How to encourage a green horse to go forward?

Pax · Foal

How to encourage a green horse to go forward?

Dante · Foal

Hi there,
I have had horses like this in the past and I will share with you what worked for me...
Does he lunge? Working him on the lunge works wonders; have him go in the working gait that you would like him to go in under saddle. You may have to chase him a bit with your lunge whip til he gets the idea. don't let him go in any manner but forward!
Then mounted, pick up the same circle as when you were lunging and expect no less of him under saddle. Use a dressage whip, not spurs. If he is still nappy, have someone stand in the center of your circle with the lunge whip. Have them back up your leg aids immediately with the whip.
You might have to get a little aggressive with him, but he will catch on.
And once you get him going, do not! let him give you a half hearted response ever! hopefully soon you will have a nice forward mount.

Nikki Salo · Grand Prix

Not sure if this idea would help you or not, but I used to ride a horse that was super lazy in general (unless it came to eating!), and out on trail rides he used to bulk at whatever was a "task" in his mind. You could kick and encourage him to move forward, and he'd just stand there and look around. Then I learned (from a behavior book) that naturally when the dam wants to move her foal (or herd members if she is the leader) due to possible "danger", she will nip it at the top of the tail and this means "get going, right now!!" So I carried a crop with me and at his bulking, I'd encourage him to move forward with leg aid, and a kissing sound and when there was no movement I gave him a good tap on the top of the tail which got him moving forward. After about 5-6 times he put it all together as the leg aids and kissing sound meant "oh my gosh, I'd better go before something gets me!" He was still lazy on the ground, but it seemed to get something to click in his mind while undersaddle.

prospect · Advanced

lunging as suggested above is your best bet - and to never let him be behind the leg - when I put leg on I better get an immediate response - within the gait or from gait to gait - leg also has to be on in the downward transition. Change of gait does not mean a change in forward.

You may have to back up the spur with the whip right at the leg - but they usually get the message and you can reduce the amount of pressure as time goes on.

Barbara F · Grand Prix

These are all great suggestions, to which I might add a medium canter in the warm-up. Let him know that moving forward can be fun.

If you feel confident, I would also suggest doing your work in an open field or on the trails to give your horse the feeling of more freedom to move.

One other thing I have learned is to make your forward aid quicker, rather than stronger. It is really tempting when a horse won't go to kick harder and sort-of slower (hard to explain). What you want to do instead is, if you ask nicely and the horse doesn't respond, use your heel in a quick, sharp kick.

It's hard to do because (if you're like me) it is tempting to apply the aid for a longer time, rather than a quick half-second kick.

Ranna · Well Schooled

Start riding many transitions. Not only from walk to trot and back but in walk and trot itself as well.
A bit faster, a bit slower, a bit faster and so on.
But then again, one of my horse's is not all that fast. Although he does as I ask him it's just not in his nature to be a bit hotheaded. So, he most certainly improved but will never as forward as a horse with more fire in his veins.

prospect · Advanced

Barbara F wrote:
T
One other thing I have learned is to make your forward aid quicker, rather than stronger. It is really tempting when a horse won't go to kick harder and sort-of slower (hard to explain). What you want to do instead is, if you ask nicely and the horse doesn't respond, use your heel in a quick, sharp kick.

It's hard to do because (if you're like me) it is tempting to apply the aid for a longer time, rather than a quick half-second kick.

Our coach calls this a quick double kick