|
|
boon
Posts: 3
| How can you Teach a colt to trot and lope on a loose rein ? Thanks ! |
|
| |
|
 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
  
Location: North MS | To trot simply ask for trot and if he breaks into a lope, one rein stop and then start again. Same with a lope- if he starts to run or go excessively fast just one rein stop until he trots and ask again. Keeps the young horse flexing and not bracing for the actual stop. I'm guessing your goal is to keep them soft and not needing babysat the entire time? |
|
| |
|
| Take him out of the arena and ride him long enough and hard enough to make him tired!! ... Enough of this and he will start saving his energy when you ride ...
Teaching one in an arena is almost a waste of time .... they rely on the fence as security and also mentally an arena is used to run fast and do other stuff in with a constant corner to turn which interferes with their mind set .... affects the rider the same way.
Wet saddle blankets are a good thing .... but time spent riding is even more important to get that wet saddle blanket ... there are no 30 minute wonders out there winning ...
HAVE FUN ...
be a kid again and take off riding and don't come back for hours .. lol |
|
| |
|
 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | I agree with both the previous posters. I think these days we forget how important it is to go for trail rides and other rides outside of the arena. For me with my youngsters, I like to take them out into one of our big pastures with other horses turned out in there and them let them pretty much go where they want but at the pace I choose. If they break into a faster gait I one rein stop them, wait for them to give to my pressure, relax, and then off we go again. I think going out in a pasture with other horses helps them learn to be focused on you also. It maybe helps prep for distracting situations in the future like races and whatnot. Good luck! |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| IMO, they need light support and contact for a fair bit. That doesn't mean hanging on his face, but you won't have a nice lope and the western pleasure rein droop right away either.
You want to keep very light contact when he is doing it right to support him, and to be quicker in corrections when he hollows out or speeds up - having light correction allows for a smoother correction and not inadvertently jerking on him because you have a lot of slack to pick up to find contact.
To work correctly on a loose rein he'll need to understand your seat and leg commands as well. This takes time, how long have you had him under saddle and what does he know?
I agree with the riding outside of the arena, it prevents him from associating any particular aid with any particular part of the arena - when I was riding pleasure horses I could never stand the ones who couldn't function when they weren't on the rail. It's good for his brain and I think it's good for our brains too. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2122
Location: The Great Northwest | I would use the one-rein stop when breaking asked gait too. It works great. It will also help in flexing, stopping as well to lighten up the horse all around. Be sure you are asking for the one-rein stop correctly to get all the good benifits. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1857
| BARRELHORSE USA - 2014-04-20 10:16 PM Take him out of the arena and ride him long enough and hard enough to make him tired!! ... Enough of this and he will start saving his energy when you ride ... Teaching one in an arena is almost a waste of time .... they rely on the fence as security and also mentally an arena is used to run fast and do other stuff in with a constant corner to turn which interferes with their mind set .... affects the rider the same way. Wet saddle blankets are a good thing .... but time spent riding is even more important to get that wet saddle blanket ... there are no 30 minute wonders out there winning ... HAVE FUN ... be a kid again and take off riding and don't come back for hours .. lol
I disagree with this... I don't want my colts getting lazy on me. When I need one to work i want them to work, not thinking that they need to save them selves for the last few miles of the day. However, I do agree that you need to get them out of the arena. travel in straight lines for awhile until they can travel on a loose rein then move into circles. Work on the trot first, ask them to and keep your hand on their neck, when they get too fast, bump them(soft first), and then put your hand back down, if they don't respond, bump them again(this time harder then the first) and return your hand to thier neck. If you bump them and they go to a walk just sqeeze back into a trot and try the process again. Once you get the speed you want on a loose rein let them travel a little ways and then stop before they get out of it. I would end the day right then or go on to something differsnt, even if you only traveled maybe 50ft. Always end on a good note. The next time you do it ask for a longer distance. within a few days they understand what you are wanting and then you can move into a lope. |
|
| |
Folks on-line