Riding a spoilt horse...getting him to like work?..

Ladyknight

Ladyknight

New Member
May 6, 2007
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Queensland, Australia
Okay, I ride a green 6 yr old Tb. He never had anything done with him (work wise) until he was 4, and that was only being groomed twice a week in a halter. Now he is broken in at 6, and is very stubborn and spoilt.
His owner is an old lady, and she lets him get his way all the time.

He is not violent, just pushy and young. When I ride him, after he works out his bucks and whatever, it is hard just getting him to trot for long. He just gives up, and I have to push him really hard to get going. How do I get him to look forward to riding since I have to fight with him so hard for one thing? And want to go forward camly? I scratch him and praise him.

All his tack is checked, so is back and teeth recently. :D
 
Why does he need to trot for long? Perhaps he can't trot for long. Maybe his balance isn't up to it.

You should try working around a concept called the three minute ride. Aim for one thing - a square halt, a good walk-trot transition, three calm strides of trot, and once you have that, lots of praise, and end the ride. Basically teaching the horse that when they try and get things right, they get rewarded, and properly rewarded at that. After a few sessions they really start to try for you, and you can begin to gradually build the length up.
 
I have thought of that, and was wondering if that is the case. I would really like to do that kind of thing, but I guess I feel pressured to work him long and hard because his owner tells me he needs it. And i'm riding him for free, so yeah. Ive been told by several older 'wiser" people to give him a good gallop before riding him but I dont think he is up to that at all. :confused:
 
If you feel like you have to do a lot of work with him, do it in three or four sessions a day.

Maybe do two under saddle, one inhand and one longreining.

I know what you mean about pressure, but you just have to get on with it. I regularly get "is that it?" from a guy on the yard, so I just say "yes I got what I wanted" and go untack.
 
And remember to reward the try! No point pushing him for the perfect transition if he doesn't know what you're asking for. By releasing the pressure and praising the try he'll learn to keep trying to earn the praise. Build up slowly and don't feel pressured to go too fast or do too much with him.
 
ignore the bad bits and they wil fade away in time, and prause him when he tries hard./does something right.

just think, at school - if you were given treats (i.e. breaks, time to chat, sweets, etc) as a reward for good behaviour and hard work - even if it's not necessarily fantastic work - would you be btter behaved?
then again - if you were toldf to dit in silence and work your socks off, with no recognition when you DO try hard and get somethingright, and a negative teacher who is quick to reprimind, then what would be your attitude to work?

so be be positive. try to remember that correction always overules punishment.


Also, keep sessions short and sweet. if you have been working on something and he finally gets it, don't rrepeat it just to make sure it wasn't a fluke: let him have a rest on a long rein, give him lots of praise and then move on to something that he finds easier/enjoys.
spend valuable time just playing with each other and having fun - if training is a landscape painting, see the whole picture rather than focusing just on the sky. in other words, be careful not to just focus on what you are tryin to achive: give yourselves time and encouragement. Everyone needs motivation after all.

:)
good luck.
 
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Maybe add a little variation too? Can you free school or lunge him (not too mcuh if he's onyl green), r just walk him out in hand for a bit of a change?
 
If you want horse to like training, you've got to make training fun. Think of a really good / nice teacher you had in school. Why were they good?

Short lessons, teach things in easy steps, don't spend ages on one thing and get boring, lots of praise and rubs (really important), and have fun. Do lots of different things. If you're smiling while you're training, then you're horse is probably enjoying the session too. If you're not smiliing, horse probably's not having much fun either. So change the plan and do something different, or figure out a different way to achieve your goal.

Why do you want him to trot for a long time? Woudl it not be better to say 'I want him to trot until I feel a little softness' then I'll stop. That won't take very long if you're listening to horse, and he won't get half as bored, and you''ll achieve your target.
 
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Thanks for all your great replies. Wow,I posted this question on Yahoo Answers and I am getting answers like "show him whos boss
" and whack him over the head and then he will pay attention"!!!:eek: im glad I have NR!:D
 
Darn it Mrs Dilly - where did you come up with that fantastic idea :D

It's really a GREAT thing to do - entirely focus on getting one really good try from the horse - don't force it, just allow yourself to be overwhelmed with joy when he does One Thing really really well - and it might not even be something you'd planned - I've had 'rides' where I've led the horse to the arena gate, and they've stopped and backed up and been so perfect at the gate that I've hugged them all over and walked them right back to the barn ! There's nothing like a little free gift every now and then to keep them opn their toes and motivated.
 
Some good advice here :) I'd also add that it might help if you think of him as clueless rather than spoilt. He doesn't know he's not supposed to be pushy or is supposed to have a work ethic because nobody has taught him that from the sound of it :)
 
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