Locking neck

[Horsekaren]

I took the boy to a pole clinic on the weekend and he found it ever so exciting. A few times he would lock his neck on the left side and then canter off or trot me into the wall. He gets me to hold the left rein (my hand turns into a handle bar and he will lean and take me) If i half halt he ignores or leans more onto it. if i drop the rein he will go. I am basically getting into a pulling war but the flex and leg just doesn't seem to work on the left side once he is gee'd up. This is just on the left rein, on the right rein i can soften and unlock it by putting my right leg on and flexing the rein.

Can anyone explain how they would ride this?
I am trying to supple him up with stretches and ground work but i need to nip the locking and essentially bolting (all be it nice and slow but he is still sodding off)

i felt a bit embarrassed smashing through the poles in canter and having to do circles all over the place. We did do some time work in between but felt like the numpty in the class

I know so much is wrong, he lines up, locks, i then turn into a fetus, i guess im hanging on the reins trying to get him back but he is just locked. It feels worse than it looks.

I wont be offended, just wanting to know what i should have done. I was told he was being rude and to be firm but i dont know how
I guess this is where my core should come into play and sit him back but i just collapse.

 

[milliepops]

it's hard to see from your video as it's so short and also you're on the right rein in that turn but you say the left is where you have the problem.

However, from what you've said it does sound like you're collapsing in your core when he takes over and then it's just your arms vs his whole front end, that's a battle that you know you don't want to be in, and also know you can't win staying strong in your body (core, yes but also shoulders back and down, bum in the saddle, legs long and draped) means you can use your body weight to back up the cues down the reins which is a better place to start from.

If you have already figured out that on the right rein you need to straighten him and use your inside (right) leg, then I would first suggest you use the same aids when on the left rein. If you ride on a slight inside track then you can use a little counterflexion around your outside (right) leg.
We're always taught to ride from inside leg to outside hand but it's OK to reverse that if your horse is crooked and you need to straighten him.

It looks like you were following another horse in that clip, are you and he used to working like that? if not, perhaps he got a bit over keen about following another and that just gives you something else to work on. nice to see him thinking forward, i would try and work in company from time to time to give you a chance to develop your half halts and his responses to them

 

[Horsekaren]

it's hard to see from your video as it's so short and also you're on the right rein in that turn but you say the left is where you have the problem.

However, from what you've said it does sound like you're collapsing in your core when he takes over and then it's just your arms vs his whole front end, that's a battle that you know you don't want to be in, and also know you can't win staying strong in your body (core, yes but also shoulders back and down, bum in the saddle, legs long and draped) means you can use your body weight to back up the cues down the reins which is a better place to start from.

If you have already figured out that on the right rein you need to straighten him and use your inside (right) leg, then I would first suggest you use the same aids when on the left rein. If you ride on a slight inside track then you can use a little counterflexion around your outside (right) leg.
We're always taught to ride from inside leg to outside hand but it's OK to reverse that if your horse is crooked and you need to straighten him.

It looks like you were following another horse in that clip, are you and he used to working like that? if not, perhaps he got a bit over keen about following another and that just gives you something else to work on. nice to see him thinking forward, i would try and work in company from time to time to give you a chance to develop your half halts and his responses to them

Its hard to explain, i cant show the pre to that clip as other people are in shot but he locks and does a really rushy trot, i had to turn him to face the wall otherwise i think he would have raced infront of the other horse, he went back to a bumble trot in the corner, as soon as he came out of the turn he locked, i tried to flex him to the right around corner and then to the left to straighten, its hard to see but the left rein is tight and i cant ungig it... i guess thats obvious, weak human vs 250kg of front end... :'D
I say it happens on the left rein but essentially that is what he does, i tried to put him on more of a left rein down the straight (not that you can see in my tense fetus moment lol) and he just shot off onto a right circle if that makes sence (i havent described it well) Its the same if we canter on a left circle, if he has had enough he will tank steadily across the diagonal to get back on the right rein.


i have my weekly lesson this evening so when he does that i will defo think sit back and tighten my core.



And yes we was following a mare which we dont normally do, he settled down but we had to track off to a different direction at the start.
I will add i hadnt taken him out since the move and for me it was a big class 4 horses, one youngster and much better rider and horse combinations so i did feel a bit on edge.

We did do some nice work but a lot of blips.

 

[milliepops]

So it sounds like some of this is high jinx about being out, some is a bit of rudeness about wanting to follow other horses instead of listening to you and some of it is just the boring basic work that we all have to do, to improve our effectiveness as riders and teach our horses to be more responsive, polite rides that are between hand and leg don't beat yourself up about it. Definitely tell your instructor all what happened and hopefully she'll help you to pick some exercises that will help you to teach him how you want him to respond

 

[Red-1]

I would practice trot/halt transitions until they are smooth and sharp, with you having your back so your shoulders are behind your hips. The practice (no poles involved) is to help you practice staying strong in your position as much as getting him better with the aids.

I would do these all over the place, especially at times that he is rude.

Once they are good (both his performance and yours) then I would do them on the approach to the poles. I would have him so he ever knew if he is going over the poles or halting, reversing and walking away. Only once he trots nicely to the poles would he be going over them.

Over the actual poles I would allow the trot to roll forwards so he can stretch, but if he takes a hold and goes too fast I would halt directly after, so his back foot has barely cleared the pole and he is in halt. Then walk away.

I would monitor how he does the poles. Too fast and he will be halting after them, too slow and he will be cantering after them. If he tries to turn one way, we will turn the other way. Monitor if he has 'ideas' of his own and do the opposite.

 

[annunziata]

my cob mare does this, it is excitement and also her way of getting out of things soo rude too. She still does it on the flat when she finds something hard. I feel like someone has tied a brick to my hand. So to stop her from doing this i have resorted to riding her in a waterford as she can not get hold of the bit to lock herself out. I do not use a waterford on the flat but mostly for jumping and when we go out and about as that is when she does this. I cant see your video so not sure if I am on the right track with this. I do a lot of laterial work for her and me and we have a biweekly lesson on the flat to try to help the issue. I would suggest trying a waterford but remember it is a strong bit so ride accordingly any questions ask

 

[milliepops]

Given that the OP is in the early stages of learning about a consistent contact and her horse is in the early stages of accepting one, I think a Waterford bit would be detrimental to their progress.

I do think they have their uses but this green horse and rider combination need to get more established in the basics before deciding that a biting upgrade will be necessary imo.