Hello everyone.
Well, what a week I have had! I bought my new saddle and Shilo has taken to it very well indeed.
I have now mounted Shilo about 20 times in the past week, and I am thrilled that he accepts me fully on his back, there's no bucking,kicking, or anything, I even have been successful in teaching Shilo to stand still like a statue at the mounting block.
I have also overcome the nerves that I thought I had, so I'm also very comfortable and relaxed on his back.
The problem I have is that Shilo will not follow my cue to walk forward.
I have taught him from the ground to walk forwards whilst I stand still , I point, and 'cluck ' and nod my head forward and he knows that is the cue to walk forward, (without me) and he does this EVERYTIME.
However, when in the saddle he will not follow the cue, I have tried everything I know but he won't !
I exaggerate for example the left rein holding the rein out to the left and point with my finger whilst holding the rein, I lean towards the left whilst sitting forward in the saddle, squeezing a little with my legs and tip and nod my head to the left whilst 'clucking ', Shilo moves towards the left with his front legs , and then immediately moves his back end to the right and stops.
As soon as he moves to the left I stop clucking ( removing the pressure) and praise him verbally, I have also tried to continue to cluck, but nothing seems to work.
I have also tried tapping his backend with my hand whilst motioning him forwards with no luck.
He has a couple of times walked straight forward and when he did this I tried hopping off - reward- but he didn't seem to take the hint.
What am I doing wrong?? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Dionne and Shilo -Denmark.
PS. Shilo has his Dually halter on, his reins are clipped on to the training rings, I also have a lead rope clipped to the center ring on the halter, I am taking the reins up very gently, and gently asking him for a walk forward, leaving the light pressure on until he complies and then immediately releasing the pressure as he takes his step to the left or to the right, the reins are slack.
His new saddle is a Barefoot Cherokee treeless saddle, it fits him very very well, he doesn't seem bothered by it, he can flex very very well in his new saddle, the girth is an elastic one, and that doesn't seem to bother him either.the underlay of the saddle is physiotherapist designed, the very best money can buy in my country, I only weigh in at about 50 kilos, so I don't think it's because he is uncomfortable.
Shilo is being trained to ride without a bit, whip or Spurs as I am against these 'tools'.
I just added this so that the reader has all of the info I can think of to give to 'solve' the issue.
Shilo is a Welsh Cob, he is nearly 4 years old, he is a very willing horse, he likes to learn.
I have owned him for just over 1 year and taught him everything he knows using Monty Roberts method and Missy Wryn method.
Congrats on the new saddle! I hope you will enjoy it.
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I should think a bit more about this before I answer, but my first thought is; why contact with the reins when you want to move forward?
I would advice to NOT pick them up at all. There should be nothing to stop even a thought to move forward. If you pick up the reins and then apply an aid for going forward, you are giving conflicting orders and at the same time . Horses do not understand aids that come simultaneously. Esp. not a young untrained horse. Even a Grand Prix dressage horse needs cues that are (at least a tenth of a second) apart.
You can pick up your reins when you need to stop or turn him, not before. Dropping contact is the reward for stopping on pressure on the bit, not moving forward, since eventually you will want him to make contact while moving.
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Secondly, leg aids aren't the obvious cue to move forward to a horse - they learn that as they go along, so don't be disappointed if he doesn't respond to that. You could just as well teach him to move when you tap his neck or the saddle or say "ketchup". ;)
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Why he doesn't move is hard to say.
Maybe he has a hard time finding his balance with you onboard and prefers to stand still?
Maybe your sessions at the mounting block were too good! ;)
Can someone help you by helping him along by leading and incrementally transfer the aids from the ground person to the rider? I'm thinking in his world the cues you give may be
a whole new matter when coming from up above him.
You're doing so well Dionne :D
agree with Kicki with the reins and leg.
Your seat will have a lot of what you want him to do in the saddle. Make sure you're fully relaxed when standing still at the mounting block and breathing, then take the balance of your body slightly forwards from your pelvis, gently touch his withers with your hand and ask for walk on in voice and a nod up of the head and look forwards so he knows where you want to go. If he doesn't respond sit back and relax again, wait a moment or two the do the same again.
the touch of his withers will tell him you're going to ask something, then he will start to connect the change of forward balance in your body along with the voice request to walk on from your ground work.
When he takes a step, reward and relax to see if he keeps going, then enjoy.
Mel
x
In Monty's videos of starting horses, the 'lunger' (or person on the ground) stays there with the first rider and encourages forward motion, maybe try to find someone to take that role and help Shilo go forward and get used to you on his back? Then you can progressively use more of your aids.
One more thing that I forgot to write about yesterday!
You say that once he did move you tried to hop off. You don't say if you sort of throw yourself off while he still moved (which I doubt you did!) or let him walk about for a while, stopped, praised and then got off. The latter would be the preferred choice. But don't expect him to understand that as reward on the first go - maybe he misunderstood completely and thought he is better off standing still or you will "go ballistic" up there ;) ;) ;)
Hi Kikki and Mel.
No i didnt jump off whilst he was moving, i praised him and Got off when he stopped.
Thanks Mel, yes I still feel that I am making progress and am just really happy to sit on him without him bucking, kicking and so on.
I can see that he is ultra confused, because his ears are listening to me whilst he kind of moves his head/neck from side to side, I can just see it in him that he doesn't know what I want.
I will try today with what you said Mel, he is one very intelligent horse so I'm the one who needs educating, not him!!
He will get there!!!- or more appropriately - I will get there!!
Thanks everyone.
Hi Dionne,
To help you with Mel's suggestions, take a look at the lessons here about "The Six Imperatives" for a riding horse. One of them is on moving forward, watch Monty's body while asking for forward motion. It'll give you a good sense of how much and how little it takes. Your Shilo being a young horse, you could benefit from a person leading him from the ground, like Australizee suggested.
Keep us posted about your wonderful journey with Shilo!
Miriam
Hi everyone.
Mel:- once again your advice did wonders....
I saddled Shilo today and put his Dually halter on like always, then I just clipped a lead rope to the left training ring and placed the end over his neck, I held on to the lead rope with my left hand ( just in case).
I mounted, placed my palm on his withers and leaned forward, I didn't get the chance to ask him to move on, because as I leant forwards he walked straight on.
I thought " this must be just a coincidence " so I stopped him up, dismounted, made a big fuss of him, re-mounted and did the same with my hand and my body and hey presto he walked forwards as straight as an arrow.
I dismounted and told him what a clever boy he is and made a big fuss of him .
WOW !!!! And then I ended the session after about 6 minutes... The shortest session I have had with Shilo so far.
Brilliant!! Thanks ever so much Mel.
Wonderful stuff Dionne, and all hail Mel ;-) xx