lazy mare

[baby_steps]

hullo

At the minute I am riding a 4 year old mare for her owner and i cant get her to move forward. She was broken this spring but was never really brought on. She doesn't listen to your leg, voice or a stick. i dont know what to do to get her to understand that your leg means go forward. We've even resorted to chasing her with a lunge whip to get some movement and she only responds to that for the day and then goes back to her own way after that. her trot and canter are very downhill and if you try to get her head up she just stops. I am beginning to give up hope with her. Any ideas?

[galadriel]

Have you ever worked with a completely green horse before?

It sounds to me like this horse just doesn't KNOW any aids. Probably chasing her around and getting upset at her has only confused her, and made her less likely to respond well. Horses don't learn when they're afraid.

Horses aren't born knowing the aids. You have to teach them.

I don't like to get on any horse unless I know it is already responding to voice in groundwork. I want the horse to respond *solely* to voice, not to voice AND lead rope or voice AND lunge line, etc. I have an article on training voice commands here:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/200-voice_commands/

I started working with 6 horses, every weekday, in the middle of August. I started riding ONE of those horses at about the end of September. I have spent the rest of the time with these horses working on groundwork, voice commands, and also recovery from pre-existing physical issues. I'm now riding two, and may test ride a third one tomorrow.

There is a tremendous amount of preparatory work required before you just climb on a horse's back. The horse needs to know enough to respond *before* you ride. The horse needs to respond well enough to voice that you can get him to listen even when he can't see you, and may be confused about what you want.

First you will get the horse to respond to the voice commands that he already knows. Then, gradually, you will begin to help the horse associate those commands with seat, leg, and rein aids. Eventually the horse should be able to respond just from the seat, leg, and rein, but initially you'll have to give him a LOT of help in figuring out what you're asking.

[welshcoblady1]

hello. your lazy mare is young and unbalanced and having to learn to balance her self thus carry you to.

it sounds like a big part of her starting education has been missed
i would go back to carefull lunging ensuring she understands voice aids ,have a freind quietly and slowly lunge her and encourage her forward as you give the walk aid ,and see that you are soft in the seat and moving with her do not worry about head carriage at this stage just a soft contact.
if the freind on the end of the lunge rein gently encourages her forward then make the circle bigger to encourage her forward.
just a short lesson the first time and end on a pleasant note and reward her well. see that you are sitting up right with a soft lower back and seat if she lowers her head ,thats a good thing
as she will be using her back and bringing her back legs well under her so she will be more balanced and comfortable as she learns to carry you with time.and slowly proceed from there .
best wishes .