Its temptation alley at this time of year with everything in full leaf and across the tracks.
Chunky did it with me in the early days of owning him. I was stuggling like you Huggy. Chunky was exactly the same either head down or grabs and he lunges a couple of steps as he knows the whip is coming. No amount of leg squeezes, a tap with the whip and a 'no' cured him.
One day i got so fed up i really lost my rag. So i decided to kind of set him up to fail. I gathered the reins so i had good contact, casual pottling along, as he went to eat. He got a pretty firm solid whip on his rump, kicked in the sides at the same moment. With the most almighty loud 'No'. He really didnt expect the force of everything at once, in particular the whip. He shot forward with a very large step, almost a leap actually. I pulled him straight to a stop. With the firm rein contact in place it didnt unseat me with the motion. But he was like holly crap what just happened. It was all it took though. Occasionally he would try but i was able to just say no and either light kick on or light whip.
Ive taken the same approach with Billy too. Im afraid i set him up to fail in his very early backed days. He might try to grab munches on occasion even now but hes much more sensitive than chunky so a real sharp no, with gentle leg or whip gets the message through.
Chunky will try it with the kids too. I was riding behind him the one day as he tried to grab so he got a solid strike of a whip from me. Think he thought it was his rider. Well it sorted it for her.
Hes trying it on with his new rider currently on most rides. She either laughs when he grabs food or lets out a silly screatches. I told her the other day if she laughs hes going to do it even more. She taps with the whip but too lightly so to him it has no meaning. I would rather she just smack him good and proper the once to fix the issue.
Chunky did it with me in the early days of owning him. I was stuggling like you Huggy. Chunky was exactly the same either head down or grabs and he lunges a couple of steps as he knows the whip is coming. No amount of leg squeezes, a tap with the whip and a 'no' cured him.
One day i got so fed up i really lost my rag. So i decided to kind of set him up to fail. I gathered the reins so i had good contact, casual pottling along, as he went to eat. He got a pretty firm solid whip on his rump, kicked in the sides at the same moment. With the most almighty loud 'No'. He really didnt expect the force of everything at once, in particular the whip. He shot forward with a very large step, almost a leap actually. I pulled him straight to a stop. With the firm rein contact in place it didnt unseat me with the motion. But he was like holly crap what just happened. It was all it took though. Occasionally he would try but i was able to just say no and either light kick on or light whip.
Ive taken the same approach with Billy too. Im afraid i set him up to fail in his very early backed days. He might try to grab munches on occasion even now but hes much more sensitive than chunky so a real sharp no, with gentle leg or whip gets the message through.
Chunky will try it with the kids too. I was riding behind him the one day as he tried to grab so he got a solid strike of a whip from me. Think he thought it was his rider. Well it sorted it for her.
Hes trying it on with his new rider currently on most rides. She either laughs when he grabs food or lets out a silly screatches. I told her the other day if she laughs hes going to do it even more. She taps with the whip but too lightly so to him it has no meaning. I would rather she just smack him good and proper the once to fix the issue.
. Also think I've discovered something. I gather the reins to trot, and keep them at that length usually. Today, it took much less effort to keep him going if I loosen them while we're trotting. I doubt we look very pretty that way, but it was lovely and flowing. Also, first farrier appt with no sedative - he fell asleep.
