Maintaining the trot

It's all getting a bit confusing on this thread. My call for help was How to get my mare more responsive to my go forward leg aid without using a whip or nagging with the leg and how to maintain a rhythm with some energy in the trot. I have only had two lessons with my new instructor and I haven't asked her if she will ride yet. But I agree that seeing someone more experienced ride might well help us to progress.
 
Cassy said:
Thanks. I was trying your method but I didn't seem to be getting anywhere because she doesn't take much notice of my leg to go forward and I am not confident enough to risk getting bucked off if I use a schooling whip. I have started having some lessons but not sure they are helping as my instructor is at the moment only interested in correcting my position!
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Persist with your lessons- your position is what is stopping your horse from maintaining the trot. You need to be sitting in balance with your legs, torso and hands/arms all aligned correctly for her to be able to understand what you want her to do. She has been used to working in a RS, where she was valued for her 'safety first', when the rider was not sitting in a balanced position, it was safer for her to stop trotting, so that the rider didn't fall off. It sounds as if she was worth her weight in gold to RDA.
 
WelshCManiac said:
I'm a bit confused by the second part... My instructor never rides my horse and the bit about a horse that's not afraid about getting bucked off is a bit confusing. Did you mean a rider that's not afraid of getting bucked off? Please clarify
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Since you're not the OP, I neither know nor care whether your instructor rides your horse. The OP is afraid of being bucked off her horse - she should have a professional ride it and send it forward properly. I'm not sure how you thought the horse was afraid of being bucked off in my previous comment, tbh!
 
JFTD-WS said:
Since you're not the OP, I neither know nor care whether your instructor rides your horse. The OP is afraid of being bucked off her horse - she should have a professional ride it and send it forward properly. I'm not sure how you thought the horse was afraid of being bucked off in my previous comment, tbh!
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Agressive as hell :(
 
All I wanted to say was that my pony is the same and now everyone is getting mad at me so I'm sorry for this but don't eb so agressive! :confused:
 
Normalising the behaviour doesn't really help the OP though and you said that in your first post and then carried on and responded to several posts that were not aimed at you, as it isn't really normal albeit it could have many different causes hence the many different replies. No one has been aggressive.

Cassy how is she on the lunge?
 
Sorry you feel this way the best way forward is always to check the horse is comfortable. It moving freely and actually can go off the leg. There are lazy horses that need the annoying tap tap tap of a schooling whip others will get it pretty quick from voice commands and others will get it from the groundwork you do so it isnt a simple answer
 
Cassy said:
We have very limited hacking near us but she is forward when hacking but very 'looky. But when my daughter took her out on her own with me on foot she was very reluctant to go, obviously used to company. She is fit and healthy and tack all checked and ok.
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You have an ex riding school horse and the last thing she’ll want to do is to go round a school again (and again....). I speak from experience.

Get her hacking, ditch the whip whip and cowboy reins and work on your legs to make them more effective.
 
ester said:
Normalising the behaviour doesn't really help the OP though and you said that in your first post and then carried on and responded to several posts that were not aimed at you, as it isn't really normal albeit it could have many different causes hence the many different replies. No one has been aggressive.
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Actually, the one being aggressive is the poster accusing everyone else of being aggressive...
 
ester said:
Normalising the behaviour doesn't really help the OP though and you said that in your first post and then carried on and responded to several posts that were not aimed at you, as it isn't really normal albeit it could have many different causes hence the many different replies. No one has been aggressive.

Cassy how is she on the lunge?
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A bit lazy but I have been doing quite a bit of groundwork with her and she is more responsive now but has the tendancy to get over excited when asked for canter and bog off up the school with me trying to hang on. My instructor has spotted that this happens when she is not bending correctly so I am working hard at correcting this.
 
Cassy said:
We have very limited hacking near us but she is forward when hacking but very 'looky. But when my daughter took her out on her own with me on foot she was very reluctant to go, obviously used to company. She is fit and healthy and tack all checked and ok.
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My mare is the worst if I am on foot when my son rides her, she's always trying to come back to me rather than go forward. She's much better if I hang really far back and he rides her on
 
Cassy said:
A bit lazy but I have been doing quite a bit of groundwork with her and she is more responsive now but has the tendancy to get over excited when asked for canter and bog off up the school with me trying to hang on. My instructor has spotted that this happens when she is not bending correctly so I am working hard at correcting this.
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You see that is interesting because it shows you that she does at least have energy and forwardsness sometimes, even if too much!
If she is more responsive on the lunge and as such to your voice I would make sure I was always including that in my ridden training.
 
Lost track of who's asking what and who's going to HOYs but my 2 cents:

Regarding use of the Wip-Wop. Buy the Richard Maxwell books (I think the "unlock your horse's talent in 20mins a day" book is the one that features a backwards/reluctant horse) and/or watch some of his videos as he's the originator of the "wip-wop".

Being ok at canter but not trot. Canter is easier for the horses; trot is "harder" because of the diagonal loading. How is the horse in the field/loose schooling/lunging? Does it trot ok then or does it prefer to canter then too? If so I'd be looking to involve a vet and possibly therapist of some (qualified) description

"Make the right thing easy; the wrong thing hard". Although the ideal is to ask for trot, get it and keep it that's not what is happening so more leg will be required. Basically (assuming horse fit and well and all the rest of that) then when you feel the trot slowing then start using legs/seat/voice (making the wrong thing (slowing down) hard) and when you get the correct response stop with the aids so the trotting along sweetly is the "easy" as horse is left alone - so to speak. In time that becomes give the one gentle aid and horse does what is asked until an aid requesting something else is applied. I'm not a fan of his but Warwick Schiller has videos on YouTube that illustrate what I am probably failing to describe!

Good luck, hope you manage to get it cracked.
 
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