Schooling tips

[laug171]

My boy is very hard to get going in the school. Everywhere else he is perfectly fine and full of it. I took him in the school today and i put some dummy spurs on which seemed to get him going more but i dont really wana use them all the time.

Can anyone help with some advice to get him working at a nice pace and make it easier to get him going?

 

[pixie]

I find that they tend to work better after having a good canter (perhaps jump a small pole?).

 

[KatB]

Do dummy spurs actually do anything?! Thought thats why they were called dummy spurs??

Do alot of walk work to start with, to loosen up, and stretch muscles, then do lots of transitions to wake him up and get him moving off your leg. How often do you school him? How old is he, what do you do with him mainly?

 

[metalmare]

Try loose schooling and lungeing in the manege if you don't already - so that he doesn't associate it with just one thing. Maybe try walking out down the lane a little way to loosen him up and wake him up and then walking straight back to the manege to actually do your schooling.

 

[laug171]

Hes coming up to 7 and a half in november. Dummy spurs do work but i use a schooling whip aswell but he seems to be dead with that unless i do it hard. Hes fine if theres a jump in there he wakes up. Its just getting him to move espec canter which i find really hard to get him doing. I do everything with him. Hes loves to jump.

Could he be telling me that he finds flat work boring as hell or is he trying to push his luck with me and get away with it?