Impulsion spurs.

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scewal

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Just wanted some opinions please.
I have a 5 year old cob x tb who is very laid back by nature. When ridden she needs nagging to walk out and requires a little encouragement to maintain an active trot.
She will move away from the legs nicley but as said i do need to nag her to keep her forward.
Am contemplating on trying the roller ball impulsion spurs just for a short period to encourage her to move off the leg.
 
I wouldn't. The key word to me in your post is that your mare requires nagging. Nagging with the leg often turns a horse off, so up the ante and then down the line you have a horse switched off to nagging with the spur. Then, where do you go?

It's hard to advise without seeing, but most of the time what works is ask once with the leg and if no response then wollop behind the leg hard with a short whip whilst letting go totally of the head so that you allow the horse to shoot forwards. Praise! Repeat as necessary!:)

Also, do lunge work encouraging smart responses to vocal commands; back up with lunge whip as required. Then start to use vocals whilst riding. Never ask twice!

Good luck!
 
Spurs are designed to refine an aid, such as with a dressage horse that has many 'buttons', where using your entire leg may cause too many buttons to be pressed, put simply, and in my opinion shouldn't be used on a 'lazy' horse.
Rather than continuing to walk, or trot, I would do very short periods in one pace, and then a transition to another, then another, & so on. Lots of transitions basically! You can start with just walk/halt - don't worry about how the halt looks much at first, you just want to get the halt, praise, and promptly walk off. Establish a reasonable walk, then halt... then when the walk feels more upbeat & forward going, throw in some trot too :) I found trotting, walking for 1-2 strides & immediately trotting again soon woke Dante up even if initially the transitions *looked* awful, once he was going forwards on his own, they neatened up. No point trying to shape a transition that's barely happening anyway. Lots & lots of praise when things go right, even if they aren't perfect :)
 
Thank you for your replies. She will move off the leg well but when in trot she slows down to a walk unless i keep my leg on her all the time. To get her to walk out she will move off the leg then slow down, leg on she speeds up then slows down again. I think by nature she is very relaxed and lazy! Just want to work on continuity.

I need to get her to think more forward, she lunges very well off voice commands so will try that and lots of transitions. I try to fire her up but she is just too chilled!
On the open moor she likes a good canter but is very ready to fall back into a trot / walk again.

Another thing doesn't help is that my last mare was quite the opposite to ride!
But i feel myself leaning forward trying to push her along.
 
The leaning forwards probably isnt going to help too much you will just push her onto her forhand and then any energy from behind just goes away. Really try to sit up.

Give her small aids and if she doesn't react over exagerate everything she will very quickly learn to go off a light aid and without any nagging.

Also ditto what others have said about lots of transitions it will keep her mind engaged and concentrating on what you asking rather than just you nagging her around the school :)

Also get someone to watch you, you may be nagging more than you think or blocking through your hands.
 
DONT LEAN FORWARD! I know it's really hard not to when they dont work for you but by leaning forward you are more likely to block the shoulder and hinder the movement.
One thing that was suggested to me was if they keep slowing down and slipping into walk was to not nag them, allow them to drop into walk then sharply tell them to trot again. The plan is that they will learn that they aren't allowed to drop into walk and they have a quieter life if they stay in trot.
 
Take her hacking with a forwards horse, or preferably with a group of adrenaline junkie teens, & hunting if possible, until she starts thinking forwards herself.
 
Thank you for your replies, much appreciated. She will happliy leave a forward going horse to stride out on its own!
Did consider hunting but worried it may fire her up too much, as i lead my 5 year old son and pony from her at the weekends.

I shall certainly get into the habit and SIT UP!
 
You could be writting about my little cob!

I constantly felt like I was nag nag nagging all the time, reminding him to keep going. He's not lazy as such, he just offers as little as he think is needed then slows down. Quick to respond to the leg but didn't willingly keep it. Not forward thinking at all (frustrating after being used to horses you keep needing to remind to slow down!).

Getting him fitter really helped. As did taking him common riding (or hunting). It REALLY helped him think 'fast = fun'. He's still the same sensible bombproof pony, just a little more forwards.

But most importantly I had a lesson with an instructer, to whom I complained I felt like I was constantly badgering him, with stick and leg. She suggested pony club kicking, which worked wonders! :o

She said they often switch off quickly to regular nudges and forget what they really mean. Using the stick regularly is the same, and often makes them hitch their bum up in annoyance and loose even more impulsion. Instead I was to take my legs off his side completely. One nudge to set him off in the correct pace then take legs off completely. When he slowed down, I gave a 'flap' with my heels then legs off again. It worked wonders!! He scuttled forwards at the first 'flap' and kept it going for much longer than when I'd nudged and nagged. When he slowed down again he got another flap. Within a minute he's learnt to keep going without the need to nag.
 
Scewal - google 'wip whop rope' (or 'giddy up rope') and have a good read. BTW take the 'h' out of 'whop' when you google it. This forum won't let me spell it without, annoying!

Make one yourself from an old (soft as poss.) lead rope. Far and away more effective than a whip or heel-nagging and horse never resents it's use. My current cob was backward thinking and nappy as a five year old. Not at all uncommon at that age. Now at ten she is as forward as they come, a true push button ride, and has been for years. I rode with a wip whop through the summer months of her fifth year, hunted her the winter of her sixth year and her positive attitude's set for good.
Do read up thoroughly first though as important a wip whop is used correctly as works on pressure and release theory.
 
I agree with the above comments about not nagging with your leg. I have always been told to work on the basis that you need to teach a very sharp forward horse to work with the leg ON and a lazy horse to work with the leg OFF.
 
My horse is similar but pony club kick does not work :( He has been used to spurs all his life from previous owners and now he wont go with out them! Literally a different horse :(
So you probably wont want to go down that route.
You can try rising 'higher' to propel her forward a bit? Not sure how this works but my instructor said NOT to do it because my boy was forward going (before I took the spurs off this)
I think it would be a good idea to do something a bit more fun like hunting? I dont think it would make the horse sharp or anything but just enjoy work more? Just a suggestion :)
Good luck - let me know how it goes :)
 
Fab used to be really lazy. If he didn't respond to me asking with the leg then tap with the schooling whip to back it up - soon learnt to go first time! Same when your in a pace - they should only change back when asked, shouldn't need constant nagging. I'd use the whip again until she learns to stay in the pace you've asked until you ask her to change.
 
I am interested to watch this thread. I have a lovely forward trot with my cob but the least forward walk ever. I am really struggling to get him to maintain an active walk :-/
 
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