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Post by nicreid2 on Dec 19, 2015 14:17:11 GMT 1
Hi I have a trotter welsh cross he is 14'3 13 years old and was gelded late around 9 years old. I have only had him since May 2015.... I am re-schooling him and he picks things up quickly such as his lateral moves. I'm long reining him x3 days a week and at the moment he is not being ridden until he has gained confidence in is own ability. When I first tried to ride him in trot he just wanted to power through as fast as possible, this is starting to change and I hope to start riding him in walk using poles and gradually build up to trot. My problem at the moment is that when I ask for trot he constantly tries to turn in on me to dominate, I don't like using a lung whip and so I use my body to move towards him and shake the line to ask him to move out, sometimes this works and other times it feels as though i'm creating more of a problem...... any advice would be great. He has come a long way since I got him and I sometimes think he still has that stallion mentality that if he doesn't want to do it then he wont. Ive had to work very hard with his ground manners, I think that in the past he was able to do as he pleased. He likes to test the boundaries most days to see if he can get away with anything. Although I love him sometimes it would be nice not to be challenged!! any advice would be great. thank you.
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Post by kafee on Dec 19, 2015 15:58:07 GMT 1
Rather than try to stop him turning in, could you distract him by asking him to do something else instead, like turn the other way, or make him carry on past you and change the rein? If you can anticipate when he is about to turn in, redirecting him before he turns would defuse the challenge and keep his brain working with you.
Good luck!
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Post by nicreid2 on Dec 19, 2015 17:42:00 GMT 1
Thank you, I hadn't thought of that I'll give it a go and see how I get on. Thanks again.
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Post by alonerawnut on Dec 19, 2015 17:46:35 GMT 1
What is he like when you trot in-hand compared to on the long lines? Do you think he fully understands what you're asking? Could you have a helper leading him when you long line as support?
The way you describe it, it sounds like you're standing in the middle and he's going round 'on the track'. What if you long line from behind him? You can then more easily drive forwards and control his direction with either line. Even when you're in a lunging position, you're should be able to control his turning inwards with pressure on the outside line, but it'd be better to distract him as Kafee says or work out if he's just not sure / not confident.
Do you long-line out & about, in a field or on quiet lanes, or just in the school / in one place? Going somewhere different or working around obstacles might give him a 'job' to do and make him more focused.
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Post by nicreid2 on Dec 20, 2015 21:05:37 GMT 1
Thank you for the good advice..... I've tried long reining from behind and we had a better session today.... I'll continue to do this and add pole work as well. Thank you
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