Not stopping when I squeeze the reins or say "whoa!!"

[epcd3000]

Boomer, I've noticed, is developing a gosh-awful habit while being ridden, and that is to pull forward on the bit and continue trodding along when I ask him to stop. It got to the point where during my practice ride yesterday, I devoted almost my whole hour to getting him to pay attention to me. I would ask him to walk at one letter, and stop at the next... However he keeps right along, fighting the bit until we make it to a wall where of course, he has to stop.

I'm hoping someone has some advice on what I can do to stop this habit.. Not only is it unacceptable behavior but it's also dangerous as well. He's ridden in a snaffle bit with cheek pieces (right term? It's a " C| " shape) and he has a regular bridle and braided reins. Boomer's not a young guy, either. He's in the 22-ish range!

[Showjumper]

Try asking him to stop, if he doesn't, make him work harder. Circles, serpentines, spirals...then ask him again. When he stops, lavish him with praise (but remember to release pressure on the reins as soon as he stops).

He should soon realise that what you want him to do is easier than what you can make him do.

[LynneAC]

We often do an exercise where we ask our neds to halt WITHOUT using the reins, it's difficult at first but it makes you realise just how much you can rely on them! It may be worth trying, you don't drop the rein contact completely but nor do you pull back at all. It's amazing how quite a few of us were giving contradictory signals of 'stop' with the reins and voice but 'go forwards' with our seat/legs/back.

Good luck and hope that makes sense ......

[Lovecat]

Interestingly enough, Murph did this to me when we were out in the forest on Saturday morning - we set off in trot, he sped up more than I wanted him to (his riding companion is only 13.3hh & can't trot that fast!), when I tried to get him back he ignored me completely and continued trotting (not getting any faster but resolutely ignoring my aids to get him to go slower or walk - I tried the slowing of my rising, bracing my back against him, weight/seat aids, voice aids, yanking back on the reins... eventually I got him to come to a stop by bridging the reins, putting all my weight back on the saddle and going 'WHOOOAAH!"

My friend came up & rode alongside me and when we were preparing to go into trot again she said I should shorten my reins before asking for trot - a LOT more than I thought I needed to - and if he tried to get strong again to give him a short, firm yank on one side and then immediately release. She said rather than giving and taking with the reins as is often advised, take first, then give when they're listening to you - otherwise they'll end up pulling on the bit and you'll never get control back. We did several sessions of slow, collected trotting along the bridlepaths for the next half hour or more and I found he suddenly started listening to me! In the lesson this morning it was so windy he was trying to race away in trot and I applied the same principle - again, almost instant result and I was able to then 'release' him a little as he was now listening. I do tend to ride Murph on a long rein, because he's fairly laid-back - I reckon I need to reassess my notion of what 'contact' is!

Hope this helps and you find the right solution for Boomer...

[epcd3000]

I was worried about yanking his brains out yesterday because my instructors have told me to give pressure, then release and soi on. Lovecat I always made more sense of what you said, with applying pressure until they stop and THEN release, as they would figure out the reward of no mouth pressure when they listen. You guys gave me some helpful tips; thanks!

[welshcoblady1]

Hello, may i suggest afew things for you to try.
instead of just pulling the reins ,try sitting tall and instead of just pulling back on the reins ,tuck your bottom under you a little as you just stop allowing the forward movement with your hands by not pulling back ,just stop the soft allowing movement of your hands ,the effect this has is as follows.
you are blocking forward movement with your hands.
and with tucking your bottom under(half halt) you are blocking forward movement with your seat. however as soon as your pony has come to halt ,soften again and allow forward.

another thing you can try is to sit up right ,stop the forward movement with your hands and sqeeze with your knee into the saddle ,this hinders forward movement and he may start to slow
then halt ,do not sqeeze all the time just every other stride .

your old horse has learnt all the tricks now so is just showing you what he has been allowed to get away with .

these are afew things you can try i am happy to suggest more if you would like to know .
best wishes .

[galadriel]

I was going to say something along the same lines as welshcoblady :)

It sounds to me like you may be leaning forward when you're asking for the halt. Leaning forward actually makes it harder for the horse to slow down; given conflicting signals (leaning forward, but pulling on reins) a horse will usually go with whatever's easier. If this is contributing, then it could be that 1) you've always done it, and are doing it more than you used to, or 2) were not riding quite the way you usually do today--this does happen sometimes.

If you got tense when he wouldn't slow, that often *causes* you to curl forward. If the horse you're riding isn't responding to "slow" aids, then it's important to make sure that you are sitting straight or even have shifted your weight back a bit.

[LittleD]

We did the same exercise walking around indoor stopping at letter, walking on stopping at letter, on the last letter my horse stopped and began to walk backwards so fast that she trod on her own back foot and fell down onto her left bum and then onto her side - fortunatly I was thrown further from her and got up and out of it asap, but after managing 7 letters perfectly well what happend to make her do this?