With a busy class schedule that keeps me occupied three nights a week, I'm only able to ride Max on Thursday nights and weekends (and occassionally on Friday). I hadn't ridden in three days so it was great to get back on Max. Also, while I think Max doesn't mind the time off (I KNOW he doesn't mind the time off!), I think he was glad to see me.
With the days now growing shorter again, I'm going to find myself riding more and more in the dark around the track and less and less going out on the trail. Yes, I've ridden the trails at night but it's not my favorite thing to do unless I'm with people- too much weirdness out there. I usually do laps around the track and work on various things in the arena, which has lighting.
Last night, we worked on increasing responsiveness to the leg (squeezing the legs as opposed to jamming spurs or kicking) and maintaining whatever pace/gait I want. Max has always been a bit of a lazy horse and I have often have to kick him hard or tap him whith the crop to get him to go with any sort of forward motion (hustle as I call it). Now we're focusing on training Max to be more sensitive to the leg rather than simply nagging him.
The key, at first, is to squeeze with the legs and see he responds. If not, they you have to either kick him three or so times or smack him with the crop hard and then back off. For example, if you're walking and you want him to transition into a forward walk, you squeeze you legs. If he responds with a faster walk, great. If not or he responds slowly, then you have to back off and either kick or smack with the crop sharply- not a lot but you're impressing into him that you mean business. It sounds brutal but it's not (Note: in none of this is the horse in any danger of injury!). Basically it's like a drillp sergeant.
Once you've disciplined him, then try again. After two or three times, he should get the idea. In Max's case, he picked up pretty fast that I would seriously get on his case if he didn't pick up the pace and by the end of our riding session, he was a lot more sensitive with the leg aid and pretty much was doing what he was supposed to be doing. The trick is to impress him that he's to maintain a desired pace rather than slow down again.
Of course, if Max was a hot horse, then you'd have to adopt another tack. The basic idea is not to be "peddling your horse" where you are literally having to kick him every step (I've had to do that and it's no fun, trust me!). Basically, you don't want to reserve your kicking/spurring and using the crop for when you really need it and basically you're telling the horse "you better get going or things are going to get worse!".
We have a long way to go but essentially I'm making Max responsible for maintaining the pace rather than me having to constantly nag him. One more thing on the road to good riding.
With the days now growing shorter again, I'm going to find myself riding more and more in the dark around the track and less and less going out on the trail. Yes, I've ridden the trails at night but it's not my favorite thing to do unless I'm with people- too much weirdness out there. I usually do laps around the track and work on various things in the arena, which has lighting.
Last night, we worked on increasing responsiveness to the leg (squeezing the legs as opposed to jamming spurs or kicking) and maintaining whatever pace/gait I want. Max has always been a bit of a lazy horse and I have often have to kick him hard or tap him whith the crop to get him to go with any sort of forward motion (hustle as I call it). Now we're focusing on training Max to be more sensitive to the leg rather than simply nagging him.
The key, at first, is to squeeze with the legs and see he responds. If not, they you have to either kick him three or so times or smack him with the crop hard and then back off. For example, if you're walking and you want him to transition into a forward walk, you squeeze you legs. If he responds with a faster walk, great. If not or he responds slowly, then you have to back off and either kick or smack with the crop sharply- not a lot but you're impressing into him that you mean business. It sounds brutal but it's not (Note: in none of this is the horse in any danger of injury!). Basically it's like a drillp sergeant.
Once you've disciplined him, then try again. After two or three times, he should get the idea. In Max's case, he picked up pretty fast that I would seriously get on his case if he didn't pick up the pace and by the end of our riding session, he was a lot more sensitive with the leg aid and pretty much was doing what he was supposed to be doing. The trick is to impress him that he's to maintain a desired pace rather than slow down again.
Of course, if Max was a hot horse, then you'd have to adopt another tack. The basic idea is not to be "peddling your horse" where you are literally having to kick him every step (I've had to do that and it's no fun, trust me!). Basically, you don't want to reserve your kicking/spurring and using the crop for when you really need it and basically you're telling the horse "you better get going or things are going to get worse!".
We have a long way to go but essentially I'm making Max responsible for maintaining the pace rather than me having to constantly nag him. One more thing on the road to good riding.
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