lazy horse...help!

[username223]

i have a 14.3h connemara gelding who is lovely to jump and ride, but his paces are so lethargic and everything he does seems like such an effort for him! he is extremely honest and never stops or runs out and he has an amazing technique and rarely knocks a pole. he can jump 3ft6 + courses, but the problem is that he is so slow! i'm just amazed how he can jump so big from so slow! and its affecting my confidence when it comes to doubles and triples becuase he runs out of steam and jumps the second part really uncomfortably. how can i get him a bit more fired up, hes responsive to my leg usually but if i use a whip he can put in a huge buck or two. i'm scared if i use spurs i will accidently jab him with them and make him unhappy, and if i feed him a higher energy feed it might make him more bucky..lol...any suggestions for making him more whizzy?

 

[Mrs_Wishkabibble]

Try some small spurs with the ball ends. They are really mild. My mare is the same, somedays she is quite a lazy girl so in the warm up arena I will put some spurs on to get her off my leg quicker and then take them off before I go in the ring.

 

[vieshot]

He bucks to evade the whip- he knows it scares you and stops you using it, thats why hes bucking! If it were me, each time he bucks i would repeat the use of whip a little harder until he realised bucking does not get his way!

That is not the problem though! You shouldnt need the whip. When you ride, is it the same all the time? Same types of jump, same routine etc? It may be that hes just asleep! Try lots of transitions, turns, circles, do things to keep him awake and listening to you. When you start jumping dont always ride straight into the fence, ride around and infront of it so he doesnt know whats coming next. You may find if you forget jumping for a while and focus solely on your transitions you will see majour improvements. Try lots of halt to canter etc and try to get a variation within each gait- you dont just want canter- you want him to be able to collect and extend when you want him to! Get the flat work sorted and the jumping will come along with it.

 

[JoBo]

Bodey can be a bit like this (not the bucking part though) and I find the way to whizz him up is quick sharp transitions, lots of walk to canter, canter to walk. Varying the pace of the canter, really push on down the long side (give a grrrrr if it helps), and collect on the short. Do you vary what you do, bit of hacking, jumping, flat etc? Have you thought about going to a gallops? Having a gallop gets Bodes going.

I know you don’t want to make you ned put on weight but I do have Bodey on a higher energy comp mix, if he is using the calories then he shouldn’t put on weight.

Hope this helps.

 

[hellybelly6]

I also have a lazy horse. Natives are not the most dynamic of animals.

Is he overweight? If he is, this could have a bearing.

I had a very good instructor who advised me to do lots of upwards and downwards transitions carrying to dressage whips and because J also bucked to use then on his shoulder when he did not respond to a request to go forward. If he bucked, tickle him again until he stopped. I didnt like doing it, but the instructor was an excellent and also a friend who knew us both very well.

J soon got the idea and after 10 mins of bucking he soon got the message and has been more responsive to me leg since. I occasionally go back to riding with 2 sticks, but he knows and I dont need to use them anymore.

When your pony responds to a request for an upward change of gait, give him lots and lots of fuss if you ask for trot and he canters even better.

Once he has responded well, put up some low jumps in a grid and do the same method, remembering to give lots of praise.

If you are going to try this, please have somebody on the ground with you for the first few times and remember to sit back into any bucks.

My horse will only give the minimum of what is requested of him and I used to accept this, its my fault for accepting it and not educating him that this was not acceptable.

Do not get me wrong, do not ride him around beating him senseless!!

 

[RachelB]

Is he always lazy or is it just in the school? If it's always an issue then he may benefit from more energy in his feed, or some people have had good results feeding something like Equine America Propell. It may be a problem eg. he may have an infection or may be anaemic, which will make him seem off-colour and lethargic. So first step would be to check tack, back, teeth, feed, worming etc to make sure he is in good health.
If it's a schooling issue then you need to make him more off your leg. My horse is very lazy and would rather use her feed to store fat than to make energy! She never respected my legs so I spent a lot of time doing transitions in the school, making sure she was moving forwards into all transitions (up and down) and making sure she reacted immediately to my leg. If she ignored my leg she'd get a tap with the whip (making sure I was allowing her to go forwards, not blocking her with my hands or seat) and next time I could be lighter with my aids until I didn't need to use the whip at all. Another good technique is called "scary legs" (my mad instructor taught it to me!) - if the horse doesn't respond to the leg the first time, you bring your legs off the horse's side and pretty much give him a "Pony Club kick". Back it up with your whip if necessary. Horses learn very quickly, so a few "scary legs" kicks and he should learn that if he ignores your leg the first time and then you take your legs off his sides, you are going to MAKE him go forwards. In the end all it requires to make him go is for you to take your legs off his sides - you then don't need to kick any more.
My mare has a very long, flat and slow canter and it was even worse when jumping - in the end I had to accept that was how she was, and that I had to let her jump how she wanted! For the flatwork though she really improved, and the fitter I got her the more "whizzy" she became. I only had to hold a stick in my hand in the end to get her more off my aids!

 

[username223]

ta for the tips! yeah i vary what i do alot, we have about 40 acres to ride in, so i hack around there alot and give him a good gallop every now and then lol.
just wondered if thats lodge farm in your pics? love it there.

 

[username223]

lol yeah i do use the buck smack buck smack method and it did eliminate the bucking for a while, and he rarely bucks when i'm schooling him, it's just in the showjumping ring at a show i've always been taught not to tap him in between jumps if hes likely to buck becuase it could muck up the striding and the approach, this is where the problem is mostly...

 

[kellyeaton]

try stepping up one or two phases on his food dont go mad from low engery to high engery it will blow his mind and chance a lot of behaviour issues when schooling him to lots of different metre circling lots of leg yeilding on the track and of the track and put sirpintines in there aswell to keep hismind focused!