Critique Trot and Lope

Hey I was just wondering if you guys can point out when I take him to the trainer. I notice he head-bobs a lot, he's relying on his front end and not pushing with his hindquarters.....at least with this girl. Any suggestions, comments, or any advice before I get him to the trainer in the next month? I was hoping to have him trained in patterns.

I am not a pro at this by any means but, I can tell you what I see. In the jogging video I see the rider working the reins to get his head down. This should not happen. Head down should be a leg cue. Squeeze and his head should drop. You can teach this fairly easily by having him stand and squeezing your legs and reins until he lowers his head. Do this every time you ride and slowly decrease the amount of rein you use until it is all leg. Then do the same at each gait.

In the loping video he is very heavy in the front end, which you already know. To fix that you need to get him off the bit. You can start by loping a few strides(no more than 5) then stop, back and lope off again. Repeat this until he gets lighter in the front and then let him lope like normal. If he starts getting heavy again, do it again. You can do the same thing at the jog to smooth out his stride a bit. And it should also help with the head bob because that is caused by him pulling himself forward with his front end.

These things are easy enough for me to teach and I'm not a professional trainer by any means. You have a very nice horse! Good luck!

Thank you. This is what I wanted to hear and thank you for the advice! Normally when I ride him, I give him his rein and he doesn't give me any problems dropping his head and he is very sensitive to his leg pressures (no spur wise). He really does feel like a rocking chair when I ride him in the lope as I like to sit back a bit and I can feel the changes. I suppose it could be the rider at the time? Anyways, thank you. He's very special. :)

Glad I could help. It could be the rider in the video that is making him heavy in the front. She isn't really riding with her leg and I don't like the way she is working the reins. I'd really like to see how he rides with you on him. :)

I like to use the reins last if possible. Personally I'm not a fan of spurs, but if it's what it takes for the right response than I'm ok with it as long as there isn't any bald or broken skin. I ride two handed on green or toon-up horses.

As soon as I have him trained up a bit, I will post a video :) Right now, he needs a chiropractor and his teeth done lol. Not to mention his feet done. Poor boy is going to be sore at me.

This is a horse that was trained to the spur so you need to get used to using them. At the jog....he is asking for more rein but was not given it. He's bowed up in the neck and his face has gone behind the vertical....he's asking for more rein.

I have to agree to the fullest. Several people have pointed that out and he does need a longer rein in which I barely have to check him. He normally has a natural head set. Do you see anything else?
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This is what I see and it's also based on who he is....meaning his age and that he's a Radical Rodder son. He's geared toward Trail and Western Riding because he's older and the WP horses of today have a more modern look and movement, and the Rodders make betterTrail and Western Riding horses than WP horses. So progress with him in that direction and market him in that direction. He has more knee and is quicker legged than today's WP horses, but that stuff works in Trail and Western Riding. That is what is awesome about specialization in AQHA...every horse has the ability to be REALLY great at one thing, instead of just being mediocre at many things. Trail and Western Riding is BOOMING and just as popular as WP, if not more so!

Who are you sending him into training with? (You can always PM me if you want.)