Lazy horse

[Piksija]

Hi! I have 5yo draft mare and Im exhaused from our trainings, because sometimes im working harder then she to get from her every single step, because she is so lazy! Health and tack issues is cheked and all is ok, its just her nature. Im trying to use diferent aproches like intensive changing of tasks, like gait changes, circles, poles ets. Often ground work, trail rides.. Do you have any more ideas? I ride her 3-4x week walk, trott, canter is worst gait, we ar fighting about some strides to each side.. i think she is not overloaded.

 

[LEC]

You are riding a draught horse - they are designed to pull something very heavy and predominantly at walk. What you are asking is for a square hole to fit a round peg especially with circles and going faster and being more athletic.

At 5yo they are slow developers to get the muscles right for the work they find really really hard - circles and canter. They are just not designed for it so it takes time to develop. She isn’t being lazy she is finding it really hard.

Your options are:
Stop the school work and go hacking - you can still school out hacking but they find straight lines 100% easier as that’s what they are designed for so you can teach forwards but without the blockers you are encountering.

Do 10 mins in the school and focus just on forwards. Do your circles in walk and paces she finds easy so the whole thing is easier and more enjoyable for the horse.

Be patient - Irish draught as an example cannot truly canter in balance and forwards until they are 8. This is why so much TB has been injected and why the modern ID is considerably lighter in bone to the true ID as people don’t need to pull carts now but instead want the solid temperament and weight carrying but to be doing modern riding which needs a degree of athleticism.

 

[SEL]

Hi! I have 5yo draft mare and Im exhaused from our trainings, because sometimes im working harder then she to get from her every single step, because she is so lazy! Health and tack issues is cheked and all is ok, its just her nature. Im trying to use diferent aproches like intensive changing of tasks, like gait changes, circles, poles ets. Often ground work, trail rides.. Do you have any more ideas? I ride her 3-4x week walk, trott, canter is worst gait, we ar fighting about some strides to each side.. i think she is not overloaded.

Draft breeding raises the PSSM flag along with your other comments - what breed exactly is she?

They also tend to be late developers so circles and poles could just be really, really hard work at 5. I don't school my 5yo gypsy cob more than once or twice a week for very short sessions because its a bit too taxing right now

 

[Piksija]

Draft breeding raises the PSSM flag along with your other comments - what breed exactly is she?

They also tend to be late developers so circles and poles could just be really, really hard work at 5. I don't school my 5yo gypsy cob more than once or twice a week for very short sessions because its a bit too taxing right now

I have Lithuanian draft horse.

 

[stangs]

What SEL said, though I haven’t heard of PSSM in Lithuanian drafts.

Tbh I‘d stick to trail riding for now, especially with friends so she has to match the other horse’s stride length. With a safe lead horse, you could consider holding her back at times and seeing if she’ll then canter to the rear of the ride naturally. (Obvious flaw of this plan is that it reinforces them wanting to stick to their hack buddy; use based on your own judgement.)

Schooling is fine in moderation, though I’d avoid cantering in an arena as it’s difficult for the bigger ones to find their balance, and then they fall out.

When you take her on a route she’s never done before, is she more forward? Is she more forward when your instructor rides her? Are there things she enjoys more (riding on the beach, woodland, etc) that you can do with her, to help her view riding more positively?

I remember your first thread about her, where you were having issues getting a trot, so at least you can take comfort in knowing that there has been some improvement.

 

[Piksija]

What SEL said, though I haven’t heard of PSSM in Lithuanian drafts.

Tbh I‘d stick to trail riding for now, especially with friends so she has to match the other horse’s stride length. With a safe lead horse, you could consider holding her back at times and seeing if she’ll then canter to the rear of the ride naturally. (Obvious flaw of this plan is that it reinforces them wanting to stick to their hack buddy; use based on your own judgement.)

Schooling is fine in moderation, though I’d avoid cantering in an arena as it’s difficult for the bigger ones to find their balance, and then they fall out.

When you take her on a route she’s never done before, is she more forward? Is she more forward when your instructor rides her? Are there things she enjoys more (riding on the beach, woodland, etc) that you can do with her, to help her view riding more positively?

I remember your first thread about her, where you were having issues getting a trot, so at least you can take comfort in knowing that there has been some improvement.

Yes, its better when we doing trail rides, then she is more active and i think she like it beter then arena work. But we rare have trail rides with other horses, do not mach times often because of my job. In forset we have one trail where she knows we will canter, its easyer to get her in canter here, but she cant keep it longer then few strides.

 

[Piksija]

She loves peacefull ground work, tricks ets.