7 months old

hi
i have a 7/8 month old filly and she causing a few problems when walking about such as from her stable to her field and etc... im very worried abut when she starts to show she wont do her show (if you know what i mean) is there anything i can do to tempt her to walk on continuously ? help would be appreciated

Hi,

what does she do when you are out walking her?

HI-

I have a 13 month old colt, when he was younger I would have to be a little rough with him. When walking from one place to the other he would want to side step, turn, walk ahead of me, etc. I would jerk (hardness would depend on the extend of his behavior) down on his halter to get his attention. This worked rather well. Now I very rarely have issues with him. I have not shown him yet, hopefully next month...will let you know how it turns out.

Hope this helps.

... I wouldn't recommend force or being hard with her, she is still SO young, just a baby. Being patient and gentle is absolutely necessary right now. What have you done with her?

There are times that you have to be firm. My colt will walk any where I ask and I do not have to worry that he will act up. I have been very patient with my colt but there does come a point when you cannot beg him to do what you want. And at that point you have to be harder. You can only ask so many times before you have to move onto other avenues.

Babies learn very quickly (or atleast mine has). I did not have to be rough with him very often. As long as you are consistent you will get results. If asking gets you the result you are looking for - that's great. I had to try other things.

When trying to get forward movement - take what you can get. What I mean by that is if you are asking your filly to walk forward and she goes 3 or 4 steps that is great. She does not have to walk a marathon for it to be a success.

You can also try walking her with another horse - if there is one that she particularly likes.

These are things that have worked for me...they may not work for you and/or you may not want to try them.

Just my opinion.

to be honest all shes doing is when she doesn't want to go she just stops in her tracks nothing major but its very annoying and im afraid thats shes just going to stay like it? and i don't want to be harsh with her or firm which every way you look at it, some people may say not been firm, they are getting away with murder but i don't think thats the case? but thats why ive turned to horseforum.com. ? has anyone got any tips that aren't harsh or firm just a way for my filly to keep moving without me having to used force or anything?

?any tips?

Have you tried leading with a rope on halter, as well as looping a rope behind her bum and pull with your hand when she stops? Lots of praise when she makes the effort to move forward. Make sense?
Also, if she has stopped and you are having difficulty moving her, rather then pulling her straight forward, pull her neck as if making a sharp turn. This will force her to move forward. Again, praise.

omg kirsty thank so much im gonna get on to that straight away thanks!

Glad to help