how do you get your horse listening to you?

[spooks]

ash has started having lessons on her horse as although he is 8 he has the brain of a 4yr old ( and we have been told to treat him as one ), this i was told by the army who he was previously owned by, they dont bother to much with schooling! anyway his main problem is that the world around him is much more exciting then the xc course he is supposed to be jumping! he is more focused in the sj ring as he can see all the jumps etc i guess, but we were at ickworth yesterday and he came down to the water jump which was made up of 4 parts, he totally missed the first jump as all the spectators were more interesting and he didnt see the jump until he was practically on top of it at which point he shot out the side. any tips, exercises she can do to get him listening?
cheers

 

[Tempi]

have you tried taking him x country schooling to get him used to what hes meant to be doing? sorry i cant help more than that.............

 

[Pasha]

Hmm i'm sure there's a more technical way of doing it, but my boy is constantly looking at everything rather than concentrating on the job in hand, to the point where he trips up as he's not looking where he's going! I find half-halts do the trick... when i'm warming up I do a series of half-halts to get him listening to what i'm asking him to do and only let him change pace / move onto something different once I have his full attention.

Transitions are also good when warming up to get them listeing and responsive to you.

Hope this helps

 

[Vey]

Time. Take him all sorts of places, let him see all sorts of things. Let him have a good look at them. Then, when you want him to concentrate on the job in hand, use the half halts, other things, and he will respond. But any horse worth his salt is interesting in the world, and it takes time for him to get used to crowds, etc etc.