Teaching a pony to stand square??

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bex1984

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How on earth do you do it? I have no idea where to even start...
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Would like to be able to do it in hand and ridden, but I'm guessing in hand comes first??

Thanksies
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*Added by admin*: See how Michael Eilberg teaches his horses to halt square every time at http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/michael-eilberg-how-to-achieve-a-square-halt-video-509813
 
Are you on about your cob in your sigi, seems to be stood square in some of those pics, unless it is my eyes (I do go to spec savesrs actually!
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Just practice, patience, schooling whip can help just to tickle the lazy bag leg, even using a treat to get there attention so they stand to attention, if they have good ground manors then you can pretty much get them to do it, without much practice to honest, a lot of horses that do a lot of in hand showing pic it up in know time and they actually set themselves up.
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teach it to stand square in hand 1st(some horses dont do this) then when on board i'm told to push forward(as if the horse is being lazy it wont halt square) keep the horse straight as possible and then ask for the halt and always make sure it is a forward transition, done when you ask for it. TBO zig still doesnt do this properly most of the time.
 
Daisy ignores the tickling the leg with a schooling whip and I suspect Murph might with all that feather. I had to resort to picking the legs up and putting them in the right place
 
Kenzo - yep the little monster in my sig - does quite often stand square at shows if he's in a show-off mood, but also quite often doesn't!!

Think I'd just end up getting mauled and slobbered all over if I tried to use treats
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His manners can go out of the window if he knows I have goodies so he rarely gets them (that is a complete lie - he gets two treats after every ride, but in a structured way if that makes any sense?!)!!

dwi - that made me smile...cobs are so stubborn aren't they?!
 
I'm keeping an eye on this post as I'm currently going through this struggle with my youngster!

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll give them a go
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[ QUOTE ]
Kenzo - yep the little monster in my sig - does quite often stand square at shows if he's in a show-off mood, but also quite often doesn't!!

Think I'd just end up getting mauled and slobbered all over if I tried to use treats
crazy.gif
His manners can go out of the window if he knows I have goodies so he rarely gets them (that is a complete lie - he gets two treats after every ride, but in a structured way if that makes any sense?!)!!

dwi - that made me smile...cobs are so stubborn aren't they?!

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lol yes cobs do seem to be particularly stubborn, it took years to get mine to stand long enough to get on and stay there afterwards until i asked her to go and she also used to walk off and drag against you if you asked her to stand at all lol
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I think the most important thing is have the basics in ground work when it comes to youngsters, even every tasks like picking their feet out, they should learn to shift their weight from side to side on command, back up on command or nudge forward etc, plenty of praise and remember to do it in pairs, if you cant get weight on all legs equally, then practice getting the weight spread equally on th back legs, dont worry if the front tow are not totally straight, pratice that first then when they have that sussed you can just pace back or forward to correct the front two.
 
Personally I think the trick is just to make them stand square every time you halt (out hacking, when mounting, getting off to adjust jumps etc). That way they learn to stand square by habit. I'd agree with the others in that u need to ride forward into the halt. I use my leg to encourage whichever leg is back to step forward. My girls now do it without being told.
 
Keep the leg on, make sure whatever pace you are in prior to the halt is forward, active, and straight. If the horse is working from behind, and you are sitting straight, you should naturally get it.
 
Starting on the floor I use poles on the ground. I start by asking the horse to realise they have a 'leg in each corner' by asking them to stand over poles with one leg over, one not mover backward forwards, astride. Anything to help them realsie how moving one leg affects another..
Once they realise that moving one leg back might touch the pole or not you can move on to nudging each leg in turn until they stand square. I find some of T Teams work very helpful in teaching the horse awareness of their body and how to use it.
 
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