XC/BE - getting a horse to go forwards...?

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WelshRareBit

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I am really keen to get into more XC and even perhaps a ODE type event soon - but my only problem with Murphy is he can be quite...(Im loathe to say lazy because that conjeurs up the wrong image) ... Ok..
lazy!
He will and can go like a freight train when he wants to - just I find it hard to 'jazz' him up when we're out alone. He wont go forward off my leg very well and sometimes can be a bit ignorant. When i watch XC etc videos the horses are straining to go and you dont see their riders having to boot them to get movement!! ( I imagine once he's in the atmosphere he'll be a bit more excited which could help)
What can I do to get the same enthusiasm from Murph - I know he's got it in him cos once we're out with another horse he'll pull my hands off. It could just be he is a little nappy and thats what is causing the lack of forward movement sometimes....

Any tips gladly appreciated.
*Just to add he's 17.1HH of unkown breeding 8YO - pic in my siggy*
 
yup hunting did wonders for my lazy mare. She loved it (altho got a little to exuberant with it all!!) but it really helped her think more forwards. She sounds quite like your horse in that she was never raring to go in the start box x country, and never will be. However i dont have to boot her round a xcountry course anymore, she takes me into the jumps and goes at her pace which is a lot quicker than it used to be!
 
That could be a good option
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the pic in my siggy is of us at Hunter Trials - as you can see he's enjoying himself! But all the way down to the start he was like a blinkin donkey lol
 
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all the way down to the start he was like a blinkin donkey lol

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Oh I would love that! Does he ever stop or just lack enthusiasm?

Where abouts are you? Thinking of hunts that might be good...
 
He's a funny boy - this is what happened.

We walk to start ( novice pairs) lots of looking round/confusion/nappyness - then off to first jump....moderately fast go round our first course - he jumped everything no qualms.
Then enter open pairs. Ridiculous attitude from him at start eventually get him out onto course then turns in to looney rocket fuelled dynamo trying to jump everything!

He's a very honest jumper - If i get him to it, he'll jump it. Its just in some cases getting him to it. I look ridiculous starting a course in a juddery trot lmao!!

I am in South Wales
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xx
 
Both - he seems to need the time to settle, but I was thinking perhaps some xc schooling out on a hack might help him take it all in his stride.

I get the impression he's saying

Wait a second Mum, let me get a look at whats going on here before we go - after all there's a lot of people here |I might know someone - oh look there's aunty june!

KICK! MOOOOVE Murphy!
 
well my 15hh when i started evening used to wander aimlessly into the start box, canter prettily to the first fence, have a total heart attack that he wasnt just going for a walk in the country, kind of got his act together for the 2nd and 3rd fences and by the 5th fence i couldnt stop!!!!!!!!!!!

After 3years of eventing now he bounces around in the start box and flies out on "GO" and is away.
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although it only took him 6 months worth of events really to realise that the start box meant XC!!!

Depending on how long he has been doing this for id guess once he realises whats about to happen he will understand the start box and be off and away before you know whats hit you!!!!!!
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i think its just repetition and understanding
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That sounds promising thanks Hatti - at least I know he will get going - its just like you say repetition and getting him used to it.
Ive never done xc etc before so its good having a horse that will jump, but Im sure once I get better we'll get better!! xx
 
we thought we may have to take him hunting to get him going forward as soon as i asked but it turned out it wasnt necessary and im very glad we didnt take him in the end
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Titch always starts off spooky and backwards over the first few jumps of a xc then starts steam train mode and he is off. Hunting may help of course, or maybe some progressive canter work somewhere if you can find some gallops nearby or hire somewhere? I think sometimes they just dont get it as they dont expect to be allowed to steam train it!!
 
Yeh Ive got excellent places close to have a good gallop - like most horses he's better on the way home
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we have got a xc course up the road which they do some comps on - so maybe i'll ask to hire it one day and have a good practise when it doesnt matter! x
 
He is the bay one
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Although i suspect the chestnut (Hattie) may have the same start box issue - she has only been competitively xc a few times and still hasnt got the hand of being "speedy"!!!!!!!!!
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I would say that you need to build his confidence and be prepared to be more relaxed about going into the start box. It is better to trot out of the box a couple of times so he has time to adjust. It might be that he finds the intense oomph required at the start a bit off putting. Give him time to adjust and he should soon get the hang of it!
 
It may help just before going into the start box when warming up to send him forward quite strongly for a short while - spectators and other competitors allowing - so that when he goes into the box he is thinking forward. Try not to be standing around the start box for too long. If you time it right you should almost be able to go in turn round and come out. Ride to the first fence very positively - I was alwauys told to ride it as if they may stop - as this postitive forward riding helps to set the pattern for the rest of the round. When he lands pick him up and ride forward again to the next fence. I don't mean gallop his legs into the ground. Just pretend you have a pack of wild indians behind you!
 
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