Lazy horse

olop

olop

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My boy is extremely lazy & backward & I need some help to get him going forwards without making me feel like I have done a 3 hour sessoin in the gym!

I am finding it not enjoyable riding him at the moment as he is such hard work & its really starting to get to me (he has been like it since day 1) He is 8 years old & I have had since he was a 3 year old.

He gets worked everyday for around an hour day & I just cant seem to get him moving forward. If I do get him moving its because I am working ten to a dozen & my position starts to go awol so its a visious circle.

He is part stabled (as I thought this may "boost" his energy) & is in from around 4pm-7am the next morning.

He is fed Baileys allround endurance mix & has 2 cups of oats per feed (is fed twice a day) & I still have nothing to work with (most horses I have fed oats to go off there heads but it does absolutely nothing for my boy!)

Anybody have any tips to help me out??
When schooling I do hundreds, literally hundreds of transitions to get him working off my leg but I get nothing. He does work nice & round when I do eventually get him working but like i said I have to really work my butt off & then my positoin goes to pot so I lose all the work I have done.

I ride in spurs as an old instructor said he was dead to the leg, but I still get nothing.

Help!
 
If you always ride him with lots of leg and spurs then you need to retrain him to react to less of an aid. Horses can feel a tiny fly land on their skin - he knows that you are asking! My mare was absolutly dead to the leg when I got her. When ever I rode I made sure I though before each time I used my leg what effect I was asking for and at what point I would feel it was acheived - ie an increase in walking pace or an change from walk to trot? First I would ask with a squeeze, if no effect I would then give a nudge with my leg. If still no reaction then a flick with a schooling whip (I use one with a leather tab on the end). Any move forwards in pace should be rewarded, and always make sure you allow with your hands. I would ignore collection, you need plenty of forwards easily given before trying to collect the energy. You just need to make very sure that you don't nag with your leg or spurs as he will simply tune you out and totally stop listening.
 
That really makes sense-thanks for posting!
When I ride I tend to just keep using my legs-like a constant squeeze, squeeze, squeeze (they are never still!) & I think that is what is wearing me out so much, which in turns makes me ride like a sack of poo which equals a less enjoyable ride, will give it a go tonight, thank you :)
 
I'd love to suggest a blood test - just to be sure there's nothing untowards.

But apart from that - is he getting enough grub? Have you tried him on an instant response type of feed???

What kind of 'fun' does he have? Does he hunt, hack etc...???
 
If you are always using your leg then I'm not suprised it wears you out and stops riding being enjoyable. Each squeeze should get a reaction, no need to be constantly asking! Def a case of less is more. I think you'll be suprised how fast your horse will cotton on, you just need to be super careful not to slip back into the habit yourself as the work can be undone rather fast too! I would def get a schooling whip, if you don't have one already, to back up your leg. You can back your leg aid up without breaking your contact or pulling on the reins - I find one with a leather tab on the end really useful - less 'bucky' than the usual type!
Lots of luck!
 
I was just going to ask how often you hack. A bit difficult this time of year unless you can ride before dark but maybe a mixture of hacking, schooling and lunging.
 
glosgirl said:
If you always ride him with lots of leg and spurs then you need to retrain him to react to less of an aid. Horses can feel a tiny fly land on their skin - he knows that you are asking! My mare was absolutly dead to the leg when I got her. When ever I rode I made sure I though before each time I used my leg what effect I was asking for and at what point I would feel it was acheived - ie an increase in walking pace or an change from walk to trot? First I would ask with a squeeze, if no effect I would then give a nudge with my leg. If still no reaction then a flick with a schooling whip (I use one with a leather tab on the end). Any move forwards in pace should be rewarded, and always make sure you allow with your hands. I would ignore collection, you need plenty of forwards easily given before trying to collect the energy. You just need to make very sure that you don't nag with your leg or spurs as he will simply tune you out and totally stop listening.
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you have to be clear and firm. Dont ride for an hour schooling either, its better to get a good twenty mins in rather than a crap hour of nagging at your horse.
 
Thanks for all the replies-to be honest I don't hack out, as I have nobody to go with & it just doesnt motivate me to hack alone :o I think I should maybe just go out once a week at weekends or something, even if its just up the road & back! Im not partically lucky that we have lots of hacking here (I am next to Windsor Great Park but the route there is a horrible A road so would need transport to get there & I don't have any at the moment.)
Not really seen any quick realese feeds, do you have any to suggest so I could look out for them?? He certainly does get enough feed I am sure of that as he is looking a little porky at the moment but he tends to drop off around December time so not too worried about that at the moment.
Ive never had his bloods done (Only when i first got him for rig testing as he was a bit fruity!) so that is another good suggestion.
I do have a schooling whip so will give that a go, I rarely ride with it as I find myself relying on it, but will try again as my legs are clearly giving the wrong signal :o :)
Claire that sounds awesome-only thing is Blackie is a bugger in company & I think it would blow his brains, how is Nadia in company, is she a good "teacher"??!!
 
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She is a great teacher BUT she does get excited in company. She was good on the beach when there was 4 of us the first time and 6 the second time but strong.
I have no idea how is going to be with that amount of people there, just going to wear my b.p and hope for the best if I end up going.
I won't be jumping, I contacted them and asked which one was suitable for novices to hunting and this one came up on the 28th.
x
 
claireandnadia said:
She is a great teacher BUT she does get excited in company. She was good on the beach when there was 4 of us the first time and 6 the second time but strong.
I have no idea how is going to be with that amount of people there, just going to wear my b.p and hope for the best if I end up going.
I won't be jumping, I contacted them and asked which one was suitable for novices to hunting and this one came up on the 28th.
x
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In that case I wont risk it hun, just in case :o A couple of years back I did a pairs hunter trial on him & he really went off on one in the warm up & then out on the course which scared the beegeesers out of me, think I will get him used to going out hacking before i commit myself to that first :o
Thanks for the offer though xx
 
TBH If you have had him 5 years and all you've done pretty much is take him in the school for an hour a day - I can see why he is 'lazy' - he must be bored to tears :o

I would say give him a break from you normal schooling and do something different - find someone to hack out with if you don't have anyone currently, or do more groundwork playing stuff in the school. I think my horse would have topped himself if I did that much schooling :o :eek:

Do you do any jumping at all? Introduce new things and play games with him if all he ever sees is his field, stable and the arena.
 
JOEY_OLOP said:
In that case I wont risk it hun, just in case :o A couple of years back I did a pairs hunter trial on him & he really went off on one in the warm up & then out on the course which scared the beegeesers out of me, think I will get him used to going out hacking before i commit myself to that first :o
Thanks for the offer though xx
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Makes sense. But I will be hunting you down to come with me one day :D
 
TBH If you have had him 5 years and all you've done pretty much is take him in the school for an hour a day - I can see why he is 'lazy' - he must be bored to tears
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This.

They key is to make life fun. Which it doesn't sound like at the moment.

Get some friends, go and have some fun. Going round and round in the school certainly isn't.
 
Its not that I havent hacked out in 5 years-thats a long time to be riding round in a school everyday!
Its only the last year or so that I havent as I have moved yards quite a bit (through no fault of our own) & I havent had anyone to hack out with or go exploring with.
We jump at weekends & have been going to shows every fortnight (jumping seems to excite him but he can get a bit un-predictable!) but I have lost my transport so I cant do that at the moment.
I have also only been at my current yard for a month.
But am going to go exploring at the weekend & see if that cheers him up :)
Thanks for all the suggestions :)
 
claireandnadia said:
Makes sense. But I will be hunting you down to come with me one day :D
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:D we should maybe organise to do a sponsored ride or something just so we can see how they behave together, would be less embarrassing if they decide to take off if there is only the 2 of us together lol!!
 
Stencilface said:
TBH If you have had him 5 years and all you've done pretty much is take him in the school for an hour a day - I can see why he is 'lazy' - he must be bored to tears :o

I would say give him a break from you normal schooling and do something different - find someone to hack out with if you don't have anyone currently, or do more groundwork playing stuff in the school. I think my horse would have topped himself if I did that much schooling :o :eek:

Do you do any jumping at all? Introduce new things and play games with him if all he ever sees is his field, stable and the arena.
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I have to agree with this too.
And as the others have said, Leg OFF on a dead to the leg horse. Ride with a whip, two if need be. With horses like this you need to train them to move from the leg instantly. The moment you put your leg on you must get a reaction, work on it really and everytime you put your leg on shout out, leg on. Then you might realise just how much leg you actually use - Also watch your hands (i.e you're are not saying stop with the rein and go with the leg)
Personally I would forget any outline until forwards is no longer an issue.

Get him out and about hacking - The more you do it the more fun it will be. Get an ordnance survey map and try and find all the bridle paths near you and go off. Get him thinking forwards by doing fastwork out.
edited to say, I am not a huge fan of hacking (though am starting to love it more and more) but i do it for my horse, as Its simply unfair to school everyday - so make the effort for him if no one else, it will be in your best interests too as it will help with schooling no end and assist with getting him interested again,

Also, do some loose schooling (i.e no tack you on the ground) Pole work, jumps - anything but what you did before.. lol
 
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Sounds like you need to get him motivated - get him excited about life and going out for a ride! I know it's harder in the Winter but what about a beach ride, hunt, fun ride or even just school (for 30 mins) around jumps? Jump on the lunge? Anything to get his mind working forwards again.

Charisma is rather lazy too and I only tend to school for 30 mins max (not even once a week!) and just school on hacks. We'd have a good gallop and bring her back, then push her on again etc.

Someone did suggest bloods to me to because when her owner got her she was aneamic (cant spell!) so maybe that would be a good start, even just to eliminate it as a problem.

Good luck I know how you feel but there is light at the end of the tunnel, believe me! I had a hard time stopping C on Saturday!! ;)
 
I've had the same problem with my horse, an hour in the school and my legs are like lead.

Today I used a schooling crop for the first time, its taken me a couple of weeks to get used to carrying a crop as I've never used one before so started with a small one and got bigger until today I used the schooling crop for the first time.
Wow, my horse was forward going and I never once used it, just a wave and a click click did the trick.

I also hack my boy out as much as I can, I'm the oppositite to those that like schooling or the security of it, I hate it and would always choose to hack as I enjoy it so much more and so does my boy, although I can now live with schooling if he goes like today.

Variety is definitely the key, every horse I've ever had has only tolerated schooling, I dont know many who actually like it, but they will do it if they get the variety along with it.
I find 20-30 mins schooling works well followed by an hours hack, well it keeps my boy happy anyway x
 
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