How to get a lazy horse moving ?

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Eira

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Ok so ATM moment I am riding a lovely BWB for his owner .
The problem is , is that he is a lazy so and so and is prone to temper tantrums if he's asked to work when he doesn't want to (will buck/spin/plant/whips round and buggers off
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- nothing nasty just avoidance)

If you keep him moving he won't act up but he is sooo much hard work .
Hes difficult to get going and once he's going he's so heavy in your hand and leans its knackering (he's 17.3 btw)

So how to hell can I encourage him to go forward without him buggering off
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eta - Back/teeth/saddle etc checked he is just a lazy sod that knows he's big

eata - Currently ridden with a schooling whip to back up leg aids
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LOL! We have a few similar types at work!!
Lots of transitions to wake him up, and counter-canter often works well to help with straightness (they will very often go crooked with their shoulder out to avoid going forward)
Direct transitions- esp. walk-canter can be particularly useful
Good luck!!
 
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I'm afraid i cant help you with this as i have the same problem
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although it's a lazy big mare.

I look forward to the answer.....

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Atleast I'm going to have toned legs by the end of it
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spurs and a schooling whip ,lots of short sharp transitions,lunging and plenty of hacking if you can ,polework anything to keep them interested.
 
Niagara did this for a few weeks. He would just slow down when I reached a certain corner ie; If I was trotting he would slow down to a walk, and the same in canter. Whenever I squeezed and asked him to keep going he would just buck and stop. I whipped his ass straight away, he never stopped again, I think I took him by surprise
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If the horse is generally being lazy I would do the same, Be firm and don't be afraid to use your whip, behind the saddle.
 
Thanks for the tips everyone
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Shall get working in the morning

Sol was/is so sharp that i'm not used to having to constantly remind the horse to keep moving !
 
A friend had this and her instructor told her to use two whips it definitely caught her by surprise and although she improved you cant change their make up.
 
I always do lots of transitions. I normally do domething i call 5 5. I do 5 strides of walk then 5 strides of trot and 5 strides of walk 5 strides of trot etc. Your horse should then start to anticipate the transitions and you can just play with it. If youd rather use 8 strides, for example, then do so.
 
Spurs all the way. made a huge difference to Daisy, she doesn't need them anymore but it re-educated her to realise that she was supposed to go off a slight nudge or she felt the spurs and then a whip if she still ignored the leg. Be consistent and firm, don't be tempted to nag.
 
Personally I'd be trying to teach him to respect your leg aid a bit more to save you having to use your legs constantly.

On a loose-ish rein in walk, give him a nudge with your legs. If he doesn't respond immediately you give him a massive pony club type kick. If he's the sort to ignore a big kick I'd be inclined to crack him with the whip at the same time. This should be enough to send him flying forwards and at this point its important not to grab hold of his mouth and slow him down again - let him go forward, unrestricted for a bit until he starts to slow down, then repeat with a light nudge, followed by a kick if you don't get a response, etc etc. He should very quickly get the idea that he needs to respond to a light leg aid.

Its very important that you don't nag with your leg - the idea is, you send him into trot, for example, he trots at the same speed until you ask him otherwise. In between 'reminders' you do nothing. Obviously you can't really school a horse without using your leg so this is an exercise you would use a few times in a session and return to when he starts to switch off from your leg again.

I borrowed the idea from a Carl Hester demo and I've used it on a fair few horses - you do have to be ready for a 'reaction' and possibly a buck or two when you give them a boot/smack but they tend to get the message pretty quickly IME
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Personally I'd be trying to teach him to respect your leg aid a bit more to save you having to use your legs constantly.

On a loose-ish rein in walk, give him a nudge with your legs. If he doesn't respond immediately you give him a massive pony club type kick. If he's the sort to ignore a big kick I'd be inclined to crack him with the whip at the same time. This should be enough to send him flying forwards and at this point its important not to grab hold of his mouth and slow him down again - let him go forward, unrestricted for a bit until he starts to slow down, then repeat with a light nudge, followed by a kick if you don't get a response, etc etc. He should very quickly get the idea that he needs to respond to a light leg aid.

Its very important that you don't nag with your leg - the idea is, you send him into trot, for example, he trots at the same speed until you ask him otherwise. In between 'reminders' you do nothing. Obviously you can't really school a horse without using your leg so this is an exercise you would use a few times in a session and return to when he starts to switch off from your leg again.

I borrowed the idea from a Carl Hester demo and I've used it on a fair few horses - you do have to be ready for a 'reaction' and possibly a buck or two when you give them a boot/smack but they tend to get the message pretty quickly IME
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This is the exact method that my new instructor has shown me with my very lazy cob and it has really worked in only about 4 lessons, been amazed with the results.
 
Have you tried Impulse spurs. They have made a big difference to my mare.

She was just slow off the leg, but they have really sharpened her response up.
 
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Have you tried Impulse spurs. They have made a big difference to my mare.

She was just slow off the leg, but they have really sharpened her response up.

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Haven't broached(sp) the idea of spurs with his owner yet but I think i'm going to have too

Thanks for the ideas Ziggy and everyone else
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you need to train him to respond to your leg - the squeeze with your leg, no response so a click and a flick with the whip, no messing.
Don't forget a horse is so sensitive it can feel a fly landing on his skin, so there should be no excuse not to respond, regardless of size
You have to be balanced and consistant with your aids though and keep your leg still when not giving a command
 
I find that transitions works best with my lazy horse, and interesting things like trotting poles.

I rely on walk to canter transitions to give Will a bit of 'oomph' and get him responding to my leg properly!
 
I think you need to get him to WANT to go forward.
If he was mine I would start out hacking - pick a point some way ahead (could be a tree/gate/mark on the road) and send your horse forward towards that point. When you get there STOP. Let the horse realise that you have arrived at the place you wanted to be. Then start over - pick a point - go forward, then stop and rest. The forward needs to be trot or canter so the horse feels he has a job to do. It is very important to stop and rest when you get to the point so the horse really understands go means go - to a place and at a pace - then rest a while.

You can then do this in the school - asking for a bit more and a bit longer between stop/rest periods.

You will find that your horse will start to look for the point you want him to go to and will be eager to get there so he can rest! This type of horse is very clever so in his mind why should he put effort into going round and round in circles.

After a while you will be able to do normal schooling sessions with a willing, forward horse.

Works for me. Good luck
 
Ditto everyone else, plus to stop the leaning have you tried a Waterford bit?

Also when out hacking always keep the same forward momento going.

Lunging use the same forward going principal, get the pace forward going and then when you have to back it up sharply with the lunge whip so you are not continually nagging.

Good luck
 
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