Motivation? Whats that?

[Danae]

Hey again. I have a question regarding my sister's horse.

She wants me to ride this new mare of her's, Sarah. My sister said she has absolutely no motivation at all. My sister tried to ride her Sunday and said she couldn't get here out of a walk and then tried to lounge her and she wouldn't go above a trot. This mare is very strong willed and has absolutely no motivation to do anything. Nothing is wrong health wise, she's 100% sound and has no hoof problems. The mare is just slap out lazy.

So my question is, what can I do to pep her up a little bit? I'm not quite sure if I'm going to start working with Sara since my sister has to work, but if I do, I'd like to know a few ways to get her into a trot atleast! Thanks so much. :)

[Mehitabel]

try to make things fun for her. is she fit? is there anything she likes doing, like poles or jumping? does she prefer going out? when petal came back into work after 3 years off having operations and babies, she wsa convinced she was a brood mare and why on earth was i asking her to run round a school? was i insane? there was a stable empty and food to be eaten for heaven's sake. so we stuck to going out for rides, and going with her favourite sister, and going for walks inhand where she got to eat some grass and so on. as she got fitter, we introduced some schooling, with lots of vocal praise and encouragement. i still have to get really excited and rev her up to get a decent canter in the smaller school. use a really upbeat tone of voice when you ask her to do anything, and go overboard with the praise when she makes an effort. also, always end on a good note, so her last memory of being ridden is always a positive one.

[HorseDancer]

Talk with your vet and see if he/she recommends different types of feeding and/or supplements. Every horse is different and perhaps this one just needs a little something with some oomph.

[lamprellsarah]

my mare wasn't that motivated, the fitter she gets the more motivated!!i also feed her on competition mix although she is in fairly hard work!!
take her out with other horses, do fun stuff, like jumping and games with other horses!!
schooling and lunging do seem very borying to soem horses!!