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Reefa wont walk in a straight line.

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  NorthernMama 
#1 ·
So ive been helping my friend school her pony she bought for her 10yr old son. hes 13.3hh and 10yrs old. he was broken in a 4yrs old but not properly, hes literally just been taught to follow another horse. every time ive ridden him in the paddock he refuses to walk in a straight line, he keeps going sideways. hes pretty hard to get into trot and canter aswell, takes alot of kicking & encouragment. any ideas to help me with him? it gets a little frustrating constantly going sideways.
 
#2 ·
He may have something wrong with his legs/hooves(splint,thrush,etc). If he refuse to walk forward on simple cues:
1) you may have your foot positioned in the wrong place
2) he may be just being stubborn
Your heel should be under you. I can't see how your riding so I don'y know if this is the problem, but probably not.

Most likely he's being stubborn. You may need a crop, it may help him move forward, alot.
 
#3 ·
Make sure you are going straight. Set your sight on something in the distance and keep your body and eyes centered on that object.
Horses are naturally going to walk in a zig zag type pattern at liberty because they don't see directly in front of themselves. They have to turn their head and thus their body when the move forward. It is only through our cues and commands that they walk a straight line.
Try using slight nudges to correct. Just like driving a car you have to move the steering wheel slightly to go in a straight line
 
#4 ·
I carry a crop on me anyway, it makes no difference to him.
& when he walks sideways its always in the direction of the closest horse.
he seems nervous when riding him almost like he has no clue what to do or what im asking of him. he completely ignores any kind of nudges, my legs end up aching from kicking him on all the time, hes either really lazy, or doesnt understand what it means.
 
#10 ·
You may want to do some groundwork. He might need to re-learn or learn to give to pressure. From the ground, start pushing him with a finger or the end of a crop. increase the pressure until he moves away. Once he moves immediately remove the pressure and praise him. Do this from all four corners and the middle. Do it a lot, then transfer that lesson to the saddle with your leg giving the pressure to move one part of his body or the other.
Sorry if you already know this.
 
#11 ·
Most green horses do not walk in a straight line for quite awhile. Sounds like he is very green. I always see it as a positive thing because green horses that go straight are usually very stiff and need tons of bending to loosen up. It sounds like he needs to be taught basic cues. The way to teach a horse to go straight is through bending. It's counter-intuitive. Teach him to follow your cues and do simple turns, then changes of direction. When he has done those for awhile and understands your cues you can work on circles and serpentines. When he can do a perfect, fairly small circle in both directions he will start moving in a straight line. Be sure to work on slowing down and halting before you take him out on an exciting ride because I can almost guarantee he doesn't understand that yet either.
Sometimes riding a green horse feels like riding a snake or wiggly worm as they bend their body back and forth and weave their way along. If you take them on a narrow trail when they are first starting out be prepared to brush the bushes on either side of the trail. And remember, if they don't know how to go straight at the walk, they certainly won't go straight at the canter either. :)
 
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