Schooling help

[milliepops]

He does walk around ok, its when he goes up in to trot its a bit wall of death, and then canter is definite wall of death. Its something I may introduce when he is a bit stronger and can bend a bit as bending doesn't happen and thus the wall of death!

I don't think this is unusual with a horse that is confused about what the exercise is about, doesn't know the cues from the handler, and doesn't have a good natural balance. In future, you will be able to teach him to go differently and I agree that it's a very useful thing for a horse to know, for being able to work them, watch their movement and as BP said if you ever need to assess soundness with the vet. Baby steps Hope your lesson goes well.

 

[Widgeon]

I don't think this is unusual with a horse that is confused about what the exercise is about, doesn't know the cues from the handler, and doesn't have a good natural balance. In future, you will be able to teach him to go differently and I agree that it's a very useful thing for a horse to know, for being able to work them, watch their movement and as BP said if you ever need to assess soundness with the vet. Baby steps Hope your lesson goes well.

Just for what it's worth, I recently bought a very green pony - he'd been backed and done some hacking but is an anxious type who'd had the same home all his life, so when I took him into a "new" arena at our yard he would just charge around doing wall of death with legs everywhere. Walk was bad, trot was frankly terrifying, and God forbid I tried to use leg aids because legs only meant GO GO GO.

Anyway, we have made enormous progress in the last ten weeks or so by having the yard owner (who is also a trainer / instructor) do 2 weeks of work with him - every day, half an hour or forty minutes on the lunge or long reins, just walk and trot, getting him settled and confident and comfortable with what we were asking. We started on a 20 metre circle at the "safe" end of the school (pony's opinion, not mine) then worked up to using the whole arena.

Once he had made progress in that way I then rode every day for another two weeks. All the charging about was terrifying to start with (I am not experienced with young horses!) but over a few weeks he has settled hugely and we can now walk calmly into the arena and do a walk and trot schooling session with no charging, no panicking, and successful use of leg aids without resulting in more charging. He is so much happier in himself because he understands what I want - it may sound daft but I honestly think he just wants to please and panics when he is confused.

My point is really just that I agree with milliepops - they need to understand what you want, and in order to get to that point you will probably want outside help, and don't write off lunging - it can be a really useful tool to get you started. Also, think about whether you can afford to throw some money at this problem - I have spent a few hundred pounds now on schooling livery and lessons for us both, but it's been money well spent as without help we would have been left doing wall of death indefinitely! If you find you get on with the instructor who's coming out it may be worth coming up with a plan with them.

Good luck

 

[oldie48]

Sadly a lot of ponies that are ridden by children have no proper education and it does sound as if your boy is one of them. Spending a bit of money having some of the basics put in place is, in my view, money well spent and tbh he doesn't sound school sour to me, just totally confused. As others have said don't rule out lunging, it's a safe way of getting him forward and starting to find his balance and I also wouldn't avoid using the school if the surface is good but get some help. Good luck!

 

[soloequestrian]

You could have a play with clicker training in the meantime - it's a good way to get you focussed on rewards and make learning enjoyable for the horse. It's great to use with games and then you can just expand and turn riding into a big game too. There are lots of good books and information on the net to get you started.