Lazy Horse Rules

I'm following up my post on hot horses by writing one about their opposite number: the lazy ones!  I've been schooling a few of these challenging steeds lately, and one of my regular adult students is adjusting to life with a lazy horse after retiring her whizzy one and is finding it a bit of a challenge.  As with most horse training, the key to riding lazy horses effectively is to keep things super simple.


RULE NUMBER ONE:  USE SOFT LEG AIDS
It may seem counter-intuitive but lazy horses need light, focussed aids with clear expectations.  You need to let go of 'what usually happens' and ask yourself what you WANT to happen, my phrase is, use the aid you wish would work!  So if it generally takes three or four hard nudges to move your lazy horse from a halt to an unwilling walk, you need to let go of that and use one light aid... then be prepared to back it up!  It will depend on the horse how you go about the escalation of pressure.  A lazy but sensitive soul might be terribly upset if you use a crop hard behind your leg, where a more phlegmatic specimen might need several wallops to get the message.  You might need to give several hard 'pony club kicks' to get to the point that the horse is properly going forward. Whatever your escalation is, it has to be something the horse wants to avoid in the future, by that I mean, the horse has to be motivated by it.  I often have a good response from simply swishing a whip loudly around the hind quarters, with the added bonus that a smack can be reserved for when you really need to get some forward.
I also like to use my numerical scoring system to quantify and monitor the strength of the aids.  Using the 0-10 scale, with 0 being no pressure and 10 being 'the hardest kick you can do' it's a good tool to monitor what feels 'normal' to both horse and rider.  Generally I like lazy horses to be sensitised to the point that a light touch of both legs (=2) gets an energetic upwards transition, every single time. 


But how to make that happen?!


RULE NUMBER TWO: USE FEWER LEG AIDS
To begin with, I like to school lazy horses using 'whole transitions' - moving between the paces rather than within them.  This adds a nice clarity to the aids - lazy horses are often so desensitised to their nagging rider that the aids' meanings need re-schooling.  So, applying a leg aid with the value of two while the horse is walking will achieve a trot transition (or else the aid will be quickly and meaningfully escalated).  A few steps of trot later, the rider brings the horse back to walk, not asking him to maintain or energise his trot at this point - this will blur the meaning of the leg aids.  Once the horse is bouncing into trot on a light aid, it's time to build in the 'cruise control...'


RULE NUMBER THREE: MAINTAINING THE PACE IS THE HORSE'S JOB
It is such a dis-spiriting feeling, getting halfway around a circle or up the long side and the pace dwindling underneath you.  Riders generally 'chase' the horse at this point, giving a few random leg aids and being satisfied if the horse doesn't drop down out of pace he's in.  But over time, horses need more and more 'chasing' and all those leg aids confuse things.  Is the rider, who is using their legs vigorously in the trot, wanting to maintain the trot, increase the trot, canter on?  Remember Rule Number Two: fewer aids! 


After a successful upwards transition, the rider's job is to monitor the pace. You can feel when the energy drops - when the steps become shorter or lower or slower.  Precisely at that point, I like to give the horse a soft vocal reminder (a click or hiss) and if no forward is achieved by that, a sharp smack with a whip.  Note that I DO NOT use the leg at this point, for reasons of clarity.  The horse may be a bit upset about getting a smack but this will actually work to your advantage in the long run.  Next time he hears your vocal reminder, he will remember what followed it.  With consistency, the horse will learn that dropping his energy has consequences.  Of course, the fitness level of the horse should be considered while training this.


RULE NUMBER FOUR: HAVE DIFFERENT AIDS FOR DIFFERENT RESPONSES
A different aid to "go forward within the pace" or "move up a pace" can make a massive difference in the responsiveness and rideability of lazy horses.  Expecting a horse to interpret what its rider is asking for when two aids are identical and two responses are totally different is unfair, and the antithesis of good training.  A definite nudge of the lower legs is good for a clear transition while a slower 'push' of the whole leg for 'more' is a good differentiation for most horses and riders but you can use any two differing leg aids you like.


RULE NUMBER FIVE: ONE LEG NEVER MEANS GO FASTER
Training lateral steps with lazy  horses often has a remarkable effect on their forward-ness.  It's like you can 'wake up' their sides by tuning the lateral response.  Be careful, though.  If the horse responds to a lateral aid by quickening or energising (even though that's what you might ultimately want) again, it blurs the true meaning of the aid.  I'll do another post soon about starting and refining lateral leg aids.


RULE NUMBER SIX: DON'T FORGET YOUR SEAT
Sometimes if a lazy horse is tired, uncooperative or confused, it's very tempting to give them a chase up with the legs.  Be warned though, and remember Rule Number Two.  The more leg you use the more the horse is going to tune you out.  There are a few occasions when using your seat to create or maintain energy can work really well, such as a horse who struggles to maintain the canter or who loses forward during lateral movements.  We don't want the horse to rely on the rider to push him along but by giving a little 'buzz' with an energetic, animating seat, you can often get the horse to lift and swing his back more and maintain his own impulsion.  So if your horse feels like he's about to drop out of canter, instead of using a leg aid, use an elevating, lifting action of your seat in rhythm with the pace to maintain the tempo.  Even very green horses can be trained in this way as they seem to instinctively follow the rider's activating (or resisting/collecting) seat.  More on this in a later post too!


RULE NUMBER SEVEN: SCHOOL THE DOWNWARDS TRANSITIONS TOO
Just because your horse is lazy and stops when you stop actively riding, doesn't mean it has a full understanding of what the rein means.  And there may come a point that this training will be put to the test and the horse that is normally so willing to stop becomes a war horse charging into battle and ignoring his rider's aids altogether.  The 3-2-1 exercise teaches the horse how to fold the hind legs and lower and engage the hindquarters in preparation for the downwards transition which occurs strictly in the rider's given timing.  This creates a really effective half-halt which is very useful once the motivating aids have been properly established.


Good luck with your lazy horses!