|
|
Post by brindleanna on Dec 22, 2011 15:51:54 GMT 1
Hi All, Hope someone can offer me some tips and hopefully a solution? I am starting my boyfriends youngster, Well, When i say youngster i actually mean a very green,unbacked 6 year old Swedish trotting Warmblood. Prior to me helping out he has only ever been long reigned and trotted a few times in a sulky. We have installed basic manners and space awareness and i am walking him about and generally 'playing ' with him. He has a sweet and willing to work attitude but i am struggling with his lungeing. He will now walk very nicely and halt on command but i really have a problem getting him to trot. It is not that he is slow or lazy as he has a lovely forward walk.I think i am being clear with my body language and cues but alas no trot unless i flap my arms and skip about like a loon which is obviously not the way to go!! I have thought about a helper who could start the trot with him but i am normally alone in the yard....I have tried shortening the lunge line right up to even start off in a spin and then step back but this only results in a few strides of trot. I would love a round pen but sadly i only have sandschool which is not securely fenced.....So any advice on how to encourage him to trot would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2011 21:50:02 GMT 1
If he has some knowledge of longlining already, I would suggest not confusing him by working off a single line and from a different position at the moment. Teach him his basics on 2 lines in walk, then from a good backwards driving position you should be able to push him into trot. It may be that you need high energy to start off with but if you keep your communications very clear and consistent, and get your timing right responding to his reactions he should learn what you need fairly quickly. After that, it's a question of refining and softening your aids.
If you continue to have problems, get help. This is such a crucial stage of a horse's education and it's essential to get it right. Backing a youngster is a fantastic thing to do but if it goes wrong it can cause huge problems. If you feel at all out of your depth, call an IH Recommended Associate. Many of us are happy to work with a client on this sort of thing (provided they think it is the right thing to do), still giving you the pleasure of backing the horse but supporting you while you do so.
|
|
|
|
Post by brindleanna on Dec 23, 2011 7:55:44 GMT 1
Hi.Thank you for your advice.I will continue in hand and longreigning as suggested and try to gain a trot from that positon and work from there...Of course i would like to involve a IH instructor but i live in Sweden!!!! The advice out here is quite limited in my experience and even more rarely offered in English!!! We are not in any rush with this litle horse.Plus snow is here for the Winter now so any intense work has to wait for milder weather! Thank you again.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2011 9:11:41 GMT 1
No, Sweden is a little far for us, even for Maj Britt who is in Denmark.
See how it goes on 2 lines and from that driving position and yell if you get stuck.
Liz
|
|
|
|
Post by brindleanna on Dec 23, 2011 10:49:38 GMT 1
Thank you....Sure i'll be on here again! Happy Christmas.
|
|
|
|
Post by jill on Dec 24, 2011 9:46:37 GMT 1
Sounds as though he isn't clear on your cue, and you need to back it up, just like you would a leg aid with a schooling whip. Use a long rope or even a lunge whip (no, they are not spawn of the devil used in the right hands and with care) to swing or smack the ground behind him if he ignores your cue. They aren't born knowing the cues - they have to learn by pressure and release. The pressure is the sound of the whip on the ground behind them, the release is the stopping the pressure and voice and body language telling him he is good and has got it right. If the whip on the ground doesn't induce a slight offer of trot (which you can build on) then just touch his croup with the lash, but lightly, you aren't whipping him, it is just an extension of your arm.
Good luck - all you need is something that says to him go forwards more, what did they use as a cue when he was in the sulky?
|
|
|
|
Post by outoftheblue on Dec 26, 2011 19:30:10 GMT 1
Does he know the voice command to trot on? If he doesn't you could teach it on the long reins and then use it to make him trot on the lunge. We teach our lead rein ponies ot go entirely by voice and they learn really easily - the riders are usually too small to do anything to send the pony forwards.
|
|
|
|
Post by helenj on Jan 2, 2012 17:44:27 GMT 1
I went and spent a week with Tracey James in Spain, and the thing I most took from there is that it is not always enough to raise your energy and ask the horse to come with you, you also have to be clear about what you want the horse to do with the energy.
So, as you are asking for the transition from walk to trot, really think about what you would physically do to make this change, so centering your body, an extra breath in preparation for the exertion, lifting your weight, and then as you enter trot, tucking your pelvis and moving your energy, weight and body forwards.
If you physically go through the movement with your horse and move from walk to jog, combined with focus on him and adding the verbal command, he should get what you are asking him to do. If he does, reward immediately by removing the pressure / focus and give verbal praise. If he keeps going, great, if he comes back to walk, repeat, praise.
Once he has got going into trot, you then have to get him to sustain it. Go through the same process, including the praise, but be ready with a little extra energy/focus as soon as he starts to slow and again, reward by removing and giving praise when he picks up again.
Over time you should find that he will pick the energy up as you start the mental preparations and trot from that as soon as you ask.
|
|
