Part 1
First we need to define forward and a few other terms like rushiness or rushy (not real words but every horse person has heard them) and laziness or lazy.
Forward has nothing to do with revs per minute it is more about cadence or a freedom of movement in the legs.
To be truly forward your horse needs to be relaxed and free from resistance.
He needs to be focussed on you and your destination and he has to feel ok about going there.
I dislike it when I hear people say that a horse is “too forward” for them because, every time, I see a horse that is rushy not forward.
Length of stride at any speed is a hallmark of forward.
Rushy horses mostly are tight and defensive and while they may move their legs quickly their stride is invariably short. This shortness is the horse holding a little back for himself so he is ready to make an evasive manoeuvre whenever he sees fit or feels he needs to be ready to turn hard and fast without warning. Mostly this rushiness comes when a horse is feeling trapped by the riders legs and the bridle and they feel like they have no control if something goes astray for them or worries them.
Almost always rushy horses fall in or drop their shoulder on a turn and are stiff bodied and are often described as horses you can’t put your leg on.
They are nearly all caused by either fear, force, misuse of spurs and being expected to do everything at full speed before they are comfortable and correct slowly. All horses need to walk trot and canter easily and with cadence and on loose reins before they are taught anything else as far as moving goes. Mostly people hold on to rushy horses to attempt controlling their rushiness and this only adds to the problem. They learn to brace or protect themselves as best they can from the bit and do what they think the rider wants which is to go.
They are in a no win situation. Often horses that were free going (a desirable trait) become rushy when a new rider who is afraid of a horse moving out willingly holds on to them in an attempt to keep them at a slower pace.
They are also often created by people who want to do fast work and use fear of the spurs and bit to control them.
They want fast turns, hard stops, snappy departures etc. on an underprepared horse.
They often have poor timing and worse feel and pretty much bully a horse into doing what they want.
They create horses that might be light but they are definitely not soft.
What they lack in horse training knowledge they compensate for with bravado.
I am ashamed to say that when I was young I probably was much like this also.
Presumed Laziness
This is the other and more predominant forward problem that riders encounter.
While these horses are presumedlazy in reality they just have an inate ability to shut out outside influences and are not really certain of what it is a rider wants. They are invariably heavy in the bridle or on the forehand and generally fall out rather than in on a turn.
They will turn their head when asked to turn but their resistant way of going means that their shoulders and legs don’t follow.
Whenever one requests a horse like this for a response they reply either with a lack of enthusiasm or they just say “no” altogether. Horses have an inate ability to shut things out. It really is ridiculous that something designed for running away and is so sensitive can shut out the attempts of a rider to get it to move with energy and go where you need it to go. I guess if you were designed to be eaten by other animals it would be a handy skill to be able to shut out discomfort when you have come to the realisation that you are trapped without hope of escape.
This, I believe, is precisely what is happening with a horse that is not forward.
He is shutting out his rider because he does not know a way of escaping the things that make him feel trapped. He has become desensitised in a non-useful way to the rider and their attempts at creating energy and often while feeling trapped by the same rider’s urge to not let him go either by holding onto the reins or by snatching at them or punishing him in some other way when he does go.
Couple that with the modern addiction to desensitisation and often making the release something that is given when the horse stands still (and often before the horse is actually relaxed about it) and the horse has been taught that shutting things out is the answer to all his prayers.
Throw in some spoiling and a lack of concern for his handlers and a pinch of I don’t want to step up to the mark and help my horse learn that it is ok to go and, bingo, they have created a horse that is often labelled lazy.
It’s strange that those same horses can be seen leading the charge when they are running about with their paddock mates or work themselves into a sweat when their best friend is taken from the paddock.
Another phenomenon is that there are a lot of similarities in the reasons a horse is rushy or the reasons a horse is lazy.
They often both need to escape from something it’s just one has learned that rushing works and the other has learned that shutting down works.
A horse can be made dull with spurs and legs and the bridle just as easily as he can be made reactive or fearful of them.
In some riding genres a fear of going too fast or not falling out of a certain pace during their young training where they are consistently made uncomfortable for it can have a huge effect when those horses are to be used for another purpose later on.
Early training sticks and it sticks well.
Anyone that has tried to teach a number of pacers to canter has probably experienced this.
Some other gaited sports or competitions or genres that require a horse to maintain abnormal or slow movement can create a horse that is worried of reprisal when he is asked to break those rules at another rider’s request.
They may be perfectly behaved up until this confusion starts.
Some become so worried at stepping outside of that box that they have been so diligently put in that the worry will cause them to stop, or throw their heads or pigroot or buck and in some cases just shut down altogether.
I have seen training tapes by a multi time world champion in one of these sports that teaches that spurs should be used every step in young training in order to desensitise a young horse in his first few rides to prevent him from increasing pace if accidently touched with them during competition.
Don’t get the opinion I am picking on just a couple of types of riding here.
I am not.
There is good and bad to be found everywhere.
Many equestrian sports require a high level of forward whilst the horse is working up into the bridle or a contact as it is called.
Often riders will try and hold their horse in a frame rather than teaching the horse to carry itself softly and with energy.
It’s common where the horse gets no escape from this pressure.
Some horses learn to lean on this and ignore it due to the fact that it won’t go away. Some learn that rearing rather than going will get them a release.
Others find it from pigrooting or bucking. I have sometimes heard this referred to as napping.
One of the other problems that is somewhat more common nowdays is the lack of forward taught when starting a horse.
There is a spate of riders that have had some success at desensitizing a few to the point of being able to ride them in a fashion and keep their focus on it all being very slow and easy.
That is all well and good but at some stage they need to learn that it is ok to go. They need to learn to not have fear of forward and that cantering and even galloping is nothing to worry about.
In my opinion a horse should be working forward and relaxed in three gaits on a loose rein within a few rides.
I love that first canter on a youngster where he does not worry and just moves out.
It’s when I know that everything is going to be ok.
If I don’t get it in the first ride I will definitely want it before the end of the second.
This takes a certain level of confidence which many riders do not possess.
If I don’t feel that I can do this then I need to go back a few steps and prepare my horse better.
There are lots of training videos, clinics etc. out there and some focus almost entirely on how to desensitise a horse and methods of shutting it down when in trouble.
In addition even when seeing a good successful programme a person who may be not so experienced with young or green horses might pick, from what they see trainers do, the things that will make them feel the safest and focus on that without putting the same effort into the other parts of the whole deal.
Often they do this subconsciously.
Anyway we run enough clinics to see lots of horses that are desensitised to stand still at the slightest movement and have one rein stops and hind end yields nailed to perfection.
Unfortunately control of a bad situation and shutting horses down is just a tiny little bit of the equation.
They need to learn to move forward without worry and to feel ok about things while they are. Often a horse will be great at moving out during groundwork but the rider has not been able to show the same amount of leadership or has just omitted to allow the horse to find out that going forward under saddle holds no threat to him.
Going forward in a relaxed manner that exhibits calmness, a freedom of the legs and a good length of stride should be the most important thing a horse learns in his early career as a riding horse.
A good green horse should be judged by this and not by how good his stop is or whether or not whips can be cracked off him or tarps thrown over him at a standstill.
In the worst case scenario a horse that has not been cantered after a full starting period is dangerous no matter how quiet.
If he spooks and breaks into a run without being used to this sensation whilst carrying a rider it can cause panic.
The quietest of horses can do this.
That panic will multiple greatly if the rider is also in a panic and even more so, for the horse, if they suddenly become trapped by the bridle.
In this case often people find out that their either not able to control their fear enough to take control of the hind end or their horse is not quite as soft under pressure as it was without the worry.
There is one more thing that can cause both laziness and or rushiness (I have seen more than a few horses that use both as an evasion whilst finding out what works for them) and that is pain or discomfort.
Some horses shut down from it and some rush from it depending on what it is. Some might only experience it on one lead and some can develop a brace somewhere very quickly.
It’s not the “most” common cause of forward problems (although others may disagree with me) and that is why I’ve left it until now to discuss.
Poor fitting gear, sore muscles, an injury or pain for some reason, lack of condition, old age, conformation issues, dental problems and sore feet are just a few of the reasons I have seen why a horse struggles to go forward or panics and rushes.
Ok that is the end of part one and by now you should have a pretty good picture of the possibilities and causes for a horse to have forward problems.
You should also have gained a little empathy for why a horse may feel like he can’t do anything but what he feels he should do based on his previous experiences and his instincts.
You should also have cottoned onto the idea that a lazy horse is not really lazy and a rushy horse is not really rushy.
It’s seldom they spend their lives being either of those things when left out with their herd mates.
Pease share this if you think you gained something from it so that I might gain a little from my efforts.
In Part 2, I will look at how to avoid these issues becoming a problem and some of the things we can do to overcome existing issues..
Part 2
The Groundwork Bit
In part 1 we looked types of forward issues and causes.…
Many of you may have identified something familiar in the relationship you have with your horse, recognised some of the issues, and how you may have contributed to them or how the horse you bought or are riding may be displaying certain types of behaviour.
Much of the feedback I received after part 1 indicated to me that many found the reality of this a little confronting.
Not because they disagreed with what I had written but through the recognition of the part they have played in the reasons why their horse may have forward problems.
I want to stress that blaming ones-self in a way that creates guilt or negative emotions is counterproductive. Just acknowledge the situation for what it is and work on moving on.
Overcoming sticking points is part of the process of becoming a better horseperson.If we gain enjoyment or a sense of satisfaction from every tiny improvement then instead of worrying that we have not achieved an outcome we will enjoy the process.
Let’s face it most of us are in it for the enjoyment and personal satisfaction whether we like a trail ride or are competing.
When I work with a horse to either improve it or to overcome an issue I make a point of starting at the beginning of its initial training (handling, halter training) and working my way up to wherever the horse is at and then just a tiny bit beyond that.
The basics are the tools you need to improve a horse. If they are not great then chances are you will make no headway and will only frustrate yourself and your horse.
The idea is to start at the beginning and work your way up step by step filling in the holes in your horses training as you go.
Often when you get to the bit you were worried about it will be gone without you even having to work on it or at least your horse will understand the tools that you are using to try and help them through it.
I can often go through this process in a session and make some pretty good changes but they won’t be solid and they won’t stick unless you change.
I guess many of you are starting to see that I couldn’t just throw a few tips at you and everything would be hunky dory without much effort or input.
I now have a mental picture of some of you thinking to yourselves “maybe I should just get a trainer to do it”.
That is well and good as a short term solution but if you go down that track you need someone who will work on both you and the horse.
They might be able to ride your horse and within a few minutes have it going pretty well.
They might even ride it for a couple of weeks and things will look pretty solid. The trouble is that if you take your horse home and ride it the way you rode it pretty soon things will be as bad as they were before you spent the money on a trainer.
Often I see people who have had several horses in a row that all ended up working (or not working) the same way.
How often do you hear people blaming trainers, previous owners etc. 3 years down the track?
Maybe I should add that if you have been having lessons or working with a trainer for quite some time with no change maybe it’s time to look around for someone else.
Make sure that if you engage someone to help you they can clearly let you know how you are going to go about making the necessary changes and can demonstrate some ability to do this.
To a true professional horseperson what might seem a huge problem to you should really be of no real challenge to them.
Someone who is willing to hang up the shingle and take your money should know what they are doing and although things vary a little an experienced person should have been there a few times before.
Ok horses that lack enthusiasm or are dull or won’t go forward properly.
I see a steady stream of these at clinics and when helping people. It’s a real problem and especially in areas where all or the bulk of riding is done in arenas or on smallish properties.
Because this is an article and not a manual of encyclopaedic proportions I can’t be totally thorough in every little step but can give you some ideas that you can use.
To be completely thorough I would have to go into detail on just about every aspect of horsemanship up to a certain level.
Remember most methods, ideas or processes have been and are successful to some extent. It’s the interpretation and application of them that often are where things come unstuck.
So to help our dull or lazy horse (two terms that are not really the problem (see part 1))
We need to start at the beginning as described above.
Often a horse that is dull under saddle is also dull, unaware of is responsibilities regarding our space, heavy in the halter and less than enthusiastic about moving. Its responsiveness to what we ask is sluggish.
We need to help it become un-sluggish.
We need to expect more than what the horse is offering and we need to expect it quicker.
It sounds easy but in reality you need to learn to do this or at least maintain it if you got help.
We need our horse to become an easy moving, relaxed, non- resistant or soft horse in its groundwork and day to day handling.
We don’t want to create a rushy horse.
We need to know how to add some energy and purpose to our horse without creating more problems.
We need to work through our horse’s initial indignation (it might be tail swishing or laying its ears back or in worse cases crowding the handler) at us asking for more and stick out for what we want.
We need to learn how to increase our presence to ask and with timing back that up with maybe a swinging rope, or a flag and keep escalating until our horse responds.
We need to escalate it at the same speed as we want the horse to respond as an end result.
If I ask my horse to move and wait ten seconds to add the energy it takes to have him move then I can only expect his responses to take ten seconds.
After all that is what I have taught him.
We need to have enough control over ourselves to ask first and then back it up with something that increases his energy quickly within a second or two.
That control has to be there the first time he moves from our “ask” or cue without us having to back it up too. We need to abort the chasing bit just as quickly as we can add it.
We have to learn to let our horse take responsibility for maintaining pace and direction without us nagging them.
This means that we should not constantly chase them with the flag or rope or lunge whip or tool of choice to keep them going.
We SHOULD wait until they make the mistake of slowing down before we move to send them again.
To start with your horse will seem unbalanced and unhappy about the change in what you expect.
The only way to avoid this is don’t let them go through life thinking it’s ok to be sluggish or bolshy or to ignore you in the first place.
That is always the best option but you only get one shot at that and often that shot has been used up before you got the horse.
When the horse is moving freely from a cue and moves off smoothly without rushing and maintains his forward nicely you need to learn to do transitions up and down with the horse maintaining whatever pace you have asked for without you nagging him.
By this time your horse should be totally focussed on you when you are with him and he should also back properly from a soft feel on the halter softening his neck and keeping his face vertical.
He should not avoid the halter nor should he push into it.
It should feel like you are not pushing on him and he is not running from you.
We need to learn how to help him balance in his work and not fall in or out and to keep his shoulders upright.
We also need him to learn to make an association between his inside front leg and an inside feel on the lead rope.
In other words we need to teach him to steer correctly and without falling in or out from a soft feel.
I do a lot of work on squares rather than circles.
It gives me four opportunities to have him steer in a lap.
It helps get their inside hind under them and to take some weight off their front legs as they push themselves through the turn. OOPS I just gave away the secret to self-carriage and a little engagement.
We need him to flex his neck laterally without resistance following a soft feel on the lead rope and to keep his ears level, or a line between the tips of his ears parallel with the ground for the first 90 degrees of the flex.
Be careful that you can maintain some contact a soft feel with the halter through the whole flex and that he is not just shooting his head around so you will give it back again.
That does not convert well under saddle when you might want him to flex it just a little.
Basically it’s an evasion.
Through this whole learning phase we also need to teach him to yield his shoulders away from you when you ask him to move away from you and to yield his hind end when you want to stop or just a little when you want to slow down.
I like to ask him to steer his shoulders away from me by following the lead rope and to yield his hind end when I lift the lead rope.
Then if my horse is falling in or out in his work I have some tools to help him balance.
I can stand his shoulder up a little or straighten him a little, as required, or put him out on a bigger circle or bring him in just with a lift or lead on the rope combined with a lifting and lowering of my presence.
We need to teach our horse to change direction on the go and to not slow down when we ask for the change.
The horse needs to draw through the change softly following the lead rope.
Avoid the common mistake of just chasing his shoulders over when you lead out in the opposite direction with the rope.
This can create a horse that stops when you try to steer him.
Everything we do here is as important at the walk as it is at a trot and a canter. The walk should be resistance free and with cadence.
They should walk with energy and stay relaxed.
You will know your horse is relaxed if he has a soft look, his head carriage is not high and his neck is not braced, if his body is soft and he moves around you with his shoulders, not past you or through you.
If you find you are stepping out of your horses way during any ground work then you will fail.
Your horse is learning to move you about.
Some people like to add voice cues when teaching transitions etc.
That’s your choice.
I don’t because I am usually talking people through what I am doing while I am working or if I am on my own I have an audio book going in my pocket.
I guess voice cues might help some people with their timing.
Rewarding your horse every time you ask for something and get a soft willing response is very important.
A reward should never be stopping and giving him a pat every time he does something correctly.
A reward should be a lowering of your presence or a softening of how you look to the horse or even stepping away a little and giving him some more space along with a lowering of your lead rope hand and whatever you might be using to create energy.
The timing of these releases is as crucial as the timing of your method of motivation.
Just as with your motivation you should be able to lower and raise your release levels so that you can tell a horse that he is on the right track when he is searching for answers.
After several good actions and with softness you might want to lift your hand and focus on his flanks to yield his hind end for soft stop.
Just let him stand away from you and have a breather.
I find using a stand still as a reward intermittently means that I never have to make my horse stand still or hold him still.
He just learns that standing still is a good place.
Keep it in balance and don’t get him expecting to stop every time he does something though.
That is counterproductive to having him stay forward in his work
.
When starting out we may want to reward the tiniest little try for something especially if he is confused about it or is in a bad habit of doing something else. For instance if I lead a horse out to have him move his shoulders over and he is not sure about this then I will just keep asking and letting him explore his options.
I will maintain the amount of pressure it takes (not lead rope pressure but my presence the lead rope should only ever be used with a soft feel) to have him move just a little until he finds the direction I want.
He might give me one step or even lean a little that way and I will release. I will build on it from there expecting the tiniest little bit more each time before the release so the next time I might want him to take half a tentative step over before I release.
If you get him starting to do it a little more at a time and you get to where he messes up and reacts don’t ever punish him.
He’s not being bad. Just go back to where he can do it ok and start building from there again.
Sometimes we might have to get him just to move his feet a few times and quickly regardless of whether he knows this stuff or not just to get him responding at all.
This is better done in a yard than out in the open unless you are already quite good at keeping with a horse and staying in position.
RUSHY HORSES
As above.
You still want to teach them to balance and be relaxed and focussed. Just don’t chase them.
Escalate your energy less quickly and even start off walking holding the lead rope much shorter.
Lead them into transitions don’t chase them.
You may want to do a little desensitisation.
Remember desensitising a horse and removing whatever you are desensitising them to when they are standing still is how this is commonly taught.
This can become an evasion that also is counterproductive to good relaxed forward.
You are riding and want to make some energy but your horse has this idea that stopping will make it go away.
That happens when people focus on lots of desensitisation at a standstill or with a stand still as his way of making something he is not ok with go away.
Learn to desensitise your horse also at a walk and a trot and maybe even a canter later on and reward him or remove what you are desensitising him with when he displays softness, a lack of worry, cadence in his steps and a willingness to maintain a pace.
I find it helps if he is already pretty good with his groundwork before I go there. You may want to get him ok with things at a standstill to get a start but move on as quick as you can until he is ok with both.
I don’t believe a horse is truly desensitised to something until he is ok with it while he is moving.This is not natural horsemanship.
It’s just horsemanship.
It’s just preparing your horse one step at a time to move him on to the next thing. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to get there fast like the pros in a colt starting comp.
Take your time and get it good. Don’t drive your horse mad with being chased around on never ending circles, break your work up and mix it up so he is listening for what you may want next.
People at the top end of their game can maybe ride some of this stuff into a horse but at the end of the day you will get a better more solid result if you don’t miss stuff out or gloss over it.
Groundwork is not something you do as part of a step by step process and then move on and forget you ever did it. It’s a way of checking in with your horse and finding out what is working and what needs attention.
Don’t overdo it and move on when they are showing you that they are good with it.
There is nothing to be gained by keeping at them to do something that they are already doing well.
You might even sour them and I have seen that enough times.
All of the above work and more can be done in a snaffle bit or the likes after they are solid with it in a halter.
Remember to avoid doing it in a bit prematurely.
It’s not such a big deal if he makes a mistake in a halter.
There is much more to groundwork that could be added here but I have to try and stick to our subject a little.
The above work will not automatically make your horse fabulous and forward under saddle if you already have an issue there.
It will help a little without doing much else but you should remember that you are breaking a habit and that he will still need some convincing to change.
What you will have achieved by this is to teach your horse to focus on you, how he can solve problems for himself without panicking, how to steer and move in a soft balanced fashion (something many horse have only experienced when their rider is not near them) and removed several braces and resistances.
Some genres of riders have a little trouble accepting groundwork as part of the routine of teaching a horse how to give us what we want and to be comfortable doing it.
There is no limit to where you can take this stuff. Shortening and lengthening of gaits, flying changes, piaffe, half pass and even canter pirouette are all achievable long term.
At the end of the day I believe there is nothing negative about focus, softness, an acceptance of the bridle, rhythm, relaxation, length of stride, balance, self-carriage, collection, oh and forward.
Let’s face it many of the classical masters past and present teach all those things from the ground first.
Food for thought for those that think this might offend their horse somehow or it’s too tough or hard on them.
Most people who have been to my clinics will have seen how quickly a worried horse will relax using the things I have described above.
Take away confusion and you take away the worry.
Add to that, horses never have to deal with the discomfort of being pulled about or fought with and they are not in a conflict every time someone is working with them and you will find they want to be with you, they don’t worry so much about other things, they forget to be buddy, or barn sour, soft horses don’t injure themselves from the exertion that being resistant puts them under, they learn how to carry a rider in a way that reduces, again, risk of injury and the people around them are much better off and safer also.
I joined the army when I was young.
It was really tough to start with and I was really resistant.
As they trained us we became better and better at what we did and our confidence grew.
The more we did the less resistant I became and the more we embraced the whole deal.
We got fitter and our ability to get on in that environment, because we had been trained to, meant that we could relax.
When something came up our training meant that we did not have to worry because we knew what to do.
If you liked part 2 of this article please share it.
It will help me be happier about the blister my typing finger has on it.
Coming up in Part 3 The ridden bit that everyone wants to know about but can’t because they need to know about the groundwork stuff first.
Part 3
The ridden bit.
Alright now you have read parts one and part two of my article on overcoming forward issues I’d like to talk to you about teaching a horse to go forward under saddle.
I guess the aim is having your horse move in a relaxed fashion without getting upset or tense. You’ll notice and in part two of this article I focused largely on getting our horse to free their legs up and move in a relaxed fashion in its ground work. This is crucial if you want to fulfil your expectations of a good ride under saddle.
I’m going to talk about several different methods of encouraging a horse to free its legs under saddle and each will depend on the riders ability.A cue is a way of us sending a signal to the horse. A cue is not a way of motivating a horse to move only a way of signalling them to. In our well trained horse however a cue might be all that is needed to ask a horse to move.
There are three main cues that are that people are taught to ask a horse to move forward.
They are using your legs, using your seat, and a voice command or cluck.
If you were to sit on an untrained horse and use any of these methods of asking him to move forward he would not naturally understand what you meant. In fact a cluck is the only one that might work without training.
For empathetic purposes let’s use some anthropomorphism. Picture someone standing behind you and using their hands to squeeze your rib cage.
Would you know what they meant by it and if in-fact it was even a signal? The most natural reaction that most people would have is to tense against it or brace.
If they continued to do this several times without teaching you what it meant would you work out that it meant to walk? Imagine if when you didn’t answer their question correctly they kicked you.
Would you be any clearer on what they were asking or just more worried when they approached you?
What if they were to jab you in the ribs with some spurs?
Would that make things clearer or just make you even more worried.
I think it’s amazing what a horse will deal with and what they will learn to respond to despite our mistakes.
So how do we go about teaching a horse to listen to our signal and respond without resistance or worry.
We need to use the things we taught the horse on the ground (see part 2 of this article) to teach our horse under saddle how to understand our cues to go. The idea is to ask with our chosen cues and then to create the energy using something easier for the horse to understand. Something that will naturally encourage a horse to move without confusion.
Im not a fan of increasing the intensity of my cues or aids.
I want my responses from light cues or even just changes in my balance and focus.
Asking harder with something a horse is not trained to understand just makes it ok for them to be dull.
As discussed in part 1 horses are sensitive so why create a situation where we don’t use this to our mutual advantage.
To my mind this is like shouting when we could just whisper a hint.
Don’t dull your cues use something else to help your horse understand what your cues mean and to teach them to listen to them.
What if my horse is already dull to my cues? No change.
Just work through the process as I have explained. You will however have to work much harder for a good result than you would teaching a young horse.
Ok that is the theory, how do I go about putting this into practice?
As I said in the beginning of this instalment I’m going to explain several different ways of achieving this.
I have what I consider very good reasons for this. Many horses are resisting their riders attempts at getting them to free themselves up and move easily by using evasions such as pig rooting or even bucking and many riders don’t have the experience or confidence to make a change the way a professional horseman or experienced confident rider might.
You hear much debate about the best way to go about things and every teacher or clinician has differences in how they work and explain things. That’s just normal but it’s easy to have an opinion without taking into account the whole scenario.
Working with thousands of horse and rider partnerships has taught me that finding ways to help riders at all levels to move on is more important than just showing them how a pro might do it.
I don’t like leaving people thinking that they might be stuck in a place that they will never climb out of.
To me it’s no different than over-facing a young horse. I can’t be in this for the horse alone as much as that might sound like a staunch commitment to what I do.
I can’t be in this just to promote and show what I can do.
Whilst it might set examples for people to work toward it doesn’t always help people who are not ready for that.
My job is to consider each rider/horse partnership and help put in place things they can achieve to move on.
The other thing I would like people to understand is that many of the issues that they are trying to overcome are caused or increased by an inherent need to ride in a way that is seen as correct and crucial to how they look or the image they are trying to create on their horse.
For example someone may want to ride a horse that is collected and engaged.
They have often been taught that to be operating correctly their horse needs to be collected and round.
I have seen people often who spend all of their efforts on holding their horse in this frame before they have it working with energy and relaxation. Much of their focus is on having a perfect seat with their back straight and elbows in that they are stiff and unable to relax.
This all creates a feeling of tension through the horse and makes him feel unable to move.
They then try and encourage the horse to go forward. They are trying to ride their horse like one that already has a high enough level of training to be ridden like that. Before any of this can be properly achieved a horse needs to learn to go forward with relaxed energy.
We need to be little loose and relaxed ourselves.
I don’t mean slouch to the point of being a dead weight or to sit in a way that is detrimental to the horse’s ability to move but to lose our own stiffness and tension.
Our legs should be loose and relaxed and the same with our upper body.
We need to be able to let our horse take us along and to just sort of flow with it.
The finesse and accuracy is for later.
Ok bearing in mind that we are not just teaching our horses how to go but also teaching them a cue and how to respond to it here are some methods that have worked for me, the horses and the people I have worked with over the years.
Please keep in mind that any method of dealing with anything’s success is directly proportional to the way the method is applied.
To save typing each of these methods relies on loose reins.
It’s a waste of time and a step backwards to try and ride a horse that has no forward or lacks energy into the bridle.
I mean no contact, and loopy loose reins and not that place that insecure riders get in which is halfway between a loose rein and contact.
If you don’t have the confidence to do that then you need assistance.
This is crucial.
Also when your horse does go you need to not grab the contact or go into a hunched forward foetal position type seat.
This will only make matters worse and create more worry in your horse. This is a major cause of bucking into a canter.
If, after a candid look in the mirror, you don’t think you can prevent yourself from doing this you will want assistance.
Often with less bold riders I like to teach them to ask their horse to move from a walk to a trot using a release of their legs as the go cue rather than a squeeze.
This does not mean you don’t squeeze.
It’s just that you consider the squeeze as a signal to the horse to prepare himself to go and expect him to make the transition on a release of the squeeze.
Give your horse the impression that you are letting him go not making him go.
When you squeeze you should change your seat so that you are sitting a little taller and with less weight on your bum.
This helps the horse to feel like he can bring his hind legs up under himself and you feel like he is not going to shunt you forward when he leaves.
You also should focus on somewhere in the distance where you want to go to, not down on your horse or directly in front of your horse. (Practice focussing where you want to go and walking there with energy when you are handling your horse in its day to day care. They pick up on that dawdling type of low energy many people are afflicted with when they are with their horse.)
So you have added a small squeeze and at the same time started to emit a feeling of energy and focus through your body. Keep the seat and release the legs at the same time cluck and expect an immediate and energetic upward transition.
You probably won’t get one yet but when you do relax into a posting or rising trot and go along with your horse.
If he falls out of the trot repeat immediately with energy.
Ok thats not working.
One of the least confrontational ways to give the horse a reason to move forward with energy is to flap your legs. I don’t mean kick, just flap your whole leg from as far up as you can manage down to the sides of your boots.
Why not kick? That is what most people are taught.
Two reasons really.
One is that they don’t have much more meat on their ribs than we do.
I am sure someone kicking me in the ribs all day would make me tender and upset.
With horses discomfort they can’t escape often just causes them to ignore it.
Why is flapping better? Imagine sitting on your horse holding 2 feed bags and flapping them vigorously on his sides. Unless your horse has been totally desensitised to this it is clear that he should run.
It is a natural reaction no confusion.
That is what he would naturally do without any training.
As soon as something on his back is painful or uncomfortable in a physical way his natural reaction is to hump it off just as he would a predator.
Ok we train a lot of that out of them but that still doesn’t make it clear you want him to go.
Use your legs like two feed bags. That makes it clear to him.
So how do we do this with timing?
Like this.
Slight squeeze of your calves (1 second)
Release and cluck or kiss together. Take your legs right off to start with. (1 second)
Vigorously flap your legs. Don’t keep a static rhythm or size of flap.
Right from the first one get bigger (move your legs further off the horse) and faster (escalate the speed quickly).
Don’t be rhythmic.
Being rhythmic is great if you are desensitising a horse.
As soon as your horse changes up a pace with energy just relax your legs keep some intent on where you are going and move along with him.
If you are trotting then post/rise.
Sit trot is ok on a horse that is forward.
DO NOT GRAB HIM with the reins or with your legs when he does go.
Be a rider who is sending their horse somewhere not a passenger who is trying to prevent their horse from doing something they don’t want.
Preventative riding and preemptive actions are dangerous and keep your horse constantly worried about how you are going to react.
Remember your legs don’t hold you on a horse.
If you have been taught that they do then you were given a bum steer.
Ride your horse like you have to ride an elephant. You can’t pull on an elephants head to steer and stop it. All you can do is suggest where you would like it to go and send it there.
Send your horse places and leave it alone to go there.
If it can’t do this then it’s not ready to even consider riding into the bridle or riding with contact.
Don’t have your reins in that place between contact and no contact. That’s what timid riders do when they want to feel like they are giving their horse his head but want to be ready for anything in a quarter of a nanosecond. To your horse it’s like holding a cocked pistol with a hair trigger to his head.
Use just your inside rein to make corrections.
You may want to do this in a fenced area with good footing like a round yard/pen or arena.
An arena is better as your horse has more room.
Steer as little as possible (not at all is great) and just work on forward.
You can work on steering when you have forward sorted out.Ok now you are starting to get a result but your horse keeps slowing down.
Don’t nag with your legs to keep him going.
Let him make the mistake of slowing and when he does go straight to flapping (no warning) bigger and faster just as before until he speeds to a rate faster than you wanted.
Let him settle at a comfortable pace and ride along with him.
Repeat this as many times as necessary until he stays in the pace.
When you have walk to trot go from trot to canter the same way.
You could let your inside leg come forward a little and try and ask in a part of the arena where he feels like he wants to go the way you are asking. Don’t panic if you get a wrong lead.
Most times a wrong lead comes from a resistance and you wont be able to effectively work on that until you have forward sorted.
When your horse canters sit on your pockets and enjoy the ride.
Don’t grab him or shorten your reins just relax your legs and ride.
If he slows repeat the flapping.
Use the same method to get walk to canter.
When I have trot to canter and walk to canter I like to work on canter departures in a straight line.
I generally like to back a few steps and repeat what we have already worked on until he canters out of it.
Things to remember.
If your horse increases pace to the required level don’t flap just ride.
Train yourself to be clear in your cues.
Be quick to sit up squeeze and release and quick to flap.
Be quick to increase the flapping to a level that you get a change. Remember rhythmic flapping that doesn’t increase quickly will just desensitise your horse more.
When you flap use the insides of your legs and keep them forward and relaxed.
Use your whole leg and not just the parts below the knee.
On a whole horses don’t find this method confronting.
If you stay loose, keep your legs forward a little and don’t use your heels and leave their head alone most horses will not react badly to it.
If however you are tight or tense, hunch up and kick or let the lower part if your leg come back and especially if you grab the reins as they start to give you what you asked for then your horse may react badly.
Ok what if my horse is really dull and I can’t seem to get an improvement.
If you are doing what I have described properly you should get an improvement.
You may want to add something after your horse has learned the cue for go.
You could introduce a dressage whip or the end of a split rein to tidy up your horses responses.
Start by adding it to the flapping and then reduce the flapping until you don’t need it.
When you do this you need to not hurt or sting the horse.
If you do you may find that your horse will take offence at it to your detriment.
Start on the ground on a short lead rope and teach him trot departures with the whip.
Lead him off, cluck and tap him on the rump.
If he is sluggish or non responsive tap bigger and faster (not harder) until he leaves at a trot.
It’s not about creating discomfort it’s about increasing your presence. Work on this until he leaves at a trot from you just leading him forward and clucking once.
Repeat this under saddle.
It may take you a few rides to get this solid but it’s worth it.
Remember the goal is to have your horse move off at any pace you want not off your legs so much but the change in your seat.
Ride your horse out lots and use a bit of open country to work on up and down transitions.
It’s much more meaningful and fun for your horse out there.
You could get out with another rider and use them ahead of you to teach your horse your cues but be carful not to create a horse that won’t tolerate another horse leaving ahead.
You may also want to work in a round yard/pen doing exactly the same things but with someone on the ground helping you achieve forward with a flag.
Remember not to forget you are teaching him a cue.
I have not addressed the issue of rushy horses here but will add it to this article in due course. In the meantime here is something on that to watch.
I need to wind up now.
I have been so busy I have taken a while to conclude this article and I hope I am forgiven for that.
I don’t write well under time constraints.
Please share this article on Facebook if you would like to reward me for the time it took to write it.
Good luck with this and remember you are teaching a cue not teaching your horse to be chased forward.
Be consistent and persistent and use good timing and above all sit up, focus on where you want to go and stay relaxed.
Be a rider not a passenger.
Ian Leighton
This is incredibly helpful, thankyou.
I just got a well bred four year old mare cheaply because she is in a panic all the time. Rushy is the word you use and it fits. I watched your ‘Groundwork without a round pen’ on youtube yesterday and today she backs up softly, will move her shoulder away nicely on the left rein and although yesterday she kept trying to run through me on the right, that is now improving, and we had several good ones today. There are even signs of softness. We have a way to go but I see a real way through, I am so very grateful that you share your amazing understanding so clearly. Thank you
I Was so interested in the ‘rushy horse’ info. I have a 17 yr old Warmblood mare that i have had for three months. I was so lucky to find her at price I could afford…I was told she was ideal for a ‘returning to riding lady , she was quiet but very forward . Well this was a misinterpretation of rushy. Gale Bransford, a great lady from whom I have had 2-3 lessons, has told me I have my work cut out to break the habits of a lifetime with this mare. I could not believe how heavy she is in the hand when riding…my first objective was to ask her to halt from the seat and extremely light rein aide..this is taking time but progressing well. Now I need strategies to ‘ stop her rushing to catch the bus’ ! ( Gale Brandford’s words to describe it) Gale also noticed how she tightens up and takes small strides when rushing. I am waiting desperately to hear your next chapter on ‘Rushing’ .
Regards
Sandie
I also have a rushy horse, he is an x racing trotter… used to bolt all the time too. We pretty much have that under control now but can still get tense and rushy at times so I am also eagerly awaiting the next installment.
very well wrote very well understood in easy terms explains a lot thanks for the time and effort put into it
THANK YOU so much that was incredibly interesting and truthfull.
Harper will be happier now that I have read your article, she is a clever young pony who began pig jumping thru to her canter transitions…saddle fit and back checked, just naughty? I realise now my young daughter is blocking her transition from trot to canter (just learning) first mentally with intrepidation and secondly blocking with her hands, Harper was confused then learnt to avoid and resist the block by pig jumping. I took young Harper for a long canter on a loose rein up the grass tracks and hills and let her run stretch out, to her hearts content, apology accepted, it was heaven. My daughter has a neck strap now around Harper’s neck to steady herself rather than bracing with the reins, a ways to go yet but I see the tension disappearing on both faces, thank you
Makes a lot of sense. I have a rusty horse and just started a 3 year old who is the other end of the spectrum ‘lazy’ Although now perhaps think I have made him that way. Can’t wait to try your methods.
Left comment above just pressed wrong buttons, just like with my horses, I am a natural at doing that!
Tried riding flapping instead of kicking and what a difference that made to my three year old. Will get on and try the groundwork with him over the next week. Thank you as this technique made a huge difference. Also let him go forwards at his speed. I think he actually enjoyed the ride today. We did go out with a friend on her horse. Just need to stop him snak attacking on the ride, any suggestions.?
HI Ian, loving the article on forward issues – I have a horse exactly like this/scenario, and I’m waiting with baited breath for the last part about rushy horses. 🙂
Thanks Ian, that was so helpful. I have issues with laziness and your practical advice is definitely going to give me a focus and things to work on….. me in particular !!
I really liked reading this – and I have now read quite a few articles about the dull horse. It is a thorough explanation and practical! I definitely will try the flapping! (My new boy has been subjected to endless amounts of lunging with side reins and has become very dull that I can hardly get him moving in the round yard without feeling like I am chasing him ). I really hope that it is the answer, besides getting out there and changing his whole experience of being ridden or handled. Fingers crossed
Thank you Tracey I hope it helps.
Ian
Great article really well written. Life changing stuff. Thanks