I've just started riding on a new horse, he is very sensitive on the bit, however he doesn't always respond to my leg very well. He often pushes against the pressure I apply, and simply refuses to listen. If anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!
I may be all wet here, but the way I was taught was to nudge, nudge, nudge, nudge until you get the slightest hint of the right response then QUIT RIGHT THAT SECOND. That 's the reward, the yep you are doing it right signal. It is the release that teaches. Keep doing that and very soon most horses will move at nudge #1. Then you can get more subtle.
A point about the nudging is you don't have to nudge harder, you just keep it up at the same pressure. You are trying to be irritating, not punitive. For my raw recruit I just kinda banged my stirrup gently against her side until she reacted. She sincerely did not know what I wanted at first.
That much nudging sounds like a good way to make a horse more dull to the leg. My instructor always told me "nudge, kick, stick" to get a dull horse to learn that leg on the first time means go. But the rider also has to be ready for whatever the horse gives, even if that is leaping forward. Once the horse gives the correct answer, you go back to quiet leg.
The way I taught my TB to be more responsive was to ask nicely (calves squeezing) give a few nudges and then if he still doesn't listen either a big kick of a tap with the whip, I then let him go forward for a couple of strides and bring him back and retest to make sure he's listening. It might be ugly and that's okay as long as he goes forward.
I train a lot of Off Track Standardbreds and find that using "seat, leg, and then bit cues" the horse learns that your legs and seat mean something. Some learn quicker than others, and I find that gently escalating the cue gets the point across. I do nudge, squeeze, light kick, solid kick, then finally a whip cue. Usually the horse figures out that it's easier to listen to the gentler cues, then to move up. It's just a lot of repetition until the horse "gets it", then move on. I also find that never drilling, and once the horse learns, move on to the next goal, and the horse doesn't get bored nor resentful of work.
I've just started riding on a new horse, he is very sensitive on the bit, however he doesn't always respond to my leg very well. He often pushes against the pressure I apply, and simply refuses to listen. If anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated!
Can you describe what you are trying to do with leg pressure? This might help determine what advice would best meet your needs.
Often, too much pressure causes tension in the rider which results in resistance on the part of the horse. A common response is even more pressure from the rider. While this may achieve an immediate goal, proper application of lighter pressure usually produces better long term results.
The proper application mentioned depends on what you are trying to achieve.
I've always taught a horse to move away from pressure as part of the groundwork by using a finger in the place my heel would be to lightly cue the horse---usually they pick it up quickly since I can reinforce what I'm asking by stepping into the pressure so the horse moves sideways, automatically releasing the pressure. I prefer my horses to respond to a whisper rather than a shout and find that if I instilled the "buttons" on the ground, the horse responds correctly once we start under saddle work.
I wish I had asked a similar question months ago! Lol. It seemed to take forever for me to learn the importance of the RELEASE in both leg and rein cues (half halts). I would always apply contstant pressure, and then wonder why my horse wasn't reacting. I learned the release in reins first but have only recently come to realize how well the leg release works. I'd ride pushing my leg against her as hard as I could trying to get her to move over to no avail. Now, I nudge and release, and whatdoyaknow?? Lol.
I do think that fast responses start with good groundwork. Before I get on a horse it has to be 100% responsive to a verbal cue which I can then use from the saddle along with a very light leg cue - I don't ever want to be having to repeatedly kick or nudge because they just get 'dead' to it
If I get an older horse in that's like that I go back to lungeing and ground work.
If the horse doesn't listen to me the first 'ask' I use a long schooling whip to get its attention.
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