So I’m offering to help this lady train her horse because she’s really unsure of himwhen she rides him. I tested him out yesterday and I mainly found that: he’s unbalanced and he pulls on the bit. I just would love to hear what you guys would do for something like this. Just little things to help him become a nice and smooth horse to ride.(:
No I’m a fine rider, I trained my horse to a wonderful Arabian Sport Horse.<3 The lady who rides him just REALLYREALLY needs the help. I’m not flying around everywhere when I ride him or anything, HE’S the unbalanced one here not me. Haha. I know what I personally would do for his training, but I’d love to hear other people’s insite on what they’d do to fix the problems, and NOT going and getting a professional trainer.
Lots of transitions using lots of correcly executed half halts, riding figures.
For balance I would do a lot of transitions on sand. Do circles, serpentine, spirals and trot poles. The more you ride and th more confident you are the more balance he will become.
With the pulling on the bit if your asking for him to be on the bit and he is still pulling and you cant stop him I would advise using a market harborough. Oh and if you using a harsh bit i would advise you don’t, that could be part of the reason.
For balance…
I would practice doing a ton of ground poles and small cross rails. When horses learn to "rate themselves" that usually also improves their balance. In case you don’t know what it means for a horse to rate themselves, it means that they know when to shorten or lengthen their stride so they can go over poles and jumps with plenty of room and they won’t jump it too early or too late. Sometimes you can teach a horse to do it by giving them commands and they start to get the point and learn to shorten and lengthen their stride themselves, but if you don’t know how to do this properly, it’s sorta the blind leading the blind…LOL! So instead, just go over those poles and jumps over and over and over and over and over and OVER until he gets the point and learns himself.
For the bit…
Does this horse do a headset? If not, try to teach him to do one, so he will bring in his nose and won’t be so hard. If that doesn’t help or if he already has a headset, you get agressive with his head. Just be sure to wear gloves so you don’t get bad blisters and cuts. If he STILL doesn’t listen, try changing his bit to a harder one. That will probably do the trick, but try the other options first so you dont have to spend any money if you don’t need to.
Good luck!
For blance:
What I have been doing with my horse is a lot of loping in in small circles. I start of loping and then make a small circle to the direction of my lead. As I come out of the circle i do about two strides then break to a trot but not for long and then lope back in a circle in the opposite direction as beofre. Try and do this switch fast so they dont have time to really think about it. Mix it up because they can start to anticipate. Also do alot of flexing while at a stand still. (Can also help with the bit pulling)
For the bit pulling: When I lung I tie my horses reins down to the D ring on the girth on each side of the horse. Dont tie it to tigh. Just tie it to where you get the headset you want. This will teach the horse that the bit doesnt give to him. He gives to the bit. While your on his back you can apply even pressure on the bit to were you feel bit contact. Hold until you feel him give just the slightest bit then release the reins as a reward. Then keep doing this. The flexing will help give to your hands too.
I don’t get what unbalanced means please define. running through the bit and being cold jawed is not good. The horse needs to flex at the pole and cominto the bit and not drive into it. I guess if your English rider you don’t care you folks always appear to be heavy on the reins..
I ride western and like a horse to be light and soft in the bridle that he will respond when I pick up the reins, without even moving the bit. I also like him to know the slightest body cue so light that a person could not see me cue him.
I have a rig I made to use when I get a real cold jawed runaway kind of horse. I get some of that rubber that is about as big around as a nickle fasten it on a pair of long reins about 8 inches with a snap on the end. I take them to to the round corral put them in the center, run the riens between both ft legs and up behind the elbows and tie on top or the withers. Be Careful!! make it quite a bit loser than how he holds his head naturally, let him walk, He might fight it for a while, but with the elastic there it will move with him when he pushes out. A little bit at a time tighten it up as he gets used to moving with it. Let him trot. This will make the shoulder movement pull on his mouth, soon he will come down into the bit. (unless he is real stupid and ignorant.) Just work him till he will come in and not touch the bit. When you start to ride him, have really light hands and give to him when he comes into your hands. Never let him try to take your hands down.
For the problem with him pulling on the bit, I would switch to a sliding gag bit. I’ve found that when using that bit, the horse quickly realizes that it’s more uncomfortable when he pulls on it and will stop pulling. As for being unbalanced, he would be better off with an experienced rider being on him for awhile. A well balanced rider who knows how to handle him will help him to become more balanced and sure of himself.
Does he know how to lunge? I am a MAJOR advocate for correct lungeing, which is like this:
http://www.millsstables.com/images/Lunge%20Pen%202.JPG
Correct lunging does wonders on starting babies and retraining green horses. It teaches them to balance themselves, and how to work correctly. Alot of people don’t bother, but I will always stand by it. My trainer is the person who got me into it, and not surprisingly, her horses win everything.