Steering problems

[Zingy]

Need some advice on how to correct this please :)

I have a steering problem with the horse I normally drive :o He's incredibly nosey and also likes put his opinion forward of where we should be going during lessons. So if we pass a lane where there is either something going on (like someone walking down the pavement) or it's a lane that he sometimes goes down or that he knows there's a field with horses in or something, he turns his head to stare down it.

At the same time, he drifts through the opposite shoulder, so we end up either heading for the pavement or the middle of the road :eek:

If he's looking right and heading left, then using my left rein means we hit the kerb. Using my right rein means he looks further right then we rapidly end up way too far over to the right.

Ridden, I'd use my left leg to correct him, but obviously I haven't got one, so what do I do? I'm told I need to stop him doing it in the first place, but if it was that easy I wouldn't have a problem :rolleyes:

[jinglejoys]

Has he got blinkers?

[Zingy]

Yes, he does have blinkers. So to be nosey he has to turn his head - and there my problems start!

[Icklewillow]

i have always been told to stop and start in this sort of situation.( pony/horse going where they want) i have had a few battles before but by stopping i have given a command, when i ask them to go again its me who has inictated it and so i normally have them going where i wan plus this way i have time to thing how to tackle the situation!! , but you really need to be solid with what you are asking them, without legs for control its kinda hard! when i was learning to drive the pony wouldnt listen to me at all! nightmare..

[Alfies-slave]

When you are driving you have no leggs... but you have a whip! Think of the whip as your legs! The idea is that the horse moves away from it. The whip is to aid turning, also fine adjustment ie, budge the horse over to where you want it and to distract the horse in an emergancey. The last thing the whip is for is to increase speed. Think of it like using your legs in ridden lateral work.

What you need to do is to school the horse to the whip and the voice. You need to teach the horse to move away from the tickle of the whip on its shoulder. You will achieve this more quickly if you get the horse moving away from pressure on the ground. Trainingthe horse to the voice ie, teach him his left from his right! The voice is also a very useful aid.

Don't take this personaly, I have never seen you drive... but to have effective and efficient control of the whip you must hold the reins properly (Coachman)so that you don't loose your contact when you use the whip.

Stopping when the horse is distracted is probably not the way to go as it will not always be convenient, for example if you are going up a hill or you have trafic behind you. You could well train the horse in to stopping every time he sees something interesting. Remember who is driving who, it is all to easy to become a passenger rather than a driver.

If this all seems elaborate, just try a tickle of the whip to distract the horse and I bet it will get his mind back on the job!

[Zingy]

When you are driving you have no leggs... but you have a whip! Think of the whip as your legs! The idea is that the horse moves away from it. The whip is to aid turning, also fine adjustment ie, budge the horse over to where you want it and to distract the horse in an emergancey. The last thing the whip is for is to increase speed. Think of it like using your legs in ridden lateral work.

What you need to do is to school the horse to the whip and the voice. You need to teach the horse to move away from the tickle of the whip on its shoulder. You will achieve this more quickly if you get the horse moving away from pressure on the ground. Trainingthe horse to the voice ie, teach him his left from his right! The voice is also a very useful aid.

Don't take this personaly, I have never seen you drive... but to have effective and efficient control of the whip you must hold the reins properly (Coachman)so that you don't loose your contact when you use the whip.

Stopping when the horse is distracted is probably not the way to go as it will not always be convenient, for example if you are going up a hill or you have trafic behind you. You could well train the horse in to stopping every time he sees something interesting. Remember who is driving who, it is all to easy to become a passenger rather than a driver.

If this all seems elaborate, just try a tickle of the whip to distract the horse and I bet it will get his mind back on the job!

He's not my horse, just the horse I drive for lessons, so he does know what he's doing. I'm being taught coachman, so can use the whip and reins at the same time.

I'll try the whip on his shoulder and see where that gets me. His owner (my instructor) doesn't have the same problem with him - I think it's one of those things that he knows he has to do it all properly for her, plus she can correct him way quicker than I can at the moment. With me with voice aids I often get the feeling he's just going "yeah right. Make me" :rolleyes: I find myself using the whip far more than I would like, as even then I feel he takes little notice.

It normally takes me about half the lesson to get him listening at all, and yesterday was a corker. Most of the time in trot he was trying to tank off, then he decided to trot on the spot instead and when asked to go forward he cantered on the spot. My instructor took over for a while and he kept playing up with her as well. He then started going up the road in a nice shoulder in :rolleyes:There was nothing wrong with him at all, just had a mood on.

It feels like learning to ride all over again and though I know I'm making mistakes, I do think he takes advantage of it. I'm so used to long reining my lot and them doing what I want as well that I expect him to respond rather better than he does. No doubt I will improve, I just feel rather :( about it at the moment. And my arms are killing me after yesterday as well :(

[Libbyo]

It feels like learning to ride all over again and though I know I'm making mistakes, I do think he takes advantage of it. I'm so used to long reining my lot and them doing what I want as well that I expect him to respond rather better than he does. No doubt I will improve, I just feel rather :( about it at the moment. And my arms are killing me after yesterday as well :(

It is learning all over again. Its a completly different skill to riding. Id go with the whip, and try to see the thing that might be goinmg to interest him before he does and be ready to remind him that you are in control.

And Yes, dosnt it make your arms ache at times. Mine are aching this morning from driving in the hayfield yesterday using the bales as cones!

I love it!

[jinglejoys]

Yes, he does have blinkers. So to be nosey he has to turn his head - and there my problems start!

So why not drive him without?:)

[Zingy]

So why not drive him without?:)

Not my horse, he's only ever driven in blinkers, and driving instructor would have heart failure at the very thought of it :D She was telling me yesterday about people wanting to drive blinkerless and bitless - nearly fell over when I said I knew of people who did it :D

I did have a similar thing when I started long-reining my little one in blinkers, but he rapidly got used to it and stopped wandering. Now he only does it when we pass dogs, which he doesn't like anyway. Apart from that I can keep him straight without any problems.

I think this is more a case of how do I correct it with this horse, given that I can't change any of the fundamentals or do any kind of schooling. He knows his job, I'm still getting to grips with mine and I'm having one of those 1 step forward, 2 steps back moments :o

[tazzle22]

and driving instructor would have heart failure at the very thought of it She was telling me yesterday about people wanting to drive blinkerless and bitless - nearly fell over when I said I knew of people who did it

that is just the reaction we get from some ... though thankfully not all ... "traditional" drivers / instructors. does she not realse we are not just "wanting" to to it, we actually DO do it :rolleyes::D:rolleyes:.... and drive just as well as (if not better than some - we did get 3 second placings in le trec ;) ) "normal" driven horses.



echo re the whip ......... its an aid

Taz was just the same as this horse, she is far to nosey and putting blinkers on her made the turning worse not better .... although she didn't drift over (very much)when she did it. The move over with the whip part also stops dropping in on a turn / circle which is what Taz sometimes does..... especially since we started doing cone / obstacle stuff where I did want a tight turn :rolleyes:

have fun