Is it possible to change an older horses way of going?

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cheekywelshie

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Just a thought. I have a horse (welsh cob type) very on the forehand and quite stiff in his hinds. He's 14, 15 next year. I have been doing leg yield on a circle to try and loosen him up in his shoulder and this seemed to help - he is quite lazy and takes a fair bit to get motivated (and needs consistency with the asking!) I've done walk to canter to try and lift him off his forehand. When I get the aids right he generally responds - out in the field if not in a school. He doesn't really like schooling but that said I haven't been very consistent in terms of when he wanted to switch off i gave up and had a rest as well! His trot has always been ok but the canter is quite heavy and laboured. Is it every possible to change this as they get older or is it impossible? If so what sort of exercises would work? I have booked him on dressage camp for a bit of an outing (no transport so trying to do 1 or 2 camps during the year than just pay 150 for transport and 3 minutes in a dressage test) - although i'm sure some folk would ask 'why' as he isn't built like a dressage horse! I have also been trying to learn biomechanics to try to help him where I can by being in balance.

https://forums-secure.horseandhound.co.uk/album.php?albumid=7362&attachmentid=28585
https://forums-secure.horseandhound.co.uk/album.php?albumid=7362&attachmentid=28586
https://forums-secure.horseandhound.co.uk/album.php?albumid=7362&attachmentid=28588
https://forums-secure.horseandhound.co.uk/album.php?albumid=7362&attachmentid=28584
and a jump picture because he enjoys that...https://forums-secure.horseandhound.co.uk/album.php?albumid=7362&attachmentid=28587
 
I would say yes, most definitely. 15 is no age at all for a horse these days. I used to ride a 23 year old stiff, arthritic gelding who was conformationally challenged to say the least, and I noticed a marked difference in his way of going just from a couple of flatwork lessons with a good instructor who helped to educate me in how to work with him. I found that building his fitness out on hacks, up and down hills especially, helped with forwardness and suppleness in the school, and concentrating on energy from behind and lateral flexion/suppleness really helped.
Lovely looking boy :)
 
How long have you had the horse?
The horse is very likely to be responding to the rider, so the rider will probably need to change the way of riding. Your biomechanics work should prove effective, especially when combined with a good instructor. I have found that saddles can have a lot of influence on a horse's going as well. Sometimes those which are said to fit can impair the horse's movement.
 
Definitely. I effectively re-started mine at 13/14, he had always been very on the forehand. I'd had him for 5/6 years at that point and did all the re-schooling myself. It was quite a slow process as he was a stubborn old soul and I had to alter my own way of riding, but by the time he was PTS a couple of years later his way of going was totally different.
 
I started the biomechanics in July so still early days - have had the saddle looked at and the knee rolls had not been helping. I currently do not have a school which is hard in this weather. I find it hard to sit properly when i need him to move forward in order to balance so i try to get forward and then as soon as - take legs away (i used to nag a lot :( ) which seems to work better. A lot of instructors just focus on the horse and being on the bit so i had a break for a while then went on the mary wanless 2 day clinic as managed to sort transport for that.

Had him since he was 5 going on 6. He can be very stubborn and used to stop as soon as i was showing signs of being tired!! I have been pushing through that and he does keep cantering so ...

On dressage test we always get the same 'needs to be more supple' needs to work more from behind etc but not sure how to address this -- i tried the legyielding on circle to loosen his shoulders a bit - in the field i have to ride in
 
dibbin said:
Definitely. I effectively re-started mine at 13/14, he had always been very on the forehand. I'd had him for 5/6 years at that point and did all the re-schooling myself. It was quite a slow process as he was a stubborn old soul and I had to alter my own way of riding, but by the time he was PTS a couple of years later his way of going was totally different.
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Dibbin - what did you focus on with re-schooling ? how did you measure the improvement?
 
Being in Milton Keynes we dont have many hills sadly! I should probably do longer hacks though although is very muddy at the minute! Did you do a lot of circles? I don't have a school to ride in so try to work on them in the field trouble is he loses energy very quickly!
 
cheekywelshie said:
oh my - how though???! I dont have a school anymore either - although can hire when it isn't booked
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School out hacking, there is plenty you can do to encourage him to use himself properly, loads of transitions, leg yielding where it is safe enough, ask for flexion to each side, ensure he is working evenly and straight, do not allow him to go along on his forehand at any time, if he starts to do a transition or half halt to get him using his hind legs more actively, when you can hire a school try not to do endless circles, work for too long and make life hard for him, use poles and small fences to keep him interested and make it fun.
 
cheekywelshie said:
Dibbin - what did you focus on with re-schooling ? how did you measure the improvement?
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By how well my brakes worked and also just from the look and feel of him. I hadn't done any proper schooling for years and Dylan was very inclined to go with his nose in the air and very on the forehand, so he had a great big wedge of muscle on the underside of his neck. If he decided he was off there wasn't much I could do about it because he'd just set his neck against me and go! Losing that made him much softer and much more controllable. Photos below of the change in his neck/topline over a year or so - still a way to go in the last photo in terms of building the topline, but it's the best I've got for showing the difference in the shape of his neck.

I took him right back to walk and halt to start with, lots of circles, leg yield and shoulder in to improve his suppleness and get him stepping through from behind and moving off the leg correctly rather than just shooting forward.

Before:
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After
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