Hi, i'm new here and need some tips

[raindancer]

I have a 12 year old QH gelding and 5 year old QH mare. I have only had the gelding for a few months and when riding him, have found that he does not rein well (wants to go his way instead of mine) and wants to trot and canter too fast. I have very little direction control and don't want to move into a faster gait then a walk with out better steering. I have been told to control his speed first but i am not sure on that. Which should i work on first? He is also not good at stopping. So.....i have 3 problems and i'm not sure which to work on first. What do you all think? Thanks

Oh yeah......all i am after with this horse is a nice, fun trail horse but he is for my husband who is a very novice rider and i want this gelding responding very well before i turn him over.

["GEMMA_FROST"]

I would teach him halt first. Teach a good halt by becoming lifeless in the the saddle and breathing out heavily (so the horse can hear it) No matter what we're doing my horses will stop as soon as I do this, it's great! Ocasionally ask him for a few steps back as this will improve the halt because the horse will be waiting to see if you ask for rein-back.
Then I would work on his steering. You basically want to be able to control each hoof on your horse. You want to be able to disengage the fore limbs and the hindquarters. Disengaging the hindquarters is simply a turn on the fore-hand and disengaging the fore limbs is a turn on the hindquarters. When you have these established in halt then try manouvering your horse in walk. Asking him to drift his hindquarters out or disengage his hidquarters. Play around with him to the point where you feel you have control over wherever his hooves go. If he's not turning take your hand right out into the direction you want to go and look in the same diretion. If you need to use your opposite leg to push on the girth to make it very clear to the horse that "we are going this way".
Then I would go into trot and canter and work on the speed issues. If he is going to fast then you need to make it clear you want to slow down by sitting up real tall and straight and perhaps even thinking "back". This works with all my horses most of the time but occasionally I do need to half-halt them on the outside rein to make it clear I want them to steady a bit.
Having a horse who is understanding and willing to do everything you ask will make him a much funner ride.
By the way this is exactly how the trainer taught our 4yo WB and she is magnificent and an absolute pleasure to work with so I hope you find something that works for your gelding too.

[Susie xx]

I second everything Gemma says. Perhaps you could work on leading and groundwork first. Most horses learn doing simple daily things like leading into and out of the stable. Being scratched and brushed and feeling a flat palm asking for a move over in the stable. My kids (horses/ponies), learnt whoa before I sat on them and translated this for much praise. Sitting still works because it's the opposite of a racing jockey with rein contact and short forward seat! This website has some wonderful instructional lessons from Heather, but you could also try www.naturalhorsepeople.com go to learn then knowledge base and search Chuck Mintzlaff and Frank Bell, see the 7 safety tips. Also www.thenaturalhorse.org and www.horsewhisperer.com
You might find the Michael Peace & Lesley Bayley books of help or Susan McBane, probably on Amazon or Ebay.
As long as you go for calm, patient, unrattled and consistent, and treat them like children, lots of praise but you are also expecting to teach socialisation and good manners, and make each goal a tiny achieveable step, you'll get there. Good Luck Susie xx

[BNaturally]

Its not the steering, there maybe another issue here and it maybe the horse or you.
Ask a riding intstructor to ride and evaluate this horse and you need to watch.
I would suugest taking this horse back to basic training and round pen or lunge line.
I feel its control, respect and leadership issues and horses will take over control and do it their way, when they don't respect us.
This is his idea to do this and to do that and you're need to change this and set yourselve up as his leader to do this and to do that.
Use the lunge line, the pressue from the line will help him to understand that it is your idea on when, how, where and everything and this will get him into a good habits of following and doing your requests correctly.
Ask a RI to evaluate you, hands, seat, legs and everything and maybe that person can aid you on what is needed on your part to gain riding control.
Be patient, fair, clear, consistant with your work to ride and enjoy this horse.
I hope this helps.

[raindancer]

Thanks everyone for you advice. To give you some background on me, i have been taught Clinton Anderson training and have been training my QH mare for the past year with his methods. She has fantastic ground manners now and is ready for her first ride. So.....i know all the ground work stuff but am new to the saddle work. This gelding is 12 and was a trail horse before but i have a feeling he was not trained the "natural" way and so i feel i will need to back up a ways and get him listening better to me. I have done lots of ground work with him but learned today that he is very stiff necked and still resisting pressure. I will take all your tips and use them. Thanks :)

[KateWooten]

raindancer, if you're already into Clinton Anderson, his book 'Establishing Respect and Control for the English and Western Rider' is great for explaining how the softening and respect exercises transfer from the ground to the saddle. If he was mine, I'd take him through the whole lot, from the ground up, just the same as if he were a youngster. Once you've got that lateral flexion, and the disengage going really well, you'll have a whole lot more control because you can simply do a 1-rein-stop anytime he's not listening to you. Anyway - it's all in the book - about $16 on amazon, I think.

Kate

[raindancer]

Great thanks! I will look for that book. :)

[dophi_arno]

Some good advice on this thread!
You've probably looked into this already, but just make certain your horse's tack is well fitting and that his back is fine and so on. Chances are it's all fine and not causing the problems, but at the very least it's good for your own peace of mind. And I'll give my thumbs up for 'Establishing Respect and Control for the English and Western Rider' as well, have heard good things about that book from a friend... although have not looked into it myself, her judgement is usually very good!

[raindancer]

It has become very interesting with this gelding. When we bought him and saddled him for the first time, he was kinda sleepy when we pulled the cinch. A few weeks ago, i pulled up the cinch (slowly of coarse) and he fell asleep and almost went completely to his knees. I had the vet look at him to see if something was wrong and she said that his back is fine but that he has narqalepsy(sp?). She said it is common in a lot of horses in pressure situations and to just cinch a small bit, walk him, cinch more, walk him and so on. We did that saturday and he was fine. But.....i notice that he does it whenever he feels pressure like doing a one-rein, getting his feet trimmed & things like that. He is a very interesting horse. Today, we did a little RP, lunged on the rope, flexed and desensitized. He did great. Well, other than a few sleepy moments...:rolleyes: My mare got lungeing and flexing and me laying over her back. She flexes so well that i don't even have to pull the rope. Today, i pulled a tiny bit and she flung her head around and popped her nose on her side so fast i almost missed it. I tried to show her that she needed to slow down and give easy so what did she do? She turned her head around to her side and did several side touches in like seconds and sassily brought her head back like "i did it now leave me alone". She will be a blast to ride. She is doing awesome so far and she is blind in one eye.