Groundwork exercises

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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Bailey is a lovely horse but he lacks in manners. When I enter the stable door he doesn't back up and can be a little bargy. He doesn't move over when I ask him to, and I have to practically shove him acorss the stable to groom his other side. When we are leading (either to the school, or field, or back to the stable), he sometimes plants himself for no reason. He isn't scared, he just decides that he doesn't want to move. When he does this someone on the yard always chases him to get him moving, but I want to move him myself.

So how do I sort this out? I'm guessing that groundwork is the answer, but what exactly do I do? I'm not allowed to freeschool and have no-where to work him in hand other than the stable or the car park. There are no fields we can use and no nearby bridleways etc.

I only see him twice a week and my time is limited due to the yard shutting up at a relatively early time and I can't get there earlier because of my kids. His owner needs me to ride him to keep his weight down and I don't really want to sacrafice a riding session to do groundwork instead (as he isn't my horse).

Has anyone got any suggestions on what I can do to improve his manners?
 
Maybe just take 5 or so minutes out of your riding just to do some quick groundwork with him?
Just remind him about backing up away from you etc for a few minutes.
 
You can do groundwork things while you are getting ready to ride.

When you bring him in from the field, take a little longer and ask him to stop and start, back up, move over and do some little shapes so he is listening to you and walking where you want him to walk. If he stops and plants it's easier to get him moving by giving a tug on his headcollar to one side as this will unbalance him and it is harder for him to remain planted. Zig zag up the field if necessary so he knows you can move his feet without someone behind him. With Izzy at the beginning we used to go about 3 times as far with all our zigzagging!

Also in the stable. When grooming him, ask him to back up, move over and reward when he does. If he won't move over I would use your knuckle to push into his side and say 'over', this should irritate (not hurt) him and he will move away from the pressure.

I think once you have done a bit of this he will know you mean business. Izzy is much better now but I'm afraid his manners will never be perfect, especially if there is food about.:redcarded:
 
tiga said:
When you bring him in from the field, take a little longer and ask him to stop and start, back up, move over and do some little shapes so he is listening to you and walking where you want him to walk.
Click to expand...

I do this with Lily and it really works! She has gone from totally ignoring me and hanging back trying to snatch grass to keeping her head by my shoulder, stopping when I stop and generally paying enough attention to keep the rope loose without me having to do anything much :happy:
 
Hi Mary Poppins!

Everything you do with the horse on the ground is groundwork, just the same as everything you do in the saddle is riding. Getting him from the field, grooming him - it's all the relationship on the ground - and he doesn't distinguish between these things and being taken off for a session of "groundwork"- so you can just build it into your ordinary routine.

The relationship on the ground is all about personal space and control of the direction, speed and attitude of movement. When he plants when he's being led, he's saying he's higher than you in the order, and he will take the decisions about movement. Same when he won't move over or when he's bargy - he's controlling the personal space. Moving out of your space would mean you're higher ranking than he is.

If you start being very aware of your personal space and moving him away from you instead of you moving away from him, you'll find all these other points get much better. Start with little things - and work on it in little bits. If he doesn't move over when you're grooming - don't ask him to move over completely, one step will do to start with. Scratch and stroke him for that, then ask for another step.

Tiga makes some good suggestions for unsticking the feet - and again, ask for each thing in little steps. The more you can reward the horse for little tries, the quicker it will start offering big tries.

There are 2 things that often sabbotage the relationship on the ground. Firstly, we give up asking before the horse has given the right response, and secondly, we keep on asking after it has tried to give the right response.
So the key is, to be really clear in what you want, and do as little as possible but as much as is necessary, to achieve it! :biggrin:
 
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just to complement the prior advice, keep in mind that the party in control is the party that controls movement. Controlling movement means both stopping movement and causing movement.

By repeatedly asking for little movements, interspaced with times when you ask the horse to standstill, you are exerting control. Because you are exerting control, through a natural means which the horse intuitively understands, he will come to respect you as a leader.

So the key thing to do should he become bargy or plant his feet or otherwise not follow your lead or suggestion, is to exercise the little techniques discussed above to either move his feet or to standstill at your command.

Building through compliance to small requests is the key to obtaining full compliance; just build small request-by-small request as you go forward in your relationship.

As Kate has stated, look for the little tries. This means that you have to watch his demeanor and watch for shifts in his weight or posture that indicate he's thinking about complying. Those little "tries" are rewarded by giving him relief for a few seconds, and then asking again. This will cause the rewarded small tries to become actual desired actions.

By rewarding those little tries, and building upon them, he'll figure out pretty quick what you want and comply with your wishes.

Best regards,
Harry
 
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