How many of us have ponies/horses who wont go forwards?

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pipper

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I have a couple of these!!! sooooo frustrating! :mad: One will plant and refuse to go forwards when he feels like it! the other is more frustrating - very nice talented Sec D - she is wonderful in trot BUT is awful in canter - when asked to canter she goes up and down then sets off at a truly snail like pace. If I work really hard and bully her she will eventually manage a quite nice canter - even a medium canter. BUT FGS!!! why oh why will she just not do it when first asked?????
Not really expecting any 'help' answers - just having a bit of a moan. :rolleyes: But I was wondering how many of us don't have these lovely sharp off the leg equines??
 
Me!! I have a mare that was extremely nappy and explosive but thankfully she is now a lot less so. She still needs to go forward off the leg more but she is hugely improved on what she was!
 
Well mines pretty good, but when I first backed him he was one of the most naturally dead to the leg horses I have ever met. You could tap him quite hard with a stick on his side or haunches and he wouldn't even flinch a muscle - he'd just look round at the stick as if to say 'what the hell are you doing that for?'. He was pretty easy to teach voice commands to though so we just worked through things that way.
 
This can be trained. When you ask for canter and she doesn't go ask for gallop the second she goes forward stop asking. If she doesn't go throw everything( except her reins) at her use whip and spurs if nec. But when she goes forward stop asking. In lower paces if not going forward ask for an upward transition to get her used to this idea. If my young horses drop behind my leg for a second I ask ( if don't always complete) the upwards transition. But you must stop asking when the horse goes. If you kick every stride the horse understands this to mean 'maintain the pace you are going at' so a forward aid from the legs in early training has to mean go faster. Once the horse gets this it will quickly understand that different leg aids mean different things but both legs on at the same time should always mean step under in a more positive( faster) way.
 
blitznbobs said:
This can be trained. When you ask for canter and she doesn't go ask for gallop the second she goes forward stop asking. If she doesn't go throw everything( except her reins) at her use whip and spurs if nec. But when she goes forward stop asking. In lower paces if not going forward ask for an upward transition to get her used to this idea. If my young horses drop behind my leg for a second I ask ( if don't always complete) the upwards transition. But you must stop asking when the horse goes. If you kick every stride the horse understands this to mean 'maintain the pace you are going at' so a forward aid from the legs in early training has to mean go faster. Once the horse gets this it will quickly understand that different leg aids mean different things but both legs on at the same time should always mean step under in a more positive( faster) way.
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This makes so much sense! But how on earth do i retrain my legs to stop nagging?
 
pipper said:
This makes so much sense! But how on earth do i retrain my legs to stop nagging?
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Get on a horse that requires tactful leg aids - either you retrain yourself or keep getting carted/bucked off. simples.

Or just
 
pipper said:
This makes so much sense! But how on earth do i retrain my legs to stop nagging?
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You can start in just walk - a little retraining for you and for her ;) Slow her walk down so that she has plenty of room to speed up and concentrate on not touching her with your legs. Then use a light aid ask her to move into a strong active walk (the most forwards walk you can imagine). When she doesn't react to this bump her just once with your heels immediately after she hasn't responded, and if she still hasn't increased her speed by at least as much as you wanted then immediately back up with the whip/spurs (whatever it takes to get at least the increase in speed you were after). Then rinse and repeat many times in all paces and from one pace to another, an concentrate really hard on not nagging. :)
 
I bought mine as a 9 year-old, he had been allowed to get away with being lazy all his life. If you hassled him he would just get evasive by being sharp and spook/spin and in canter he would buck. He's a lot better now as he knows he can't get away with it with me, but it takes a lot of work to get him thinking forwards. It's very frustrating sometimes, I use lots of transitions doing what Dabdab suggests, and vary his work as he's really forward when hacking or jumping, or in a group at a rally. He's very hit and miss if we enter a dressage comp - he'll do a lovely test when he's thinking forward but he sometimes just switches off. He's 14 now, so I think he'll always be like this. It's not a problem for me as I don't have time to compete any more but it used to get me down. He's an iberian x and too clever for his own good sometimes.
 
DabDab said:
You can start in just walk - a little retraining for you and for her ;) Slow her walk down so that she has plenty of room to speed up and concentrate on not touching her with your legs. Then use a light aid ask her to move into a strong active walk (the most forwards walk you can imagine). When she doesn't react to this bump her just once with your heels immediately after she hasn't responded, and if she still hasn't increased her speed by at least as much as you wanted then immediately back up with the whip/spurs (whatever it takes to get at least the increase in speed you were after). Then rinse and repeat many times in all paces and from one pace to another, an concentrate really hard on not nagging. :)
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i need to do this too :/ it makes my brain hurt -_-
 
Two comments I heard on different lessons have stuck with me - 'who is the beast of burden here? You or the horse - the horse is meant to work harder than you' and 'for 23 hours a day your horse can do what he wants, for the hour a day he is ridden he should do what you want' - too true. The horse has to go forwards and be in front of your leg to be safe. Try asking with a normal leg aid and follow up very quickly with a stronger leg aid if you don't get a reaction and if still no response a flick with a schooling whip - you must let your horse react and go forwards without getting a jab in the mouth, don't worry if you go up a pace more than you wanted, go with it and then bring back to the pace you want. If you keep nagging with your legs without getting a response you are just training your horse to ignore the leg aid.

If you don't feel up to hunting try renting some gallops and going up them upsides of a companion.
 
My new boy is awful on his own (ok mostly in company), he stops, plants, backs up when asked to move on and won't go anywhere except home (I don't let him though). It's so frustrating!
Nothing works, whip, spurs, turning in circles or waiting it out!
This happened to me yesterday and I'm looking at alternative training methods. I think it's me!
 
livingthedream said:
My new boy is awful on his own (ok mostly in company), he stops, plants, backs up when asked to move on and won't go anywhere except home (I don't let him though). It's so frustrating!
Nothing works, whip, spurs, turning in circles or waiting it out!
This happened to me yesterday and I'm looking at alternative training methods. I think it's me!
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If you're looking for alternative training methods for napping specifically, I read a report written by spookypony in C&T a few weeks ago on a clicker training clinic, in which she mentioned using clicker training for napping. I have no idea how easy it is to do or how well it works, but it might be worth looking into if you are after an alternative approach.:)
 
Ooh me! Me! I have an ex-racehorse who was quite successful but jeez is he a slug now! Partly he doesnt particularly like schooling, partly he is an obnoxious so-and-so and partly he is dead to the leg. We are getting there and he is only 6 so lots of time to improve. I sympathise with you though OP. We regularly start with 'Ok, I'll work nicely', followed by 20 minutes of planting and being a total a**se. Cue much aggro and then we have 20 minutes of beautiful work. He is (at the mo) of the opinion that if I want him to do it, then you can ruddy well make me. Well, alrighty then.....

We do lots of hacking and lunging to break it up. TBF, I find it quite funny now as he is such a brat, its hard not to laugh at him. Particularly when he does his pouty-mouth thing when he is throwing a strop.

Like the anti-nagging leg tips - might give them a go. Thanks!

And before anyone jumps on me, his teeth/back/saddle are all fine :D
 
Livingthedream, waiting it out will always work, its just a question of waiting long enough (over an hour, if that's what it takes). The waiting will get less and less in time. You could try getting off and leading for a minute to establish forward movement, then remount and continue your hack. It sometimes works, sometimes not, but even if you end up leading for the whole ride that's still better than turning round and going home.
 
I had the same with the mare I shared. After a couple of months of using a whip/spurs eventually I didn't need them. She was the same as the other post on here - very slow unless jumping or hacking. After a lot of persistence it all paid off!!! Loved that horse she taught me so much :)
 
So pleased its not just me!
My NF 6yo is so laid back he doesn't see the need to go faster than he wants. Schooling whip has no effect, he will respond to spurs but cant use these in breed show classes. I took him 'practice hunting' last Autumn ... that worked! but its all forgotten now. Of course if a pigeon flies out the hedge we are the other side of the track in a split second so I know he can move:rolleyes:. Will go back to the regular use of spurs I think, & back protector in case he bucks.
 
I have managed to stop myself from nagging with my legs - it takes time and concentration, but what wouldn't I give for a horse who only slows when I ask him. I HAVE to keep riding - the second I stop he transitions down and I have to use my leg again. I need any ideas to keep him maintaining the pace I have asked for until I ask for a downward transition - that isn't the same as ignoring my leg, he now doesn't, but any suggestions? My instructor says to downshift and then use the leg to get him up again, but I can't see how that gets him to maintain a pace? (Sorry if I have hijacked OP, but it is kind of related)
 
For the one that plants and refuses to go forwards I have found that employing a bit of reinback is useful. It generally serves to confuse them, but gets them listening to your aids nonetheless, I think most horses find it more comfortable to go forwards than backwards. So reinback, halt, then ask for walk on. Also works on ones that use going backwards as an evasion, once you make them go backwards you take them using it as an evasion away from them ime :)
 
Stencilface said:
For the one that plants and refuses to go forwards I have found that employing a bit of reinback is useful. It generally serves to confuse them, but gets them listening to your aids nonetheless, I think most horses find it more comfortable to go forwards than backwards. So reinback, halt, then ask for walk on. Also works on ones that use going backwards as an evasion, once you make them go backwards you take them using it as an evasion away from them ime :)
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Cunning! Me likey! I'll try that on the brat tonight...:)
 
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