how to make pony a bit (!) more forward

[notpoodle]

since we got the treeless, angel seems to be moving more freely in general and is not quite as lazy as she used to. i would like to build on this somehow (have a lesson booked for next weekend, too!) and get her going a bit more, uhm, smoothly (ie not plodding around on the forehand so much!) and energetically. whats the best way to go about this? ie. how can i convince her it would be a good idea to do so?

julia
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[Showjumper]

What I do with Dolly is ask and as soon as she responds, I remove the pressure. If I feel her starting to slow down, I ask again, and remove the aid when she responds. You may find yourself applying the aid every couple of seconds to begin with, but she'll quickly work out that the way to the easiest life is just to stay at your speed, and you shouldn't have to keep re-applying the aids.

[RodeoDreamer33]

ALL I CAN SAY IS MAKE SURE YOU ARE ENERGETIC!! as most know, your nerves travel right through to the horse's body. When your nervous your horse is too. THis can also be helpful sometiems! Make sure you feel excited and energetic so your horse does too!

[Shiny McShine]

The way the rider applies and reinforces the aids will determine how well their horse goes forward. The rider needs to always start with the lightest aid possible (the one that they ideally want the horse to respond to) and then increase the aids stepwise until the horse responds in the desired way.

If your horse is lazy you need to always insist that she goes at the speed you require. If she moves off sluggishly you need to continue reinforcing your aid until she moves off briskly (or however you require). Sometimes, it may take a sharp tap with a whip to finally get the message across, however, once she knows what your expectations are she should try to meet them more often, if you are consistent.

[Bay Mare]

Transitions and direct transitions can spark them up a bit because they have to listen to you. Quick transitions where you do, say, six trot strides, six walk strides, six trot strides can be helpful and will also get her listening to you.

Also, with horses who can tend to be a bit lazy initially, getting a canter in fairly early can help.

With regards to getting her back end working better try lots of school figures and lateral work.

Through all this, though, you need to keep balanced and still. If you start trying to make her go faster with your body all you are doing is shifting your weight around which could unbalance her or just be plain annoying :)

[notpoodle]

were doing lots of transitions every time we ride which seems to work quite well overall (normally takes a couple of goes then she gets the idea). will try showjumpers idea as well - which i have been attemtping to do, but i dont think i was consistent enough with it, to be honest :rolleyes:

i dont feel nervous/excited when im riding (thank god angel is a plod 99% of the time!), but i shall try my best :D

julia
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[alwaysfallingof]

Oats!!! :p
Only joking, of course, but I did have one serious thought...honest! :o

Is she more forward going at the beginning of the ride then gets sluggisher and sluggisher, or do you stay at a steady plod the whole way round?
You could try putting out cones and poles and things to play with and keep her interest, see if it might make her a bit more enthusiastic?

[notpoodle]

tried to kepp it pacier today, ie no plodding aimlessly was allowed and we spent most of the ride 'busy' in trot and canter with figures of eight, transitions etc. seemed to do the trick :)

if the weather is nice tomorrow ill maybe ride her in the field (found out you CAN ride in the winterfield that does not have horses in it and its right by the yard so i am visible to people should something go wrong!), i think shed like that :)

julia
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[NoviceNic]

Notpoodle - Just a thought but is Angel lazy or worn out. Captain really struggled in my last lesson and my instructor has advised a bit of mix and chaff to give him a bit more energy. I am riding him every night now. Be careful if you give a little hard feed though as you don't want Angel turning into a race horse. :p

[KarinUS]

Walter Zettl (Dressage in Harmony ) was the inspiration for our warm up routine.
When I get on I let DJ walk out on a loose rein around the arena a couple of time in each direction. That allows him to stretch and adjust without any interference to his head/ forward movement. When I pick up the reins I ask for trot, perhaps some canter transitions, etc. before we attempt any more collected work.
During trail rides Dj was becoming kind of pokey but I noticed it's because we usually have to walk or trot at a pace that allows Ray and Missy to keep up and he sort of tunes out. Now I let DJ graze while Ray and Missy go ahead and then they wait for us. That let's us canter on the trail without endangering Ray. The bit of faster work really seems to wake DJ up and keep him interested.

[ridingwood]

Just a thought, is you pony getting plenty of variety in her work? Are you hacking her out much? My mare is hard to canter in the field but will go like a train out hunting or on a sponsored ride in a straight line. They sometimes find it a bit difficult, especially if she's young.

[notpoodle]

shes hacked out a couple of times a week (not very far though cos the hacking around here is poo).

@ novicenic: she is getting alfalfa and a bit of fibrenuts (the non-grain variety) every day.

i also allow time for walking on a long rein to let her have a stretch (which she does do, angel likes to stretch).

didnt ride today, but will try the field tomorrow, hopefully - that should cheer her up :)

julia
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[NoviceNic]

Julia - The feed sounds good. Captain used to be fed on Alfafa when he was a riding school cob. I had a lesson tonight and Captain and I are doing brilliantly. My instructor has told me that Captain is really working hard in the lessons now. He said that at first Captain was lazy,bored and ploddy. But we have brought loads of new ideas into the lessons and Captain enjoys them more now. We jumped 2ft tonight. :D Finally got to that 2ft mark. Now I am working on the 3ft mark. :p See if you can ask your instructor to come up with different exciting challenges and see if Angel starts to pep up a bit more.

[notpoodle]

got my first lesson at the new yard on saturday. should be interesting :)

julia
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