The Whip
- Thread starter Laura4543
- Start date
Don't give up, find somewhere different to ride. No horse should need regular use of the whip to keep it moving, if it does something is wrong.
The horse should go off your leg. Squeeze first to ask and if the horse doesnt then back up with the whip.
However training the horse to go off your leg takes time to train them so initially you will find your having to use the whip more to back up your leg. Also a well trained horse will also only need the lightest touch of the whip to back up your leg aid. Again this takes time to train.
Maybe reading your other thread as well, you should think about finding another riding school. Even to try for a couple of lessons.
However training the horse to go off your leg takes time to train them so initially you will find your having to use the whip more to back up your leg. Also a well trained horse will also only need the lightest touch of the whip to back up your leg aid. Again this takes time to train.
Maybe reading your other thread as well, you should think about finding another riding school. Even to try for a couple of lessons.
Every so often I have to give my horse a sharp smack with the whip, and I hate doing it too. With nearly 2 years of having him though, its needed less and less.But it sounds like as though your instructor is quite happy for you to keep on and on with the whip, and I don't blame you for being unhappy doing it - you're right to not want to, and she's wrong to perpetuate it. I think the consensus seem a to be, find another school, you'll probably wish you'd done it ages ago.
PS - you do need a whip, to back up your leg, but it's just a back up, not your main tool, if that makes sense?
As a guide I always carry a whip but in 13 years of riding my welsh cob I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've used it on him, and those cases will have been telling off big time for unacceptable behaviour such as kicking at a companion that got too close. More often it's used as a fly swat or for pushing branches away from me. When he was first backed he would nap a bit, but then I found flicking the loose end of the reins over his neck got far more reaction than a whip. Out of interest do you use voice aids? They can be so helpful as if there is a misunderstanding between you and the horse they clarify it and you won't feel bad using them.
Whips do have a place though. When schooling my ID a very light touch behind the leg meant please just do a little bit more of what you're doing, as opposed to a leg aid that he'd likely take as wanting something else if he was concentrating hard. It was a feather touch though, never ever a smack or even a flick.
Whips do have a place though. When schooling my ID a very light touch behind the leg meant please just do a little bit more of what you're doing, as opposed to a leg aid that he'd likely take as wanting something else if he was concentrating hard. It was a feather touch though, never ever a smack or even a flick.
I get the mixed feeling on whips, but really it should just a physical extension of you, enabling you to give an aid in a different place on the horse that your limbs wouldn't be able to reach. I don't feel bad about using a whip when it's really necessary, having said that I do not routinely carry one (unless it's horsefly or spider season).
Riding school horses are very rarely as responsive to the leg as a privately owned horse, they have to be a bit dead to it because otherwise they would react every time a novice rider accidentally gripped on, or kicked during a transition and that would cause a world of trouble. Also (and I mean no disrespect or judgement on you personally) novices are often inefficient in giving clear aids, a slight grip on the reins whilst trying to kick on a slow poke horse can be enough for them to choose to do nothing. The use of a whip can be a clear differentiation to a riding school horse that you do in fact mean to be giving the forward aids and aren't doing it by mistake.
Long story short, if you aren't happy with the way you are being taught, don't quit, find somewhere else that better suits your ideals, not all RS are made equal and some have different styles and methods.
Riding school horses are very rarely as responsive to the leg as a privately owned horse, they have to be a bit dead to it because otherwise they would react every time a novice rider accidentally gripped on, or kicked during a transition and that would cause a world of trouble. Also (and I mean no disrespect or judgement on you personally) novices are often inefficient in giving clear aids, a slight grip on the reins whilst trying to kick on a slow poke horse can be enough for them to choose to do nothing. The use of a whip can be a clear differentiation to a riding school horse that you do in fact mean to be giving the forward aids and aren't doing it by mistake.
Long story short, if you aren't happy with the way you are being taught, don't quit, find somewhere else that better suits your ideals, not all RS are made equal and some have different styles and methods.
I agree about shopping around for the right school and teacher - with no aggro. Stay on good terms.
About whips -
The schooling whip is used for a light touch to supplement or replace a leg aid. When women rode side saddle their whip replaced the right leg aids.
However there are other uses for a whip on an older or crooked horse that falls out at the shoulder on a 20m circle, one can rest the whip on the shoulder to keep her on the circle.
It is a good thing to learn how to use one in early lessons and also to swap the whip from hand to hand.
Think of the equestrian whip as a signal to the horse rather than as punishment. It is used to move a horse on when lunging or to point and steer and move a horse in free work.
About whips -
The schooling whip is used for a light touch to supplement or replace a leg aid. When women rode side saddle their whip replaced the right leg aids.
However there are other uses for a whip on an older or crooked horse that falls out at the shoulder on a 20m circle, one can rest the whip on the shoulder to keep her on the circle.
It is a good thing to learn how to use one in early lessons and also to swap the whip from hand to hand.
Think of the equestrian whip as a signal to the horse rather than as punishment. It is used to move a horse on when lunging or to point and steer and move a horse in free work.
I feel that whips are a form of communication, not punishment. Using one is not unlike the little nips and butts that horses give each other in herds. If we want to relate to them, it's not unreasonable to adopt their standards where it's appropriate.
A lot of the time, though, just carrying one makes the difference.
A lot of the time, though, just carrying one makes the difference.
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The only time I use a whip is when my horse repeatedly refuses at a jump because of the filler not because it scared, just because it’s cheeky but I think that the whip shouldn’t be needed and should only be used as a back up aid
It depends on what you mean by 'using the whip'. I always carry a whip and I do use it to back up leg. But I don't hit him with it, I tap him with it. It doesn't cause pain and if I hit myself with it, it wouldn't hurt me either. It's a light tap to remind him to listen to me. This is far different from smacking the horse with it. I have only ever properly smacked a horse once and this is when he was going backwards into an electric fence and we had to move forward or we would have both had a very nasty shock. The horse then bucked me off! I wasn't keen on riding him again after that, luckily I didn't own him!
I'd add that I've found that there are diminishing returns on using whips on riding school horses who, as well as becoming 'dead to the leg'. can also become 'dead to the whip'.
The whip needs to be used with clarity, if it's going to be used at all. My preference if a horse isn't listening or is behaving badly is to give two reasonably firm, quick taps, one after the other, early on in a lesson. It needs to be immediate or they won't associate their behaviour with the whip. I then usually won't use it much, if at all - either the message has got through or it hasn't, in which case additional applications are unlikely to do any good. You also have to factor in the horse's ability to respond: it's fair to give them a chance to warm up, and fair also to notice when they are getting tired and less quick off the leg.
My old RI used to drop her whip not long into a ride - that sends a powerful message, although there's some danger it can get stepped on and broken!
The whip needs to be used with clarity, if it's going to be used at all. My preference if a horse isn't listening or is behaving badly is to give two reasonably firm, quick taps, one after the other, early on in a lesson. It needs to be immediate or they won't associate their behaviour with the whip. I then usually won't use it much, if at all - either the message has got through or it hasn't, in which case additional applications are unlikely to do any good. You also have to factor in the horse's ability to respond: it's fair to give them a chance to warm up, and fair also to notice when they are getting tired and less quick off the leg.
My old RI used to drop her whip not long into a ride - that sends a powerful message, although there's some danger it can get stepped on and broken!
Similar happened with mine. I put my leg on and backed it up with the stick because she slowed down in canter and I thought she was going to drop to trot.
Her response was to try and lob me out of the school and my RI thought this was hilarious. I learnt my lesson not to correct her before she needs it. She was in fact trying to rebalance herself.
Native Lover
Native Pony Fan
@Native Lover I seem to recall from other posts that Laura is at a riding school so this isn't an option for her.
There could have been a reason - I have surrendered my whip before cantering a RS horse, lest any movement of the whip in my hand should spook the horse or get it going too fast.
I have never found this. Tho I have ridden dozens of them.
But then I carry a whip but dont use it. I use transitions halt walk or 5 walk 5 trot to get a horse moving I have however watched a Richard Davison DVD in which a might kick from both legs was used to shock a horse into moving when asked. Rashid suggests similar but bringing one;s whip down sharply on one's boot (or half chap). He says few English women are prepared to use a whip decisively on the horse itself so he learned to tell them to hit their own boot.
Funny i actually tap my boot with the whip rather than the horse sometimes. I dont do it as im afraid to use it on the horse. Its just something ive been doing. I keep telling myself not to. But maybe ive been right to. Although i have to say sometimes me tapping my boot doesnt get a responce from the horse, but maybe ive also trained them to not spook at noise.
Quite right - I spooked Maisie sideways doing it once when she was plodding in walk and almost kocked my companion off her horse.
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