middle of the road.....literally!

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Songbird

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Hey all


My gelding is a ride & drive & i think he had mainly driven as he seems to ride right in the middle of the road!! i keep trying to steer him closer to the edge but he doesnt seem to respond - is there a bit i can get to help with steering?? - he is a real romany cob so i doubt he's had much schooling, his last owner had 17 children so to be fair i'm not sure she had much time!!!


any tips or suggestions gratefully recieved????? :)
 
It might be worth getting him checked over as some horses struggle with the camber of the road, especially at the sides and prefer to walk where the road is more level.
 
When you say you are trying to "steer" him, are you using just your reins to steer, or your reins, seat and legs all together? If you're not already doing so try it, it will help!
Maybe you could long-rein him too? Practice walking him in the correct position on the road that way?
Good luck!
 
Thank you guys - you are always so instant !! I am using seat leg & reign but i dont know wether i am doing it right lol ....i have thought of the cambre of the road & the lane is pretty level - he is 16 will schooling still work?? sorry to sound thick - what aids would you be using ??? :0)) yeah, 17 kids & a horse ... well several thats one woman who likes to feed things lol!!! xx
 
Schooling will work, even at 16 :)
Practice in the school working away from the track.
Try leg yielding.
If you feel able, when in the school tie a knot in your reins and practice steering with just your legs/seat - it's good fun!
 
I'd get him checked over, a horse on our yard does this when she isn't right.

You could try a full cheek bit, or one with d rings to help with steering but as the others say the key is getting him to move away from your leg. If he will leg yield in the school both toward and away from the track you should be able to move him over on the road.
 
I have had several R&D horses - they ALL prefer to walk down the middle of the road. Yes it is partly to do with the camber but it is also because they have been trained to walk there in order to leave room for the vehicle behind them. I find that when they are off road they will go wherever you put them, so actually working in an arena probably won't do much good.
I like a PeeWee bit to teach horses what steering means but in your case you could find that the head is where you want it to be, while the quarters are left out in the middle of the road. I'm afraid you will need to develop very strong leg muscles in order to push the quarters to where you want them.
Good luck!
 
when i was at home, we allways had ride and drives. my dad use to break them to drive:rolleyes: we never had issues with them walking in the middle when ridden. does the horse know it needs to walk in the middle when its blinkered or is that why they do it due to the blinkers:confused:

i think what you need is to get them legs muscled up and start to get the horse moving across from leg pressure but keeping his head straight.

bijou was a driving horse and after a couple of weeks i could send him out onto the white line and back in again with out moving my reins;)
 
kiteman0 said:
when i was at home, we allways had ride and drives. my dad use to break them to drive:rolleyes: we never had issues with them walking in the middle when ridden. does the horse know it needs to walk in the middle when its blinkered or is that why they do it due to the blinkers:confused:

i think what you need is to get them legs muscled up and start to get the horse moving across from leg pressure but keeping his head straight.

bijou was a driving horse and after a couple of weeks i could send him out onto the white line and back in again with out moving my reins;)
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I think that they are worse the more driving they have done in proportion to the riding.
The worst one we've ever had was a gelding who had worked every summer in Blackpool. He'd spent his winters doing a bit of work in a RS. The best was a Section A who did drive but was also a fantastic lead-rein pony and had only ever done pleasure driving and not much of that.
 
My horse also drifts across if left to his own devices. I put it down to the amount of ponies that have been lead roped from him. I think he allows for them even though they aren't there! He also prefers to be on the right if I ride abreast, so I really think in his mind he is lead roping then too!

As suggested by others, leg yield a lot!
 
I found with the ride and drives I've had that firstly it wasn't fair to get cross with them, they're only doing what they have been taught and secondly when I noticed them in the middle of the road to firmly ride a distinct corner back to the kerb and then another distinct corner to ride them alongside the kerb, if they started to drift I rode a square corner towards the white line, then along the white line and another square corner back to the kerb. Eventually you can get them to keep a straight line whereever you want on the road. Obviously this only works on quiet roads. Otherwise you're going to do a lot of leg yielding one way only.
 
I know a horse that came from Norway (I think?!) and their road is on the right hand side, it came over here and had it been hacking out so long on the right hand side it considered the left hand side to be dangerous! It took lots and lots of schooling and a strong inside leg! Also, use a horse that's sound in hacking out and go two a breast and put said horse on the inside until it gets used to it
 
Love it Kiteman for prime minister lol!!! :D

Had a lesson out hacking today & he responded immediatley to what my instructor told me to do, he did say he has had little or no schooling - i think i maybe needed a bit of confidence too - invaluable to have somone on foot - Kiteman - lets hack out this week!! :p............................race ya!............not!

i think he'll pick up leg yielding....if i do lol!!!! - i do worry when he goes too fast & i think that has thrown me thinking i might not be able to slow him down - he's pulled scrap vans but he looks at road signs lol!!.... he's my scatman !!
 
Not much to offer, but carry a schooling whip (if he's not scarred of it etc!) on the right hand side to encourage him?
 
jemima_too said:
I found with the ride and drives I've had that firstly it wasn't fair to get cross with them, they're only doing what they have been taught and secondly when I noticed them in the middle of the road to firmly ride a distinct corner back to the kerb and then another distinct corner to ride them alongside the kerb, if they started to drift I rode a square corner towards the white line, then along the white line and another square corner back to the kerb. Eventually you can get them to keep a straight line whereever you want on the road. Obviously this only works on quiet roads. Otherwise you're going to do a lot of leg yielding one way only.
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Fantastic idea too - i need to learn to relax more he probably feels that too - Poor Norweigan neddie - Gypsy - goes to show they can learn though - he was great today !!! = i love him!!
 
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