I went to try young (3yo) horse and loved him but he was lazy - advice?

As an owner of a 'Lazy' or as I prefer to call him 'clever' CB, I would say that this horse DESPERATELY needs to be given a break - for a year. There is NO WAY my boy would have been ready to be backed at under 3 - he has really only just started filling out at 4.5 and is only just getting to grips with where his legs are and how to communicate with them!!

I had my first lesson in a few months on Saturday with a new instructor who spent quite a lot of the time chasing us round the school with a lunge whip to help me get him going forward and more off my leg... He is exhausting, and I'm sure it isn't going to be plain sailing but I know I have a clever horse and once he learns that going forward is a lot more pleasant than not, and that mummy is going to be very black and white from now on, he will do it! ( he was already much more forward at the sight of a lunge whip this morning! lol!)

If you like him, get him, but be prepared to be patient with him. :)
 
amymay said:
Obviously.
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Its is worth emphasising, that a fundamental weakness in conformation will not disappear, it all depends, some horses are weak behind because they have been poorly fed and managed, with some it is due to conformation, and will always cause a problem, sometimes [I am not immune to this], we like one aspect of the horse so much we ignore a weakness, it takes a lot of judgement to find a good horse, some stand out, but some are going through an ugly duckling stage.
I know people who have bought several horses, and paid real bucks for them because they liked the colour [and usually a weak colour to my way of thinking] or because, for example, Dutch Warmbloods are all the rage [as if all the rejects imported in to the UK are suddenly going to be Olympic contenders]
 
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It wouldn't put me off given his age, lack of schooling and the fact that he had draw reins on for what ever reason that is but that's another story.

However I would want to see his natural paces, free schooled just so you can see how he moves to make sure there is no physical reasons for a lazy gait, lots of youngsters take a while be more forward but then that can be a blessing in disguise as you wouldn't want to do too much anyway, so could be a training issue/age.
 
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