Hi everybody,
I have a four year old horse, on the whole he is well-behaved. He is a "gelding" (I hope that is the right word he is no more a stallion). He can't gallop. He is doing the gallop when he is outside (he is always outside), but when I have him "on the rope" he is walking and troting really well but when I want to force him to gallop he gets really made. We use the four steps but no chance. We are two persons holding him and one telling him to go, but when he is good one gallop and then nothing and very very bad behavior. Most of the time he is behaving very bad and does not gallop. Can anybody help me in this really hard case? Thank you so much!
Greetings Michaela from Austria
Hi Michaela
How is his cantering?? by the sond of things you havent got him in a canter yet either. usually I wouldnt get a horse to galllop on a line or rope at all.
hope it helps
HorseCrazy
Can you try the Giddy-Up Rope?
I think Michaela means canter when she writes gallop. The word "galopp" in German (and Swedish) means "canter".
I have no good advice for you, Michaela, since I can't see you working with him. But I can put up some things that comes to my mind while reading your post.
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Why are you two people holding him? With a third person telling him to go, it seems to me you are putting him under too much pressure entirely. My first thought is that you have made a huge issue out of this and need to back down instead of piling up.
Remember: adrenalin up - learning down, adrenalin down - learning up!
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What breed is he? What has he done before you started him on the line? Ruling out an injury (see further down) it is likely that the root of this is that he simply doesn't understand what is expected of him.
A race trotter, just for example, have been taught never to canter, and will be mighty confused, even angry, if you tell him to.
Either way, he is trying to tell you *some*thing.
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Is it possible the line is too short, making the circle too narrow for him to keep his balance in a canter? Many young horses needs to improve strength and balance a lot before they attempt to canter on a circle.
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Do you have a round pen where you can set him loose and ask for a canter? Or can you build a corridor around your arena to let him canter in? That way, you can teach him the command until he understands what is asked of him, and then you can go back to the lounge line (preferably two lines!) and try again on a very wide circle.
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Since he gets so mad, I would also have a vet check him, since that could indicate that something is painful for him. Many young horses can get "stuck" in the joints while growing and working, making it hard for him to turn at a canter.
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Above all; stay safe!
Do let us know how you're doing!
hi,
thanks for trying to help me,
we tried it again today, no force very calm eveything was fine until I gave him the signal to canter and tried to bring him forward - no chance. We left it like this for today because that is not working.
the thing is one the one hand it is like he does not know what we want of him, on the other hand, he has been cantering half a round on the rope yesterday once.
so what is he telling me? I do not want to canter?? or I do not know what to do?
Perhaps the rope lounge is really to short, today we tried it with a really long one - no chance.
unfortunately a trustful trainer using NHT is at the moment in his holidays until mid june - and I do not want to wait that long.
we are trying it with a cavesson and if that does not work we go to a round pen. That is the plan for now. We decided against the round pen first because I guess if he knows it in the round pen, he probably will try it outside the round pen again because i is a smart boy.
I do not want to make him unsensible to the snaffle bit, therefore the cavesson might be an option.
anyway wish me luck - I hope it is soon over and we can go on with the usually soft training.
best Michaela
Do not lunge with cavesson! Single lunging is bad for your horse. Watch Monty how he does it! But give your boy some time. He is young. Some horses need to find their balance! It is not so easy to balance. Especially with a rider on.
If you are using a long lunge line and you are staying behind his shoulder pushing him to move you might want to take a lunge whip and tie a white cloth at the top of the handle and urge your horse to move faster by holding the white cloth behind his hocks
By doing this you are giving him a clear signal that you want him to move forward when he canters take the cloth away which removes the pressure don't know if it will work for you but it has worked for me. The cloth acts as an extention of your arm
Cheers
hi all,
thanks for your help! I have used a lunge whip and a long longe but when he does not want to canter he simply makes a turn so that the lunge is around his head and I can't do anything.
The thing is I know that he is capable of cantering while on the lunge because where I bought him I saw him doing it - so it is a question of respect between the two of us and who is the chief (leitstute oder leithengst mare and stallion)
Anyway he is cantering now. Thank you for your comments.
A word with monty about the case would indeed be interesting!!