01/09/2024
“HELP MY HORSE IS LAZY!!” 😩🥵
This is one of the most common things I am asked to help clients with……their horse is lazy, wont go forwards, numb to the leg, backwards thinking etc etc. This can be exhausting for you, the rider, whilst the horse is completely switched off, having a lovely old time doing not very much, whilst you are feeling like you have done a full cardio session at the gym.
Heres the thing, lazy horses need to be ridden with your legs off, 99% of the time. “But then he will just stop” I hear you say……let me explain……
Imagine someone is asking you to do something, in a mundane, dulcet tone, quietly pecking at you each time they see you but with no sense of urgency and no real commitment in their tone. They say it every time they see you, you reply “yeah yeah Ill sort it” and never do. It gets to the point where they say it so much you dont even notice them anymore.
Imagine one morning you walk into work and there is a new, shiny sign on the door. You notice it straight away because its not usually there. Then, day by day the presence of that new sign fades in your mind and you dont even notice it anymore, you couldn’t even tell someone what it said if your life depended on it, because it has sunk into the background of every day life and your brain no longer registers it.
That nagging person and that sign are exactly the same as your leg, there all the time, nagging, present, repetitive until your horse doesn’t even notice you have legs anymore.
Your leg needs to have an element of shock value to it, the horse needs to respect it and react to it. The way to achieve this is to MEAN IT when you use your leg, then take it off. Stop putting one little block of coal in the fire every 2 seconds, throw a shovel load in (sharp aid) and then back off. If your horse then stops / backs off / slows down, use your leg again but mean it! Back it up with a click or a tap with the stick. “But I dont want to hurt him”………. You are not hurting him by teaching him to respect simple aids. It is far worse constantly kick, kick, kicking your horse in the background, than it is to give him a short, sharp pony club “wake up” and then leave him alone. Allow him the chance to feel what its like to go forward without your leg constantly there. Everyone is so afraid to tell their clients to give their horse a sharp aid when they need it. If it was so uncomfortable and traumatic for them, they would not ignore your leg in the first place! And ALWAYS reward him as soon as he does the right thing.
A good trick is, once you have woke your horse up and showed him you have legs, and arent afraid to use them, try just flicking your legs out to the side as if you are going to use a sharp leg aid, but then dont. He should anticipate the aid then go forwards. You have then created an aid which results in a forward reaction, without having to touch him.
Once your horse has become lazy you need to “reprogramme” him to your leg by taking it off and being firm when you do use it. Eventually he will gain a new found respect for it and you will be able to use smaller aids, and actually feel like you can breathe when you ride!
Hopefully this has been helpful, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message or reply in the comments.
Feel free to share and happy riding!! 🐴
