How to be in charge of ponio from the beginning...?

[Nazdaq]

I was wondering, how can I get over my natural placid nature and take control of the pony I ride in lessons from the beginning of a lesson? I have hour long group lessons once a week, and each time I go to a lesson, I start off being really nice to ponio with really soft hands/aids etc. and Merlin is cheeky so he takes advantage. Then gradually over about a half hour I gradually take charge and I am in control then, telling him what to do most of the time although occasionally he does try to evade the corners of the school or follow his mates instead of doing what I want.

My question is, how can I reach this in control state quicker in lessons? At the moment I feel I am only getting half an hour of good riding per hour as the other half is spent reaquainting myself with Merlin and his temperament and taking control lol! I do tap him with the whip if he is not listening (not on his bum he doesn't like it!) usually just behind my leg, or on his shoulder if he is really naughty. I also circle him around tight if he tries to catch up to the other ponios when I didn't tell him to so that he knows he doesn't get any closer to them by not listening. Is there anything else I can do to take charge quicker?

I also think it could be because my leg aids are weak as I haven't been riding long, even though I do excersises to strengthen my legs, like walking lots, and doing squats and heel stretches at home. I also got told by a more experienced friend that my legs do have the muscles for good leg aids because they don't hurt when I ride now, is this true? Maybe I am just weak-willed and its not my legs lol!

Thanks for any advice in advance. :D

[SJ wanabe]

You have to think about what you are doing as soon as you get on. Get a good contact down the reins( so you can feel the horses head down the rein, if you want to know how much weight there should be attatch some string to the back of a chair and tilt it holding the string like reins.) Back this contact up by wrapping your legs around your horse so that your leg is 'on' the horse all the time. You can do this by pushing the weight dow thre back of your legs and making sure they are touching the horse all the time. Then as soon as you think that the horse is starting to take advantage take a slightly stronger contact and squeeze your legs into its side. Hope this helps!:D

[Skib]

I go to a lesson, I start off being really nice to ponio with really soft hands/aids etc. and Merlin is cheeky so he takes advantage. Then gradually over about a half hour I gradually take charge and I am in control then, telling him what to do most of the time

Riding is not about being nice to ponio.
It is not about being nasty either.
Nor is it true that you must MUST start the lesson as you need to go on. You have shown you can get control later. So dont panic if it doesn work too well at first.
But at begining of lesson when you first get on, decide what you want?
Like stand still?
Walk on, and if walk how active?
Ask politely and gently. Not because you want him to like you, but because that is good riding.
If no result, I usually ask a second time, at that same pressure, or a little more.
But after that use your leg again and back up with the whip. No nonsense.

You dont need strong legs to ride a horse. I am an oap. My left leg doesnt work well. You only need to tell the horse that you expect him to listen to you and do his job.

[Nazdaq]

Thanks for that Skib, I know thats that is what I have to do, and I can do it, because like you say I do get control eventually in a lesson, every lesson, so its not all that bad I guess. Will it just take practice to get it consistently right? Thanks again. :D

[neen]

Hi Nazdaq

If the thought of "taking charge" is a problem for you (I sympathise!) it might help to think of it as getting the pony to listen, instead. It is easier to do this from the get go, otherwise you have a bit of an "Excuse me... hello?" process to go through to get her listening later.

When I'm riding on my own I do lots of starts and stops and changes of direction in my warm up, all at walk. Then ponio gets the message that he'd better pay attention in case he misses something. But sometimes if you're riding with other people, this isn't practical, unless you're all used to riding in open order and can avoid collisions. If you're riding in a ride, a useful tip my RI gave me is to ride right into the corners right from the beginning. It won't disrupt the ride, and there are lots of corners in the school (4, in fact! I've counted 'em!) so you get lots of opportunities to get your message across. And you'll find if you ride right into the first few corners, riding into the others will be much much easier, because the ponio is now waiting to see whether you will ask her to do that at every corner. Whereas if you sit quietly in the beginning and don't ask for anything, it might take her a while to notice when you change your mind and start making requests.

Hope that helps! Let us know.

[Nazdaq]

thanks for that Neen, so simple yet makes perfect sense! You make me giggle with your sense of humour, its great lol! Thanks again :D I can't wait for my next lesson, I have MY FIRST!! Hack next week (OMG I'm so excited!) and the week after that hopefully I can practice everything that you have said. Any tips to get my pony listening to me on a hack? Will he be more frisky becuase he is out and about? Thanks :D

[Skib]

Any tips to get my pony listening to me on a hack? Will he be more frisky becuase he is out and about? Thanks :D

l learned to ride through a combination of school lessons with hacking. I think it is a brilliant way to learn.

But as with everything, how a horse behaves when out hacking depends on the individual horse. On whether you are in a group or out alone with your teacher. Whether the horse knows the route. And how you ride.

In lots of ways, hacking is easier for a beginner than riding in the school. Horses are herd animals. They follow the horse in front. They will carry a beginner safely, just like a passenger and indeed it is better if you stay relaxed and enjoy the ride and don't worry.

The main task you have as a beginner out hacking is to

prevent your horse getting too close to the horse in front and

prevent it lagging too far behind?

If your ponio is slow in the school, he might be slow out too. It makes sense to a RS horse, as he reduces the amount of work he has to do.

But the teacher who is with you will advise you how to do that. My general rule for a safe distance in walk (taken from USA trail rides) is that you must be able to see the back feet of the horse in front.

If a big gap opens up between lazy ponio and the horse in front, he may (perversely) decide he prefers to be with his friends in the herd. And start trotting to catch up. So if you are a new rider and a gap does open up, watch out for that.

Will he be more excited? If there is a place on a hack where the horses are used to trotting, or cantering, they may think that that is their job at that place? In that case, don't pull on the reins. Stay relaxed and calm. if you are relaxed and breathing easily, the horse is likely to stay in walk.

Out hacking, on a beginners hack and a safe pony you don't need to have the pony constantly listening to you. You need just to adjust and fine tune the speed and direction. The pony knows the hack better than you do. And is with other horses (or one other horse).
Being with the herd will keep you and him safe. However, if for any reason you do need to take drastic action to make a horse do something different from all the other horses on the hack, you have to be much stronger and more insistent than in the school. For instance if all the other horses trot or canter, it will be harder for the rider to ask their horse just to stand and wait on its own. When you get further with your riding, you may learn to control your horse like this, as an exercise. But no one will ask you to do anything difficult on your first hack.

Enjoy it. And hope it isnt raining. You are in for a treat.

[Nazdaq]

Thanks very much Skib, that puts me at ease, I will try to relax! Thanks again. :D

[kyanya]

I'm sure the hack will be lots of fun - at least I hope it will! I'm really looking forward to having a relaxed pootle around the countryside.

For your first hack, I'd say just enjoy it and don't worry too much about getting the horse listening to you. It's different in a school situation, but out hacking is your perfect opportunity to just enjoy riding for what it is. Just let hacking work it's wonders on you - it's why I ride, and it gives me so much confidence :)

[Cupcake]

I'm proberly not the best person to be giving advice :p Skye and i have a very relaxed way to riding, it's very:

Me: Ok let's go.
Skye: Yes as soon as i've finished eating.
Me: How about now?
Skye: Such tasty grass!

Haha but when i want her attention she'll give it to me quite quickly. Give firm nudges and if he responds to your voice use that. I use my reins and legs very little, rather use my voice.

[Nazdaq]

Cupcake, I am in a group lesson, and although I had thought of using my voice, I don't want the other riders and RI to think I have gone dolally! I was so frustrated with him last lesson I did talk to him, said c'mon Merlin! and nudge, nudged with my legs, and he did go quite readily, so maybe he just needs telling! Thanks alot, I am a bit nervous about this hack now, although I think its because I don't know which pony I will get! :p :D

[Cupcake]

Aw i'm sure it'll be fine :D I've always used my voice with skye and have got a few *cough* she's a horse not a person *cough* :D But you'll do fine!!