Do lots of transitions. For example; walk a few feet, sit back and say "whoa". Then again, and again. After he gets it at the walk, do the same at the trot. Trot a few feet, sit back and say, "whoa". That way when you're riding he will anticipate you stopping.

Are you sure you're being clear that you want him to stop? or are you just sitting there and saying, "please will you stop now, oh okay, you don't want to stop, it's okay you can keep going, i'll ask again later".

Stop means stop, and he needs to understand that. So only let him take "one stupid step" and if he doesn't want to stop then you make him work until he does want to stop. He's taking advantage of you.

Once you work on alot of transitions, and if he still doesn't want to stop then next time you ask him to stop, and he doesn't want to, make him work. Once you ask him to stop, make him stop, but only for a second then get him going into a working trot or lope. He will understand that it's easier to stop than to ignore your ques.

 

What WF said. The only thing I would add is that when you ask him woah, take a few steps back. Especially if it takes him too long to respond to your cue to halt. When he's stopping immediately, then you can ditch the backing up.

 

Great tips guys! I like to think of it as keeping them on their toes. When I give a cue, I expect it to be followed. The tips you got are great ones. Just dont forget to praise when he does exactly as you ask. At first, you may have to praise the attempt.

Ricci-That particular tip works great for horses that walk off when mounting. Most of them arent doing it to make a big fuss...they are just anticipating you getting on and walking off. If you get on and immediatly take a few steps back...it stops the walking off. Sorry to throw that in...just thought it was worth mentioning!

 

Ricci-That particular tip works great for horses that walk off when mounting. Most of them arent doing it to make a big fuss...they are just anticipating you getting on and walking off. If you get on and immediatly take a few steps back...it stops the walking off. Sorry to throw that in...just thought it was worth mentioning!

Very true! I find the worst falls are the ones that occur when the horse takes off as you are only half-mounted. =]

 

My farrier told me the same thing about Rookie. He told me that when I stop him to make him take a couple of steps back each time. It seems to be working so far. He's stopping much more willingly.

 

What I've been doing is when he does stop we immediatly transition to back up for a few steps. The idea being when you say whoa - he'll be thinking I have to back up, thus the stop should be more precise.