Jogging...useless numpty needs advice

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bex1984

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I can't quite get my head round having a "forward going" pony now Murphy has lost some weight!!

When he starts jogging in the school when he's supposed to be walking, what should I be doing?

Should I just keep asking for walk? Should I halt him and then ask for walk?

Any tips?

I posted about it before when he was doing it everytime I took up more of a contact - I have since been working on keeping more of a consistent contact (not majorly shortening my reins for canter etc).

I know it's a habit I need to break and I think it's partly him evading having to walk on properly.
 
Just ask him to come back to walk again each time. Make sure you do it as soon as he starts jogging - and every time he does it. Ask with your seat and legs as well so you keep him going forwards into the contact. As soon as he comes back to walk, release your aids as a reward
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Failing that, canter round until he's too tired to jog....
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I usually ask for trot, get it established then make a positive downwards transition to walk using a soft contact and asking the horse to walk out, using lots of 10 metre circles if i find it speeding up to jogging again.I find IMO that trying to slow a jog into a walk is rarely effective.
 
he's also got to learn not to anticipate. the fact is, most of us shorten our reins slightly before trotting and cantering, the horse moves his head and neck much more in walk so he needs the length of rein (especially in free walk, or after stretching), but in trot he carries his head higher and still, so the reins needs to be shorter. so, it's not really you who is at fault.
you just have to keep doing things, consistently, until he learns to wait. repeat repeat repeat patiently and calmly, is the key. it might take 10 goes, or 100, but he will get the idea and give in and relax. if he's full of beans, sometimes pushing forward and having a good trot around for a bit, asking for bend, accuracy, concentrating on rhythm, etc etc, and then asking for walk, will work better than continually asking and being ignored. halting and then asking for walk is good for getting a bit of discipline, as long as he's not mega-feisty... i've seen antsy horses asked for this before having a bit of the edge taken off them, and objecting quite violently! (sometimes upwards)
it's a case of trial and error, to see what works best for you and him. there's no absolute "right" way or "wrong" way to teach him not to jog, imho, so as long as you are patient, calm and consistent, he will learn.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, will just keep on at it - I just sometimes feel like we only manage two strides of walk at a time before he's off again and I'm having to ask him to slow up again! But underneath it all he's just trying pony tricks, so I'm sure he'll give in eventually!
 
A couple of points.
When he jogs, close your leg on...and half halt or halt him. Then send him forwards into walk with your legs, but be very aware that you mustn't hold 'back' with your rein aids - think about pushing the walk forward and long, move your hips freely too.
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he doesn't jog until he gets excited by doing fast work, of if he knows there's jumps set up for him in the school - once he's cantered that's all he wants to do, which makes me think it's not discomfort related - he can hack for hours in walk and trot and be fine. But I'll see how he goes and maybe get him checked over if it carries on. He was last checked by a mctimoney person in December.
 
I'd be tempted to ride him forwards into the contact - when he's working nicely and you 'have him' in your hands he's more likely to listen & comply then you can ask for walk and hopefully you should get what you're asking for!
If horses are a bit fresh my instructor always rides them forwards - it's amazing how quickly they settle once you're actually riding them forwards rather than them running!!!
 
I'd say loads of different figures in the school in conjunction with what you're doing at the moment. I'm giving a friend lessons at the moment on her 13.2hh fell pony who looks really like Murphy and he is a real jogger. What's worked for her is making sure that she never does a whole lap of the school on the outside track. Try exercises like a 15m circle at each marker, ice cream cones, serpentines, figures of eight, 20m circles etc. Keep him thinking so he doesn't have a chance to let his mind wander onto other things. get someone to watch you when you are riding and see what your hands do when he starts to jog. My friend was bringing her hands down and in creating more tension. Lifting and widening her hands helped in her situation but I couldn't comment on that without seeing what your hands are doing, they might be fine
 
OK - so keeping his brain busy basically? My friend rode him last night and from the ground I could see he was basically anticipating an upwards transition - he's just keen to get going. I also might try pushing him on into a proper trot. It's all so confusing at the minute because he really has changed a lot in the last few months since he's lost some serious weight!
 
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