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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
 
Location: My own little world :) | So I started up riding my three year old and she is soooooo lazy!! Like won't hardly even trot a circle! I have to really push her to keep her going. If she had it her way she would just sit and take a snooze for a while. She's pretty much always been this way other than when she is playing in the pasture. Is this a sign that she is going to be a plug forever??? Would most of you rather just let her stay slow like that or would you wake her up somehow...and if you were to do that what exactly would you do?? I'm just curious as most of my previous horses have always wanted to go go go...I had to work to slow them down so I don't really know what to do with this little girly.  |
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| You are going to have to teach this horse to move forward in a round pen with a longe line and a switch to get rid of her sticky feet .... and get her out of the arena into a big pasture with some other crazy riders and do some pasture racing to wake her up .... so far all she has been taught is to walk and stand still ...
GET CRAZY and teach her how to run ... |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8555
 
Location: sunny california | I had one like this, and he is the kind to buck you off if you try and make him. I had to win him over and now he runs like a bat out of he11
i started in the round pen and only asked for energy for very short periods of time then rested him and praised him. at first it was only one circle. when we got to the arena it was the same thing I let him be lazy most of the time then I would ask for energy for a very short time followed by rest and praise.
I would drive to a barrel lesson over an hour away and he would become disinterested after 10 minutes. I would quit and go home. after about 4 lessons he would do the whole hour. He loves running barrels now and has energy when it is important but will be lazy if bored. He runs his pattern great no whip no spurs! |
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| I have a 6 year old like this and we are currently working on impulsion and getting him to pick himself up and keep a forward motion. My mom always told me that you can wake one up quickly, but it's hard to settle one down, so you would rather keep them quiet as long as you can. Therefore I try to work quietly on keeping him moving forward. I work large forward circles and work on him keeping a nice open lenghty stride. Slowly he's been improving and freeing up! |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | It does not necessarily mean she will be a plug forever. She could be, I don't know the horse, but just because she doesn't want to move out when you've only just started riding her doesn't mean she will be. I've started several that started off this way, some just need more encouragement than others, and a little more practice at it than others.
The filly I'm starting now, did not want to move out at all at first, even after doing all the proper ground work. So I got a little whip, I would smooch and squeeze with my legs first if no response I would flick the whip, if no response I'd then actually use the whip. It didn't take long at all and she had the hang of it.
The more I trotted the freer she got (over a period of several rides), and asking her to lope was no problem at all. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 253
Location: Canada | I have one like that as well, I like to do lunging to teach him to go from a walk into a trot then lope and back down. I do this every other day, I also pony him with other horses to keep him from burning out of being lunged. Just stay on her to move on, and it will come in time. They all develop in their own time. Good Luck. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | Good to hear!! I really like her in every other aspect but I've just been worried about how lazy she is and if that will carry over to the barrels and whatnot. I just wanted to clarify...I'm not starting her, I just got back to riding her this winter after I kind of gave her a break because I got too busy. We started her as an older 2 year old but I didn't get to ride her much as I was pregnant.
Lately I've been riding her in my barn in the evenings because my husband is home to take care of the baby and we have lights in the barn. Its not very big so I was thinking maybe if I got to take her out and trail ride or ride in the pasture it might help free her up. So its nice to know that some of you suggested that :)
She does well on the lead rope when I do some ground work and lunging...she sits on her but and turns on a dime...Its just when I'm on her she becomes Sid the Sloth. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 788
| It sounds like some round pen work will probly do the trick. The fastest horse I own was like this when I got her. wore my legs out tryin to get her just out of a trot type thing and she was broke broke. I just got me a over and under and would just make whatever noice u want (I smooch) and then ask her to speed up. The first few times ull have to tap her with the over and under right after u smooch and eventually shell figure out when u smooch, speed up. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | horsiace1025 - 2013-12-27 11:49 AM
It sounds like some round pen work will probly do the trick. The fastest horse I own was like this when I got her. wore my legs out tryin to get her just out of a trot type thing and she was broke broke. I just got me a over and under and would just make whatever noice u want (I smooch) and then ask her to speed up. The first few times ull have to tap her with the over and under right after u smooch and eventually shell figure out when u smooch, speed up.
I totally know what you mean! On the upside maybe I will have fantastic legs with all the kicking and squeezing I have to do to get her to move. I will have to try that over and under trick. I remember when I was little my mom used to help me find a good branch off a tree for a switch....I haven't had to do that since I was riding pluggy kids horses. ;) |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I prefer to use a whip not long after asking with my legss I they don't become dead sided. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | So there is still hope for her to turn into a barrel racing machine!!!! haha!! Thanks everyone :) |
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 Expert
Posts: 2674
Location: Silver Lake, MN | We have one like this too, each time we ride him he gets better. We found cattle really motivate him so we worked with them a lot. Also found out when we used him to pony a more free moving horse he adjusts accordingly and will free up and move out. Lots of outside riding and he is now loping barrels pretty nice. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | Zanadoo88 - 2013-12-26 11:14 PM So I started up riding my three year old and she is soooooo lazy!! Like won't hardly even trot a circle! I have to really push her to keep her going. If she had it her way she would just sit and take a snooze for a while. She's pretty much always been this way other than when she is playing in the pasture. Is this a sign that she is going to be a plug forever??? Would most of you rather just let her stay slow like that or would you wake her up somehow...and if you were to do that what exactly would you do?? I'm just curious as most of my previous horses have always wanted to go go go...I had to work to slow them down so I don't really know what to do with this little girly.
No, it doesn't mean they will be like this forever! My Snaffle Bit Futurity colt this year was super lazy. I absolutely hated him when I got him. One of the trainers I worked with had me ride him with a dressage whip to try to motivate him, it didn't work, spurs really didn't do much, though they did help a little. The only thing that kept me going with him, was the fact that I was told his dad was just like that, but got really cool as a 4 year old. The more I worked with this horse and the more I rode him, the better he got. I ended up winning almost 6K on him this year, and he has turned out to be a rocket of a fence horse. There is hope! |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Getting out of the round pen and tracking cows or other horses os the easiest way to free one up and build some energy. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | Awesome! My husband and I have to go out and move some cows around this afternoon so that is nice. Maybe I'll get to lope around in the pasture or something. Its just hard to really get out because my baby monitor only goes so far. Maybe I just need to get a babysitter a few days a week so I can go out and free her up. |
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