!! "Get off my leg" !!

[Tootsie4U]

As always, transferring what we've learned on groundwork to ridden work tends to confuse my horse. He doesnt quite grasp the connection.

How do you teach a young horse how to move away from your leg (ie. leg yield) *under saddle*?

On the ground, it only takes an ounce of pressure to control any point on his body.

I've diverted my focus to this as a way to help Bon with our long lasting leaning issue. (As Gal, Es, cvb, Karin and many others have suggested to me).

It seems like a simple question doesnt it - but imagine teaching something that goes against a horses' natural instinct!

[Mehitabel]

you need to make sure as many things are the same as possible. so, always use a voice aid when you ar edoing your ground work. i use 'over' and they learn very fast that this means 'sideways of some description, and away from mum'. so we say over at any time they go sideways - turning round to do the gates on the way from the field, moving over when i need to get to the other side, etc.
also a poke in the side roughly where a leg would go.

then when under saddle, i use a combo of weight aids - the horse does respond to these more or less naturally - and the poke, but this time from my leg, and over. i also do it where it makes sense - so round a parked car, i'll ask them to move over. they see the horse in front going round it, they put 2 and 2 together. then 'over' again but the other way to go back into the side of the road. hey presto, you have apony who can leg yield (after a fashion!).

another good way, since i know your hacking is limited, is to have someone on the ground as well - or soemone else on board. initially thre rider just sits there while the ground person does the asking, then you gradually swap round so the rider is doing the asking.

don't be hung up on the natural instinct - remember pretty much everything we do to the horses, riding them, making them stand in stables overnight, is against their instincts. they cope fine with it!

[Southerner]

You get off your horse and teach it to move away from your hand on the ground. Start hindquarters and ask to ove over from gentle touch. Then move back to where your leg would go and ask to move over from there too. Ask to move forehand over from rein on neck in same way and then get back on. Put leg on and horse moves over providing you aren't blocking him at all.

[Lovecat]

I'd agree with Es about the voice and weight aids. When I began to teach Murph to move away from my leg in the saddle the poor bear didn't have a clue what I was asking him for and would speed up in response, but sitting deep and keeping a tighter contact that I would normally do on the opposite rein (tiny little squeezes on it to encourage him over). I also found that weight alone would shift him around the school on a very loose rein and we also had some fun sessions trotting about 'freely' with me just using my weight to position him.

It took him about 2 months (remembering I don't ride him every day and I didn't do this every single time, preferring to come back to it every now and then so as not to bore him) to click and now he yields like a pro (unless I'm moving him out to the scary side of the school, of course, but that's a whole other issue...:rolleyes: )

I seem to have to opposite problem, actually - he'll move away from me when I'm on board no problem, but I have to prod him a good 3-4 times on the ground saying 'ovah!' like a loon before he'll shift his big arras!