Is the only way.............

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To awaken a stubborn lazy horse that ignores both the leg and schooling whip to have some on clonk him on the bum with a lunging whip when i put my leg on the first time...??:D

This seems to be the only course of action to shock him into a response and has been my last resort as nothing else will make him move :rolleyes:

It was my instructors idea as I definately work harder then he does on lesson and am getting increasingly frustrated with him ignoring the aids and falling behind my leg - making me 'nag' him....I HATE nagging and refuse to do it....it's what he wants me to do - kick him along the school....!! So i tried the legs off, no naging, legs on - nothing, big kick backed up by hard smack with whip ( only a half hearted reponse from him for a few strides....he then falls back wanting me to nag him!!!:eek:)

I am sick of having to smack him with schooling whip as feel bad - surely its no fun for him either...? :confused:

So this is the last try to retrain him to be a bit more sensitive to the leg....:D

Luckily we had a response....he snorted and shot off down the long side ....I gave him loads of praise for going forward......and then when i halted him and she came back with the lunge whip the second time he was off as soon as I put my leg on and was nice and forward didn't need my schooling whip for whole lesson and left it on the fence.....yippee..!!

Anyone else had any joy with this method....although I dont think its for the feint hearted we nearly parted company a few times...although I am prepared to take a mouthful of sand - small price to pay for a nice forward responsive horse!! its my last shot at retraining him....dont want to have to rely on someone standing their all the time with a schooling whip though ......I am hoping that after a few 'sessions' he will staart to get it and realise leg means go...now.....and if not lunge whip is there....:D

Either that or i am going to take him hunting!!! surely that should re awaken him.....He has always had a laid back personality, but I am not asking him to complete a 3* event just go forward...lol...:D

Chocolate Orange for those sufferring with a lazy horse like mine - with supergirl sized calf muscles like mine....tee hee..;)!!

XxX
 
I find that a colourful schooling whip waved in the horse's eye-line encourages forward movement in my IDx, who has been known to stand still for an hour. and simply reacts to a tap with the whip by bucking.
 
I was once told a story of a TB who would NOT move, he was sent to an old school horsey type to see if they could get him to go (he was with a top trainer at the time), they tried everything and the horse stuck his heels in and said NO, so they lit fire behind his back legs, it did the trick apparently!!!!! :eek:
 
Allover said:
I was once told a story of a TB who would NOT move, he was sent to an old school horsey type to see if they could get him to go (he was with a top trainer at the time), they tried everything and the horse stuck his heels in and said NO, so they lit fire behind his back legs, it did the trick apparently!!!!! :eek:
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Blimey...!! Hopefully it wont come to that......!!Lol..
 
When mine used to be quite sticky, I'd hold the schooling whip straight up in the air and (holding onto the saddle!!) swish it side to side so it makes a noise.

Would surprise B into shooting forward and keep him on his toes for the rest of the session!!
 
Perhaps you could try changing his feed to something a bit more heating? Not sure about the lunge whip - good short term fix but I'd like to see her follow you round a cross country course....
 
Have done similar before, but the horse didn't get a clout, just the noise and sharp movement behind with the lunge whip were enough. If you are going to do that, i would put a neck strap on and keep hold of that with one hand so you avoid socking him in the gob when he shoots off. Else you will be undoing any good work you acheive. And a forward seat will both encourage him forward and stop you from nearly parting company so much. Also if your weight is thrown back as he shoots off, it's like you giving him a 'stop' aid as soon as he does go forward.
 
Is he like it out hacking or is it just schooling? I teach some children who have a pony like that and I gave them a ' whip *** ' to use. You could probably make one yourself. A soft piece of rope used immediately behind your leg, both sides like slapping the reins over the neck. If the horse doesn't respond to leg, use whip ***.

Like everything else, if it's over used the horse will be de sensitised to it and game over! You pony sounds like he needs motivation.
 
We had a guy at my old yard come to put up some fencing and he told me his daughter's horse was like this.... until he took her and horse to a nice big field and walloped neddy up the a&se with a bit of hose pipe.

Apparently he was quite forward after that :eek:

J&C
 
Don't worry you're not the only one!!!

My horse is great out hacking and will gallop with the best of them, but take her in a school/arena and she becomes a lazy plod!

My instructor has kicked the sand at her behind to get her going before, lol!
 
JessandCharlie said:
Louby, I was once told by an old 'horseman' to shoot my horse up the jacksie with a BB gun :eek::eek::eek:

J&C
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Wondered how long it would be for someone to say what we have all probably thought at some point..... :D:D:D:D:D:D NO No don't worry, I wouldn't actually do it lol!!!

Was also grinning at the fact that you can't write the word 'w o p' on here (Tictacs missing word) lol!!!!!!
 
I used to keep my old horse (who sounds just like yours OP) at a yard with a forest around 2 sides of the school. One day he got spooked by something and for the rest of that session worked amazingly. From that day until I sold him I would ride with a schooling whip and drag it along the trees to give him a shock! He did get desensitized to it eventually but it worked for a bit :)
 
I cut up a plastic bag into ribbons and attached it to my crop. It must have been windy cant remeber but when I used it my horse went like a rocket and I had to throw the crop on the ground. Hven't tried it since
 
Id use a whip whop rope, you can make one yourself by paiting together 3 lead ropes and cut the clips off.
in a school, with someone with you of course, whip the rope from shoulder to shoulder quickly, when asking for a transition, put on your leg, and dont at all ask the horse to steady the aim is you want the horse to come off the leg so let him run. keep asking for transitions, making sure that you use your leg as well.
you can even said trot, canter etc before using the whip whop so the horse knows that its coming, and in the end the horse should be able to act just on the voice.

works really well without the need for whips and leg banging
 
Thanks Guys....he is 6 - I think your right - he has always been a bit behind the leg but recently he is a joke - he must be bored....!!

Thanks for the ideas.....will look at the rope and will also have a look at the hunting....

He is booked to go beach in a few weeks to try to get a good blast so hopefully that will excite him enough to get a good canter - who knows maybe even a gallop...:D:D

xx
 
TicTac said:
Is he like it out hacking or is it just schooling? I teach some children who have a pony like that and I gave them a ' whip *** ' to use. You could probably make one yourself. A soft piece of rope used immediately behind your leg, both sides like slapping the reins over the neck. If the horse doesn't respond to leg, use whip ***.

Like everything else, if it's over used the horse will be de sensitised to it and game over! You pony sounds like he needs motivation.
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He isn't as bad on a hack, although lacks confidence....he can sometimes go really well in a warm up and forward in front of the leg and then as soon as I go into a dressage area get all plodding and behind the leg again making it very hard work to complete as test as i'm trying to keep him going....:eek:

He will nap when going out on his own sometimes......although a big beast not very brave....:(
 
Sounds identical to my own 6yr old. I hate schooling with a passion and do almost all of mine on hacks but that doesn't lend itself to very good circle shapes unfortunately as not many bridlepaths are 10 or 20 metres wide - LOL

I think up ways to spook him forward which has included my instructor waving a lunge whip, once he is forward she drops it and he carries on forward for the rest of the lesson, it's bliss giving my legs a rest and i cannot stand nag, nag or smack smack so if on my own i just give up and go hacking instead....... after all it's far more interesting for both parties.

I've used the ideas above as well, rope swishing, baler twine on the end of my stick, brushing the branches, dummy spurs, two schooling whips, scratching his nylon exercise rug behind the saddle was a good one - LOL

Basically they do get bored, i know damn well i do going round in circles so the trick is always to keep it interesting and different and at his age keep it brief/short, loads of transitions up and down, wiggly shapes, race to a letter and back again etc, mix it up and make it fun so it's something he looks forward to.

The key is immediate praise once he goes forward no matter how far or fast he goes forward, i even used treats for a while, that worked until he stopped in anticipation of the treat............
 
:D Ha ha ha - thats hilarious!! How funny would that be...!!:D

I'm was hoping I wouldn't need her then......but would make great watching!!

Lazy pony!!:p
 
Mine was really lazy in the school and he still can be. Just ignoring my leg. Dressage test always reading 'your horse needs to be more forward'. As it happened I stopped schooling him (we moved yards and there was no arena) and just hacked out for a while, had fun, and that got him thinking forwards again. Did more jumping, took him out a couple of times a month to do something like RC, dressage, sj, HUNTING. He is tons better. Now we do our schooling on hacks and in the field unless we're having a lesson in an arena. Our dressage scores are better because he isn;t lazy, though we now get told not to rush! We certainly won't be winning just yet!

Maybe your horse is just fed up to the back teeth of going round and round a school. I know mine was. Give schooling a break, get him out and about.

ALso have you tried sticking up a jump and intermittently popping over it during a schooling session? It livened up my old mare (also lazy!)
 
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