useless at steering! help!

[LittleD]

Need some help here please!

Some of you may remember our story from past posts, me being a very nervous novice and my mare being a mum, more used to having foals (4) than doing any schooling, or any work at all for that matter.

Up to this point we have been taking small steps with each other me getting on her every day and riding in the indoor school in walk, doing circles, serpentines etc just to get us both some confidence in each other and trying to make what used to be a stomach turning brief encounter into a pleasurable every day event - I can now mount this horse without feeling sick as a dog!!! Which has overcome a big obstacle, for me at least.

The problem I am now getting is that I am ready to ask for a bit more from her, she halts well and walks nicely and we can get around without cutting corners etc but when I ask for trot I go to pieces, not with nerves but with sheer lack of knowledge.

I ask with my legs and she goes foreward then when I try to steer her around a corner or attempt a 20m circle we're all over the place and she ends up stopping so I kick her on start to steer and the same thing happens, I think I must be pulling back or something and she thinks I mean whoa so stops, bless her, but I would love to get around the whole of the indoor school in trot or make a complete circle without cutting across and making egg shapes or worse!!!

One thing I tried when she trotted down the centre line to the door (home and tea) was giving her the reins completely, she trotted like a dream forward and springy it was great but we can't do this all day I want circles and figures of 8 out of this horse and me. What gets me mad with myself is that I can do all this in walk just fine.

Sorry it's a long one but I could do with some advice/guidance here, thanks.

 

[friedegund]

Is there anyone handy that could come by and put her on a lunge, that way they can be responsible to keep her going forward while you work on your form/seat/hands?

I think that this is the best way to learn, I know I am in the same boat, I am just getting my seat back, and last weekend tried to ride in the ring, transitions were a nightmare and my horse eventually stopped short no doubt from utter confusion!

So, I am now taking lessons, and hopefully will be able to sort things out with someone else around to keep horse going forward.


Good luck to you and your mare , and I do hope that you find someone to give you a hand.

 

[Tangle]

How are you asking her to turn (both in walk and trot)? Are you going for rising or sitting trot?

From your post it sounds like your trot may be a little rusty, but that you're gaining much more trust in your mare . I find I tend to learn in fits and starts - to begin with I'm too unbalanced to ask for what I want, then I get more balanced and start to ask but as the horse gives more my balance goes to pot again..... It sounds like maybe your having a similar problem and you're not quite in control enough of you to be sure of what you're asking from your mare.

It might be worth spending a while working on you - get yourself a neckstrap (and old stirrup leather, a notted lead rope, even a big handfull of mane!) and keep just enough outside rein to keep her on the wall. Have a really baggy inside rein and use the neckstrap to balance if you need to and allow her to trot on in the springy trot you got the other day. If you're tense and a bit off balance she won't be able to relax easily and her head will stay up - as your balance improves she'll relax more, allowing her back to rise and her head to drop. It's a pretty good indicator of how well balanced you are, and it sounds like you're not that far off anyway .

This is also a really good warm-up for your mare - it should help to stretch her topline nicely. As you get more balanced push her on a little bit more and she should really start to swing through her back. I always find that horses are much more responsive when they're moving well .

Hope that helps

 

[Lovecat]

My horse was very green in the school when I first got him and he was used to being turned from legs/weight aids and not the mouth at all. Time and patience has really improved him, but maybe in your case, to begin with, perhaps you could try steering your horse (in walk to start with) by just bending her around your legs and using weight displacement to move her around without too much use of the reins? Then gently add the rein contact to reinforce what you're asking with your seat and legs. Once you're confident that you can steer her like this (although it sounds like you're doing fine if you can do serpentines etc with her!) then move up to trot.

When I was first learning to ride, something I was advised when going into rising trot to keep the impulsion going on a horse that would otherwise fall back into walk was to squeeze/nudge/kick on with every downward movement - ie, bum hits saddle, put leg on - as your position in the saddle at that point is more secure it makes it easier to push them on/keep them going (which is probably very obvious, but I needed telling!).

 

[Willingbe]

"Steering" comes from the leg andweight aids, not from pulling the head round by the mouth.

So for a circle it's:

Open (don't pull) the inside rein to invite the horse into the turn.
Advance the inside hip slightly so there is more pressure on the inside stirrup and seat bone.
Outside leg back to support the quarters and move the horse in from the track.
Close the outside rein against the neck to take the forehand away from the track.
Take your outside shoulder slightly forward which will give the outside rein sufficiently to allow the horse to bend.

The horses body should be bent laterally so it forms the degree of arc for the diameter of the circle, the neck should never be bent more than the body.

Think of your shoulders being parallel to the horses shoulders, your hips parallel to the horses hips.

For corners don't pull on the outside rein to keep the horse out, this may put her into outside bend and without any supporting aid from the inside she will fall through the inside shoulder. Instead keep your inside leg on and supporting her at the girth and weight the outside seatbone and stirrup to keep her out until your ready to make the turn for the corner. Then use the circling aids for the first half of the turn (eighth of a circle) and then bring yourself back to the neutral position on the second half of the turn so she continues in a straight line.