Trotting in hand

J

JesterandPatch

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My mini shetlands are now approaching 10 months old, both settled and happy.
They are happy to be caught, tied up, brushed, feet picked out and love a good scratch.
Ive not over handled them and basically left them to play and grow up together.
Im planning on getting them out to some Shetland shows this year, we have done a few very short sessions of leading in walk and learning to stop when i stop, trying to show them how to stand square etc, which i will continue, but any tips on how to progress to trotting in hand without it feeling like i would be dragging them along? Im just not sure where to start. Thank you 20260103_155014.jpg
 
Schooling whip in the left hand, pony in the right, give command and flick on the flank at the same time. Be prepared for sideways movement but be encouraging of any direction which isn’t backwards! Sideways can put you off balance so a hat might be a good idea (and gloves)!
 
If you have an enclosed space I would be encouraging play, the old Intrinzen type work, whose new name I can't remember but I'm sure you can find it. Bit of R+ type stuff but in play rather than making the training serious.
 
Thank you for the replies, I will try all of the above and see how we get on, definitely going to prepare myself for a few face plants as im sure to get tripped up 😁
 
My two minis are pretty high energy so it hasn’t been an issue - the main reason problem is they want to canter instead!

Definitely don’t try to pull or drag them into it. A bit like bigger horses it is easier for them the more off the forehand they are. Mine is a bit of a wheelbarrow at the moment with his weight all down into the front end and jacking his neck up and counter balancing himself, so I try to work him the same as the bigs and spend time asking him to shift his weight back and lift through his thoracic sling, trying to get a bit more length and softness through his neck (easier said than done!) and get him moving really smoothly forward into walk and halt just off my change in energy before asking for trot. If I have his balance right he finds it easy and trots along happily. If I forget myself and just ask with no prep he can get very stuck. My sisters pony is naturally better balanced and so doesn’t need quite so much preparation before she asks. So if they do find it tricky to learn, it might be worth taking a look at their natural balance and conformation and what you can do to help them. As said above, reward even the slightest increase in energy, by stopping the ask and praise, even if they didn’t actually break into trot.

To keep it fun, one thing you can try is trotting from target to target (small buckets dotted about with handfuls of low value chaff in them). Once they have had an explore and realise the buckets have food in them, they can be easier to motivate to move forwards. I’m sure other people would explain better than me the correct way to work with food with them for stuff like this!
 
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