Been there, done that.
I had a very lazy 3 year old & went through the same thing. You can definitely teach your horse to become more responsive... it just takes time, patience, & consistancy.
This is how I fixed my very LAZY 3 year old who would refuse to go into the trot (Use whatever type of spur you would like. I prefer the roweled spurs when it comes to a very hard, unresponsive horse.)
Start of at the walk.
Cue for the trot by squeezing your calves.
If no response, sqeeze with the spurs.
If no response, roll the spurs.
If no response, grab your whip/crop & rythmically slap his side (While continueing to roll the spurs on his sides).
Increase the pressure of the slaps until he responds. As soon as he hops into the trot, remove ALL pressure & give him a nice pat. He may lurch forward & trot two steps & slow down, but atleast he reponded & you want to reward EVERY try.
Eventually he should learn to respond to the lighter cues because he wants to avoid the pressure increasing.
Be P.A.T.I.E.N.T. Work on it at the slow paces & work your way up to cueing for the canter.
Worked for me. I definitely learned how to improve on my patience & consistancy with my lazy 3 year old.