Keep horse trotting?

laura jeanne

laura jeanne

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Jan 7, 2004
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At my last lesson, I rode a horse for the second time. The first time I had no problems, but last week I had trouble getting her to trot and especially keeping her at the trot. We were supposed to be going over poles in 2 point. I was squeezing with my legs and even kicking a little but she would not stay at a trot. Whem we got to the poles, she would slow to a walk or even stop.

Especially in 2 point position, it was hard for me to keep my balance and also be squeezing with my legs at the same time.

I asked my instructor and said I was already squeezing as hard as I could and she said there were other ways to keep her going, such as flipping the end of the reins from side to side on her neck and then added that even her kids could keep her going. Not too helpful!!

I don't think I was pulling on the reins, but what else could I have been doing wrong?
 
well it sounds to me like your doing everything you can, but your instructer dosn't sound to helpful!

are you sure that your reins were nice and short? this can sometimes improve your trot greatly and helps us to control the horse and seeing as you were doing everything you could with your legs and the horse still refused to respond, you might benifit from using a whip just to back your leg up,

i hope i've helped and better luck for next time! :)
 
Could just have been a bad day for the horse last lesson!
I've had the same problem in jumping position, and it was just because my legs muscles weren't strong or balanced enough to keep me in a good position AND pushing on to keep the horse going forward. Practice should help out there.
Loosening the reins a bit when your balance is dodgy can make the horse slow down too. Some do like to look at the poles and hestitate instead of making the effort to pick up their feet and trot nicely.
Your balance gets better as you ride more.
 
You say you were squezzing as hard as you could. This isn't always the best way to get and keep a horse going. Especially some riding school horses as they can be a little numb to the leg.

Rather than the same constant pressure you migt benifit from giving him small kicks but firm, and as horsetard said backing your leg up with a quick flick with a stick. Usually one sharp smack from the whip will wake a horse up and make it realise you mean business.

Because yo feel a little unbablanced the horse can proberbly feel that you can't put your full stength into keeping him going.

As the others have said keep your rein contact constant so the horse still knows it should be working.

good look with it.:D
 
Okay,

Please forgive me if this is off base or silly question, but how long have you been riding for and are you confidant trotting in two-point? I only ask because as odd as it may sound some horses can sense when your unsure of yourself while doing something so they in turn become unsure and in your case the horse may have dropped back into a walk because you would become more relaxed after the horse did so. Now I could be really off base, but most horses can pick up on how a rider is feeling and they usually take their quos from us.

Or it could have just been a really bad day for this horse, and thus it felt like being a complete pain.
 

It's always hard to assist with riding problems when you can't see the problem first hand, but here are some suggestions I can think of that may help you.

1) To use your aids effectively you need to have a really secure position on the horse otherwise the strength of your aids and the way in which the horse feels them will not be the best. Your position needs to be balanced, and relaxed enough that your legs can move and work to give signals independently from your body. In 2 point position or any light seat it is much more difficult to maintain balance and use your legs independently, so this may have caused your problem. Unfortunately position is something you just have to practice under the supervision of an observant instructor, but being aware of your position can help.

2) We are always training every horse we ride to respond to the aids, the better our skills are for feeling the horses responses and adjusting our aids appropriately, the better the response we can achieve from the horse. Feel for the aids means that you know exactly when and how to use the aids, and when not to use them, as well as how and when to increase their intensity. The better you can get at feeling when your horse is slowing down for example, the more likely you will be able to correct the horse before they stop. Similarly the better you can get at feeling when your horse has done as asked and can take away your aids, the less likely it is that your horse will seem "dead" to the aids.

These two points are some pretty general ideas that may help you improve your aids and keep your horse going. As others have said, sometimes horses will have their off days, but the better your aids are the more prepared you will be for times like this.

Another thing, school horses tend to be very clever at feeling when their rider is in the incorrect position or not using their aids correctly and will take advantage of it... another reason why thinking about and practicing the two above mention points may help you.

Good luck, hope that helps,
Regards,
Shiny :).
 
One more thought: squeezing with your seat/thighs/knees will usually slow a horse down. If you were grabbing with your knees in order to stay balanced or to help you squeeze with your ankles, that could be contributing to the problem.
 
On school horses I've always been advised by various instructors to give a (very little!) kick or squeeze with the heels on every downward movement to keep them going forward. ie, when bum meets saddle, squeeze/kick to push them forward.
 
I've been riding for a year. For the last 2 months, I have been taking an extra lesson with another instructor where I do nothing but posting trot, 2 point, and canter on a lunge line. So I have been having a lot of practice in 2 point altho I still balance a LITTLE with my hands on the horse's neck.

The lesson I am talking about tho, is with my original instructor who I still go to because my husband likes it there and, hey. I'm not turning down any chance to ride!! I hope to try out the advice everyone has given me this Saturday but we hardly ever do the same thing 2 weeks in a row there. I have successfully done this exercise at this stable on other horses, so maybe it is true that the horse was having an off day. I will definitely follow up with my instructor and ask her again what she thinks I was probably doing wrong!
 
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