is going well and improving at home. The problem is when I take her to competitions she switches off completely. I have been taking her to competitions about once a month for over a year and recently she has got even worse. I can hardly get her to canter and all her paces are really sluggish and backwards.

I asked my instructor what she thinks and she says maybe she just doesn't want to do dressage. :(

I don't know what to do as my horse is more than capable but I feel like I'm getting no where. Has anybody had a similar experience with their horse or have any suggestions?
 
Yes! My horse is like this at all competitions. My flat instructor says that I have to get him in front of my leg and buzzy in my warmup, even if it means creating a bit of a scene (I think he was being a bit dramatic - I don't think he was meaning beat the poor horse up - just if horse isn't responding then keep going (within reason) until you get a reaction!).

I shortened my warmup, increased the energy content of his feed, and really try to wind horse up a bit - lots of halt-walk-canter transitions to really get him bounding forwards. I'd now rather have him strong and keen coming up the centre line, than "normal" as I know once I turn off the centre line he can die on me, so I need him more buzzy than usual so that he drops to usual level, rather than from normal to lazy sod.

Good luck and don't give up. Maybe your horse doesn't particularly want to do dressage - few of us particularly want to work but we all have to earn our keep, horses included, and it's not like you're asking that much - one test a month is nothing :p
 
One of mine is like this at competitions and when hacking alone, but at home / out with his buddy he's reasonably in front of my leg (he'll never be blood horse buzzy, but he's responsive!). It's a confidence thing and he is slowly improving...
 
While the feed might have some bearing, if she is fine once she gets going at home, it sounds more like she is not very confident at comps, in which case it will improve the more she gets out.

The other thing is we tend not to really get after them at comps as we're worried about other stuff (remembering the test) or about what the judge might think. If that is the case, go out to a couple of comps with no other aim than to get her going forwards.

Lastly, and I don't know if this is your case, with my lazy-but-fine-once-you-get-her-going mare who used to die on me in the ring, I stopped using my whip at home except on very rare occasions. In comps I was either not allowed a whip or if I had it I didn't want to use it front of the judges. She had my number! So I now leave my whip in the cupboard and have learned to get her really forward from the leg without it.
 
Thank you for your replies. I feel a bit better now. After having an awful day at a competition yesterday I felt like giving up. It's nice to know other people have similar problems.

Regarding her feed- she is on HiFi Molasses free, Speedibeet, Top Spec and Haygates mix. I don't really want to change her feed as she has had colic in the past and can be a bit delicate. Plus the problem is only really at competitions. I also do pleasure rides of 15-20 miles with her and she has plenty of energy on these!

I think you are right that I don't ride her as firmly at competitions as at home. If she starts napping or ignores me at home she gets one firm smack with the whip behind my leg and then she gets on with it. I do carry a whip in my test but only use it to give her a tap on the shoulder. I wouldn't feel comfortable giving her a big smack in the middle of a test. I will try riding her at home without a whip. JGC- I think you are right that she has worked out that I don't use my whip at a show.
 
Spurs might help if she's just being lazy... I use the roller ball ones and they are fab.

The other thing is, can you do some combined training with her? Maybe she'll enjoy the outings more if she thinks she'll get to jump after the "boring" dressage test!!?
 
I have tried spurs with her at home a few times but she doesn't react very well to them. She gets very resistant and grumpy. She does go forward a bit better but they make her very tense and plank like. I only used very small blunt spurs and applied them tactfully. I've not tried the roller ball type so i'm not sure if they would make a difference.
 
I used short normal ones which my spotty boy didn't like and went stuffy in them. Then tried the rollerballs and he is much better. He was extremely lazy in tests and now is better I have these spurs on but still not 100%.
Razzing him up just before you go down the centre line really helps! I do medium trot round the edge of the school before the judge rings his bell. I think you do need to give a few tests away and really get after him in the ring. He has learnt he can get away with going slowly and you don't do anything about it- he has to learn that he can't get away with it and he has to perform for you! It's only 10mins a month!!
 
Bit of a different thought, but maybe you need to try and push on a bit more with the level you're both working at? Obviously I don't know what level either of you are at really, how old the horse is etc, but I know that I only did prelims for a couple of years, felt like we weren't good enough for anything more... and so as a result didn't get anywhere and got very bored - I'm betting the horses did too because trotting circles can't be too thrilling for them! Even just novice tests have a lot more in them to keep things 'interesting' without being too complicated, and I think that helps to keep the horse switched on. Prelims I think are actually quite tough for many horses because there's so long between some of the movements that they can become unbalanced & flat, and start thinking of other things! :)
 
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