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 IMA No Hair Style Gal
Posts: 2594
  
| Okay. My two year old stud colt is being difficult. He will be turning three here shortly and of course I’m excited that i will be able to start asking him a little more.
Well, when i decided to start working on leads (meaning pick up the correct lead and then stop.) The first day he did perfect! Then the next day he refused to pick up the right lead. I thought maybe just a bad day. I gave him a day off and then worked on it the next and he again refused. I have a very short temper and lost my patience. I know that the short fuse syndrome is not desired when working with colts but it is a down fall of mine that i have been struggling with. He seems very stiff to the right and either swings is rear out or stiffens in the front.
My question is when do you demand the correct lead? I don’t want to teach him that he can get away with anything and i surly don’t want to teach him to pick up the incorrect lead. On the other hand, I don’t want to push him to hard and make anything a bad experience for him. My instinct is to make him do it until it is done correctly but i also know that that sometimes is hard on such a young horse.
Any exercises and if you have experienced this please let me know that I’m not the only one who has this issue!
Thanks for the input and please don’t be to hard on me!!!
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
 
Location: Bastrop, Texas | How, exactly, do you ask for the correct lead? |
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IMA No Hair Style Gal
Posts: 2594
| Well, When i was in 4-H my instructor would teach me to tip the nose out which would allow them to extend their inside leg. Over the years I have realized that if you tip their nose in and made sure their hip is in also, there is no physical way they can pick up the incorrect lead. So i always try the second approach but if that doesnt work (a.e. the horse stiffens up at last second or swings rear end out) I will try the first option which is not ideal but the initial goal is to get the correct lead and not worry about how to get it. I also use my inside leg to keep there body upright so they dont lean in! |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | First off, don't loose your temper over this. It's truly not a big deal. If he feels stiff to you slow down, go back to the basics & soften him up. They tend to get defensive after you've lost your temper a few times (trust me I've been there!) and that alone will stiffen one up as they're trying to protect themselves. Go back & get him soft again, relax & just enjoy him with no pressure. When you have him back to where you can position his body easily however you want it start jogging some circles with his nose just slightly in & the hip in as well. When he feels "right" where you know he's going to lope off in the correct lead then bump him for the lope. If he takes the correct lead, GREAT let him lope a few circles & then break him down & repeat. If he doesn't take the correct lead don't make a fuss, let him lope a couple strides, quietly bring him back to a trot & try again. I honestly start this with my babies as soon as I start loping them. I want them to learn correct from the very beginning. Just like with teaching a young person though, when they make a mistake correct them quietly & build them up. Don't get mad & tear them apart for making a simple honest mistake. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1066
| If I find that one is having trouble with leads then I generally break it back down to a walk and a jog and really focus on hip and shoulder control. Lots of two-tracking, sidepassing, and making sure the colt has all of those (more advanced) basics before I ask him to pick up a lope again.... from there it's usually a breeze. |
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 Horsey Gene Carrier
Posts: 1888
Location: LaBelle, Florida | Give him a reason to pick up the right lead....use the fence and get up off his back.
Come across the pen at a trot at a 45 degree angle, ask for the lope just as you get to the fence going to the right.
Another way is the drop to trot and come out in the opposite lead, making sure to hustle him out in the lead you want.
Edited by kasaj2000 2013-12-24 4:18 PM
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 Goat Giver
Posts: 23166
| If it is an ongoing issue, make sure he is not sore. Even youngsters can have issues. Honestly, we don't worry too much about picking up leads on command since in my opinion, a barrel horse should be a good enough athlete to figure out the leads on the pattern. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I always use inside line and leg. But then i had two different horses both where mares that would pick up wong lead. But i figured why this happenend both mares would anticipate and step out with the hip and them pick up wrong lead. So,on those mares before i did a canter departure i would push the hip in towards the center them pick inside rein and use inside, it ususally work although on mare a long time ago to push on mares hip i would use a dressage whip to keep hip in, so that might something you could do. All this is if the horse is not sore anywhere andmdoesnot have a dental problem. I have also troted along when i was thinking about the canter and pick her him up and move that shoulder over and kind of do a circle a few times and them ask,for the canter. |
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