Retraining a horse

[heonk]

hi. so basically i have a 7 yo stallion. he was started with dressage and he did really well. but the girl who started him didnt have any more time to continue so another girl started riding him. she did jumping with him and basically finished him. the issue is she taught him to ride with the bit(?) so using her reins over her legs. she also used spurs all the time. hes practically dead to leg. now i need to retrain him to legs but i have no idea where to start or how. help would rlly be appreciated.

along with this his outer shoulder also falls out due to being taught to ride by bit. how to train that out?

 

[carthorse]

Lessons, this isn't something that can be advised by a post.

If he did well at dressage - you don't say what level - then he was trained to accept and respond to the aids, and in my opinion that training is not forgotten and can be quite quickly recovered with very correct riding and consistency. So book some lessons with a good instructor and be very consistent in riding leg to hand, maybe using voice to reinforce for now rather than revert to overusing leg.

 

[Jessey]

Be consistent and use progressive aids, by that I mean start light and increase firmness in steps, every single time you give a cue. You’d pretty much have to prioritise getting light response over any other training for a while. Lessons is definitely the best way to go because if you’re even a hair late with the release it could go backwards easily.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

I agree with both of these answers. My horse was obviously well started but then ridden for beginners for many years, and he needed reminding of stuff he already knew. He remembered it. When he had developed bad habits due to beginners riding him, those had to be trained out, and it took time and consistency. I've had him 18 months and he is soooo much better, and where he is not better it's because I am not a good enough rider to be always firm and consistent. I rely heavily on my monthly lessons.

 

[heonk]

Be consistent and use progressive aids, by that I mean start light and increase firmness in steps, every single time you give a cue. You’d pretty much have to prioritise getting light response over any other training for a while. Lessons is definitely the best way to go because if you’re even a hair late with the release it could go backwards easily.

okay thank u! do u know any exercises i could do? my trainer said to start in walk by leg yielding so he learns to respect leg again.

 

[Mary Poppins]

It's impossible to advise without seeing you and the horse together. This is when you need to get the advice of a good riding instructor, formulate a plan and then review regularly. You need to work out what it is that he specifically needs and any plan needs to be individual to him.

 

[Jessey]

okay thank u! do u know any exercises i could do? my trainer said to start in walk by leg yielding so he learns to respect leg again.

If he’s truly dead to the leg that’s too advanced, start at getting good halt/walk and walk/trot transitions, only when those are light and immediate are you going to be able to ask for anything more complicated, that’s what I meant by you would have to prioritise this over anything else for a while, not worry about getting him in a frame, or jumping or lateral work, you just need to teach him to go forward freely first.

 

[carthorse]

If he’s truly dead to the leg that’s too advanced, start at getting good halt/walk and walk/trot transitions, only when those are light and immediate are you going to be able to ask for anything more complicated, that’s what I meant by you would have to prioritise this over anything else for a while, not worry about getting him in a frame, or jumping or lateral work, you just need to teach him to go forward freely first.

This. You have to have forward above everything else, without it there's nothing. Not forward and sidewards, not forward into a frame, not even forward into a rhythm - just FORWARD. If he goes too forward off a leg aid then don't correct or pull up, praise it and go with it for now because he has responded the way you want and you can fine tune later when he goes consistently forward off your leg every single time in every single session. This really is a case of KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

I've ridden horses like this for people, it can be done and usually it's surprisingly easy as long as you focus on the one goal, give them space to move into, and praise every time they get it right.