how to get horse to move off leg/stay in front of leg, & nagging legs!

[mirandaharry]

Hiya all!

Like it says just after some advice, again!

My horse is an odd mix of he really wants to try and please you, but he wants to do it with the minimum effort! I just wanted some ideas on how to get him to move forward and STAY moving on without me having to nag (hubby knows that feeling all too well!!!) - I know I do have a real tendency to not be able to keep my leg still and I feel like I'm nagging him at every step which obviously isn't helping!

I've tried giving him a bit of a wake up tap with my whip, but he can get a bit panicked by it and think he's being told off!


So any helpful tips? Everything else with him is fine, teeth, feed, back etc. Thanks x

 

[Sparklet]

I think the answer is in breaking the habit of nagging with the leg by trying really hard to ask once and backing up the request with a whip. The ones with the flap of leather at the end are more humane or alternatively as one of my instructors advised - tie a plastic bag on the end.

 

[Sal_E]

OK. Firstly, you really must stop nagging (hubby would presumably agree

)

You will make your horse worse as he will ultimately be desentisied to it & totally switch off. My own natural tendancy is to push/work the seat too much & my instructor is really sharp to tell me to stop blooming pushing & shoving. It's a really negative thing for the horse.

You need to get to the point that you put your leg on & your horse sharply responds - you then can sit totally quietly & your horse continues at the new pace/tempo.

To get to this point, ask quietly the first time (i.e. at a level you ultimately want him immediately responding to). If the response is not want you wanted (or more), a firmer tap with the leg (tap, not squeeze) plus a tap with the stick & a click of the tongue. Your horse should shoot forward - if he doesn't then you need to be firmer. Be careful not to hold on to the front end - he needs to know that forwards is good - even if he over-reacts, at this stage you must praise him.

You have to keep doing this until he's sharpened up - ultimately, you shouldn't need the stick - the click of your tongue should be enough for him to sharpely respond.

Don't ever nag or squeeeeeeeze in a dull & boring fashion. Give little taps with the foot. Then leave alone. If he dies off, do it again, with noise or stick depending on his attitude. Avoid temptation to keep on at him. At this stage, him running off in canter with his head in the air is fine - forwards thinking must come before outline or whatever. Think forwards forwards forwards. Once in that frame of mind, you can start to refine it & tidy it up, just with the occassional reminder.

 

[vicster]

I have this trouble to but my instructor says to squeeze first if he doesn't go forward off the leg straight away then a kick if nothing then a kick and a tap with the whip so that he knows i mean business

 

[JAK]

Am reading replies to your post with great interest here, as you are also describing MD & CB to a tee! LOL

Am hoping Sal_E's advice will magically transform the cretinous hairy one & bum-shuffling child! (Round & round they go.....'trot, squeeze, trot, squeeze'......arrgghh!)
Well, no more - time to get strict here I reckon!

 

[Sal_E]

'Hello, my name is Sally & I was a bum-shuffler' - LOL, great term!

B.t.w. - 'desentisied' is not a new term I've come up with - it's supposed to read 'desensitised'. Presume people got that..!

 

[mirandaharry]

Oh God, it's official, I am a nag

(not as in I am a horse, tho that might be preferable!). I've actually suceeded in desensitising both my horse and my OH

.

Thanks so much Sal-E, I did try a big kick and my boy (horse not hubby!

)did exactly what you said and shot off with his head in the air, so I panicked and pulled him straight back - thereby totally confusing him!

Got a lesson tomorrow so in the confines of the school I'll try what you've suggested, thank you and everyone else!!!!

Have to add your bum shuffling comment had me in fits - up until then I'd completely forgotten we used to call my little brother that as he developed "bum shuffling" as a speedy mode of travel before learing to walk, am laughing now just thinking of it, must remember to tell his GF!!!!

 

[Sal_E]

LOL - hopefully you'll be very aware if you start 'bum-shuffling' on the horse now - horse may wonder why you're laughing though!

Yes, let him shoot forwards - even if very undignified, priase him. He needs to be 'hanging on your every word', if you know what I mean - always ready to go forwards at a moment's request... You can refine it once he's really got it clear in his mind. Initially, for your benefit, you may need to think about noticeably giving with your reins as you do it, just so you know he can go forwards.

Keep that bum still!

 

[K9Wendy]

Katie's instructor was working with her last week on this very issue. She is only allowed to squeeze at A E B C and in between it has to be from her stomach muscles, she has to push energy into her seat from her stomach, not sure I am explaining it right. It has helped quite a bit, to the point where is is hardly nagging at all, and Bee picks up virtually instantly from the increased energy flow! It does however give Katie a stitch lol..

 

[fairhill]

I'm working on this with my horse as well, but am cheating slightly - my instructor stands in the school with a lunge whip, so we are now getting at least half a circuit of forwardness without me nagging... now I've just got to break the lunge habit...

 

[Judie]

I had a lesson with Carl (Hester) recently and my horse is the same, minimum effort, he said with a horse who is like that keep the legs OFF and when they go on if he does't respond - Gallop - bring him back, do it again and again until he is off your leg, then keep your leg off until it is needed again. I can vouch that it works!

His saying 'a lazy horse take your legs off, a sharpe horse keep your legs on'.

 

[Sal_E]

Exactly! I heard Carl say that as well - it makes perfect sense!

 

[mirandaharry]

Thanks guys. All very good advice.

K9Wendy, the idea of only using leg at certain points is fab

! I think it would be a good exercise for me and might just stop me nagging away the whole time, and the stitch would be totally forgotten in the fact that my boy might actually carry me around the whole arena without me feeling like I'm going to die in the process (please tell me all that using the stomach muscles will result in a flat tum

!!).

Turning slightly green at the "I had a lesson with Carl recently" sentence, please don't tell me he's nice as well as a fantastic rider, because that would be just too much to bear

!!!

Right, putting all this into practice tomorrow, thanks again guys! x

 

[Sal_E]

Maz - if you are working harder than the horse, take it as a good sign that you're doing something wrong - I know, I've been there! I used to come back on my knees, horse looked fresh as a fiddle!

 

[Triskar]

Buy Alexandra Kurlands book on clicker training and use positive reinforcement with a clicker.

 

[chestnut cob]

[ QUOTE ]
Am reading replies to your post with great interest here, as you are also describing MD & CB to a tee! LOL

Am hoping Sal_E's advice will magically transform the cretinous hairy one & bum-shuffling child! (Round & round they go.....'trot, squeeze, trot, squeeze'......arrgghh!)
Well, no more - time to get strict here I reckon!

[/ QUOTE ]

JAK - this sort of advice from my new instructor has totally changed the ginger one's attitude!! He now knows that a click of the tongue means go (and he even responds to it *most* of the time

)