How to "wake up" a slow horse (novice here!)

[Scuderia]

I'm having my fourth ever lesson tomorrow and I found in my last lesson I really really struggled to get to trot because my horse was just so lazy! I had to coax every step of the walk out of him just to keep jim moving. Is there a way to get some energy into him? I don't want to just kick harder as I don't think that's very kind and I don't want to just switch horses as I feel this is something I should learn to deal with.

Would it be worth getting there early and running around the school with him to warm him up?

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

Is this your horse or a riding school horse? Your horse very easy to get them going off the leg, but if it's a riding school horse they are very often know their job so well they won't put any extra effort in!

 

[Paris1]

Your fourth ever lesson. So you are just learning to trot. the horse is doing its job, and being a steady eddy for you. no don't get there

 

[Paris1]

..early and run round school. Just listen to your instructor and refine your aids and balance.
Novices can't get my horse to nice. But an experienced rider will fund him responsive and very well schooled.

 

[Paris1]

*move

 

[ghostie]

don't worry, this happens to everyone when they start out. You may find it helps to squeeze with your legs rather than kick, but your instructor will help you.

At this stage they will be giving you a sensible horse as your signals won't be clear so a more forward horse would unerve you as it would respond to any accidental signals (e.g to canter).

 

[maggiesmum]

Its very easy to blame the horse but are you 100% sure you weren't - gripping with your knees, bracing your back, holding tension in your seat muscles, rounding your shoulders and leaning forwards... (and the list goes on) all of those things will tell the horse to slow down because you're blocking his movement.
If the horse isn't doing what you ask the first place you look is to yourself, blaming the horse and labelling him lazy is a bad place to start your riding career, sorry its harsh but I can guarantee that horse trots around without a rider perfectly forward without a hint of laziness.

 

[T's mum]

presume you're talking about a riding school horse?

A lot of them are doing between 2 and 4 hours of the same work every day in the school so can perfectly understand they become completely switched off and uninterested especially in private lessons.

I am a reasonable experienced rider and have my own horse and a few years ago just for a change I decided to book a lesson at local riding school on one of their horses - I managed to get about 30 seconds of trot out of the horse then gave up as was totally knackered - total waste of £30

If you are doing private lessons I would probably change to group as at least then the horses follow each other and are slightly more forward going (until you're asked to lead the ride lol)

Also, probably not easy for you to tell but the horse could have been feeling unwell or the saddle pinching so was trying to say he really didn't want to have to do another lesson, horses have bad days too

 

[Scuderia]

Thanks for all the advice. The horse hadn't done any riding before me as I have my lessons quite early and am the first rider on the horse. In my previous lesson I rode a different horse because Quincy (my usual Cleveland Bay) was in another lesson and I found it much easier to get to trot.

@maggiesmum You're absolutely right, I must have been doing a lot of horse blocking being a new rider but it was such a shock because it was so much easier on the other horse.

@T's mum I don't want to start group lessons until I'm comfortable in walk and trot and with my transitions. I don't want to get in the way of someone elses teaching.

 

[Mlini]

Being a novice that has just started riding, I would recommend listening to your instructor on what to do regarding the lazyness. They will have probably put you on a slower, ploddier horse due to being a new rider. When you progress in your riding, you will probably get to ride a more responsive horse or be able to get a better tune out of this one. There are many ways to 'wake up' a horse but being a novice, you won't be balanced or experienced enough to manage this. At this moment in time, you are not trying to get a decent tune out of the horse, you are learning how to ride.

You could possibly ask for lunge lessons? That way, the instructor can control the speed of the horse and you can concentrate on yourself. Not sure if they will do this for beginners or not, you will have to ask.

 

[maggiesmum]

Scuderia - some horses are more sensitive than others, personally I think the sensitive ones are better to learn on as they stop you getting into bad habits. Should you encounter the same problem again do a mental run through from your head down to your feet to check your position and how relaxed you are, my tb is pretty good for showing up tension - he just won't go lol
There will be horses that are mentally 'shut down' in the school but only once you're sure it's not you is it right to then get insistant with the horse.
Google enlightened equitation, there are some videos of a rider on a simulator showing how to use the lower back to absorb the horses movement, you might find it really useful - I wish I'd known it when I first learnt to ride, it would have saved me years of being rubbish!

 

[Scuderia]

Scuderia - some horses are more sensitive than others, personally I think the sensitive ones are better to learn on as they stop you getting into bad habits. Should you encounter the same problem again do a mental run through from your head down to your feet to check your position and how relaxed you are, my tb is pretty good for showing up tension - he just won't go lol
There will be horses that are mentally 'shut down' in the school but only once you're sure it's not you is it right to then get insistant with the horse.
Google enlightened equitation, there are some videos of a rider on a simulator showing how to use the lower back to absorb the horses movement, you might find it really useful - I wish I'd known it when I first learnt to ride, it would have saved me years of being rubbish!

So I had my lesson today and the horse was much much more responsive. The transitions to trot were great. I didn't get to warm the horse up before the lesson because both schools were in use but I didn't need to.

I think my position was definitely a problem. I spent much of the time trying to keep my feet underneath me and thanks to the Enlightened Equitation videos, was well aware of my feet being pulled forward and was much better at compensating for it than before.

Thanks for everyone's help with this, although I have one more question. Is there a way to practice your rising trot movement off the horse and without expensive specialist equipment?

 

[sarahann1]

A good well balanced rising trot comes with practice and lots more practice

Off the horse work on your core muscle strength, the better your core strength the easier you'll find it to balance and so easier you'll find it to trot as you'll be less inclined to grip up anywhere with your legs or tip forward etc. Yoga is good for that sort of thing, but generally the fitter you are the easier it is to ride.

Best of luck!!