how to ride a course...making distances?

[harrihjc]

I've just started having lessons again with Flash, who is about as laid back as it is possible to get, he's not a forward going chappy at all and it's pretty dam hard to get him going! Everyone advises really chasing after him to get him shifting, but the second you stop hassling him he goes back to his own pace, and I hate feeling like I'm flapping trying to get him going, it must look awful! He seems to really go on the forehand as well.
I've found that when we jump and I push him forward he goes really flat and poles fly everywhere, but if we don't push we just don't make the distances. He's never going to be a speed horse, and at about 15hh distances are never easy. How would you handle jumping a course on a horse like this? I hate feeling like everything is such an effort and it looks so messy and I'm exhausted half way round, look like i've run a marathan and he's not even broken into a sweat! I almost feel inclined to just sit back and wait and get an extra stride to take out his half stride rather than pushing and going flat

Any help much appreciated!! We need more oomph!

 

[KatB]

He needs to learn to stay infront of your leg. Goddy was mush the same, and the only thing that has helped is working lots on the canter and its gears, and also teaching him to stay infront of the leg! Spurs help if your leg position is stable enough too....

 

[harrihjc]

yeh spurs do help, I almost always school and jump in them. I have been working on his canter trying to shorten and lengthen and doing lots of circles, transitions and changes of direction, and he has improved since we changed his food, but he's still very lethargic!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I doubt if chasing after him will make much difference, speed is not what you are looking for. There is a big difference between speed & power. With speed you will jump flat & have fences, with power you will launch over fences & make a nice shape.

Feed change may make some difference to him, it may give him more energy but he really needs to use himself better from behind. If you work on leg yielding & shoulder fore you will encourage him to bring his back legs under himself. By doing this he will develope better balance & much more power. Hopefully this will make a difference. It won't happen over night but if you work at it you will be able to feel the difference in time. Good Luck

 

[harrihjc]

thanks, I am trying to incorporate things like leg yielding into his schooling, and it's definitely more power we need, nothing could ever give flash any speed