Pony that does not want to go forward

[gems tiger]

My friend has just purchased a lovely 13.3 cob gelding. Who i am part loaning off her. (sorry its long & for my spelling)

Zebedee is 10 years old and has comp at pony club level. He is very capable of a little dressage test, local level show jumping & has been very well schooled in the past.

The only problem that we have encountered with him so far ( he has been with us for nearly two weeks now) is the fact that he some times does not want to go forward & no amount of leg backed up by the occasional crop will incourage him to do so, Its as if in his opinion he will move when he is good and ready.

He is better behaved for me and has only tryed this aproch with me a few times. But the problem realy arrises when his owner (Nic, who is quite novice but confident & capable) rides him.

For example, Nic rode out on her own sat, I was on my way home from the yard and passed her on the road. She was on the floor and leading him in hand. I stopped and she told me that he would not go forward for her. I told her to get back on and try again. But this was to no avail. So I mounted up and put my leg on without a crop, he moved off straight away with pleanty of impulsion.:rolleyes: Once i thought he was going forward quite well i told nic to re mount and i would watch her ride off. He went forward for her, but at a very slow (i might just stop at any moment ) pace.

I was wondering if any one could recomend some schooling exercises which improve slow horses impulsion or incorage them to be more forward going. Without having to use the constant kick & whip method.

Many thanks

Gemma, Kito, sweep & Zeb

:D

[Mehitabel]

it sounds to me like it's a problem that nic needs to sort out in her own handling. if he's better for a more assertive rider, than nic needs to become more assertive herself.
zebedee needs to accept nic as his boss, which it doen't sound like he does at the minute, and know that when she says go he had jolly well better go!

there are a million and one different ways to do that ,so she needs to have some general management and handling help as well as lessons ridden to help her become more assertive.

[gems tiger]

Thanks for the reply Es,

Some thing that I did not make clear in my other post was that Nic is only twelve and very new to horse ownership, She is a capable rider and is assertive when she askes him to move, he just ignores her & not me (why i dont know, it could be because i am bigger and have more power behind my legs). She is going to have lessons on him in the future, but our out door school is still not finished, so it's up to us at the moment.

The reason I asked if anyone knew of some schooling tec, was so I could try to work with both of them on the matter. Its just not a problem I have encountered with any of the horses I have owned/ridden in the past. Its usualy the other way round, in that I have problems stopping. I am just concerned that a very capable pony will end up dead to the leg through excessive kicking and hitting.

Any advice would be greatly recived.

[Mehitabel]

is she very small physically?

in theory, power behind your legs shouldn't matter - the horse can feel a fly land on it, so should be able to react to a very light leg aid. however, in the real world, this isn't always so!

if i were teaching her, i'd give her a schooling whip and when he doesn't respond to a sensible leg aid, get her to use it - once - and hard. this won't make him dead to the leg - if she is consistent in using it when the leg aid is ignored, he will soon twig that he's better off going off the first, light leg aid. then lots of praise when he does move and be careful not to get left behind and catch him in the mouth.

what will get him dead to the leg is a constant kick-kick-kick and no consequences for ignoring it. if nothing happens when he ignores the leg, why on earth would he respond?

if she's a small girl, then he might be less inclined to respect her - some horses are like that, especially if they're a bit thuggish by nature as some cobs are.

it may well resolve itself as she gets more confident around him - if she's new to horse ownership then she may well be a bit tentative in her handling, and most horses will take the pee a bit in that situation. often, respect and attention on the ground translates nicely into respect and attention ridden.

how does she handle him otherwise? does she let him get away with things like fidgeting? does he push his luck?

[Miriam]

Es she does use a schooling crop but he still ignores it. Although I still think she sometimes does not follow up with the crop quick enough.

From the ground Nic is very authoritive with him. She has learnt (the hard way with me and Rhi as she is the kind of horse who will take the mick if she wants) that she must not let a horse take the mick with her and that she has to be assertive . I'm pleased to say she seems to have carried this on with her and her own pony.

[Big Ears]

our cob was like that - and difficult to work with on the ground.

we found natural horsemanship worked wonders for her, using a wop. if she didn't respond at once, she was pulled in a circle, backed up, anything to make her uncomfortable, then asked again for what was required. she learnt quickly and was soon able to walk 4 trot 4 walk 4 with light aids as she respected the command. it took about 3=4 weeks of working on the ground with her with a pressure halter,t hen transferring the movement/obedience to ridden work.

with the rope wop, she was wopped until the moment she moved, then it stopped immediately, and was used again the minute she wavered/resisted. eventually she hardly needed the wop.

the key thing is that the aid has to be black and white, i.e. if they don't respond there are immediate consequences, being pulled off balance, turned suddenly, etc, so that they know that they have not done well, and great praise when they get it right.

good luck.