[HopperVal]

My 4 year old gelding has about 8 rides on him and he is doing spectacular... I am very proud of him

But he is having trouble when we get the the corner close to where the barn is. He drifts out quite a bit. I tried holding my outside rein and sliding my outside leg back and it seemed to work a bit, but sometimes he would get confused and think I was asking him to go faster.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[Gutter_Doll]

I'm going to sound like a Clinton Anderson spouter here, but let him go towards the barn - and work him hard over there. then walk/jog/lope back to the other side of the arena, facing the other way, and let him rest there. It's just making the thing you want easy, and the thing he wants, hard.

[MissHopesMom]

Congrats on your horse's success!

I can't profess to be an expert in training, but I've got a 4 yo off at the trainers right now, that I'm just starting to connect with in the saddle, so I thought I might share some of what we are going through.

My horse is actually cue'd to pick up the lope when her rider slides her outside leg back - is that how your horse is being trained too? I would try maybe applying leg pressure without moving your leg back?

I know with Hope, she's been at the trainers for a month, but still needs to be reminded with the inside rein if she's getting to close to the wall - I'd maybe try that next.

Hopefully someone with more experience can help you out!

good luck!

[HopperVal]

Thanks for the replys.

MissHopesMom- Well, I apply pressure with the inside leg in the corner so he bends his body around my leg around the turn, so applying pressure with my outside leg without moving it back would cue him to go forward I think? I figured by slipping my outside leg back and holding my outside rein pressure I would 'hold' him more through the turn. Idk though, I could be completely wrong...

[MissHopesMom]

Sorry, when you say drifting out, do you mean drifting more towards the rail, as in if he goes too far, he's gonna rub your leg on the wall/rail, or do you mean drifting out of his path and into the center of the riding area?

[HopperVal]

We dont have a ring so its not really a 'rail' but that sort of idea

[MissHopesMom]

I think that applying only a slight pressure with the inside leg to give the horse a "wall" of sorts is what you're striving for? To keep him from coming off the wall and to shape him through the corner. My trainer has mentioned to me that the "wall" should basically only be resting on the horse's side, and that given more pressure than that, the horse is being asked to move away from the pressure ( which in this instance would be pushing your horse towards the rail? )

Sounds like possibly a little too much inside leg pressure pushing him out?

From what you are mentioning, if I used your technique on Hope, I would have her speeding up with the outside leg cue, sliding over to the outside with the inside leg cue, and possibly holding her head to the outside, depending on the amount of outside rein pressure.

To get Hope effectively into the corner without scraping me off on the rail or cutting the corner, we give direct inside rein and outside leg, while putting slight contact with the outside rein, while laying it on her neck ( to get the idea of neck reining for the future ) to keep her from bending too much to the inside. The inside leg is lying on her side, and if I feel she's going to try to cut in, slight pressure with the leg to keep her from doing so.

[HopperVal]

Alright, thank you very much for the help

[lovethemall]

I took a lesson a few weeks back and the philosophy of staying off the rail has really helped me in getting my 2 year old to respect my leg queues. The idea is to keep him so busy wondering when you'll be changing directions, throwing a circle or serpentine at him, working on laterals, riding down the centerline, etc., that he'll be more tuned into you. My guess is that his mind isn't busy enough, so he's thinking about going back to the barn instead of what you want from him. I like to leave 5 or 10 minutes at the end, after 'work', to let him go back to the rail and relax. If nothing else, all of the bending & circles & laterals make them much lighter & more supple, so hopefully that helps!

[Rhythm 'n Blues]

Just want to reply to this post. Please keep in mind that I have a Dressage point of view.

Originally Posted by HopperVal

I apply pressure with the inside leg in the corner so he bends his body around my leg around the turn,

This is correct, but I have to ask what is his inside shoulder doing & what is his outside shoulder doing. Also what is you inside rein doing??

Originally Posted by HopperVal

so applying pressure with my outside leg without moving it back would cue him to go forward I think?

Not for sure. Remember you can cue a horse to do anything. For me because of all the lateral movements in Dressage, outside leg back does NOT mean canter. Outside leg back paired with inside leg at the girth & a half halt with the in-side rein as the out-side rein holds along with a half-halt with my seat is my canter cue . Just simply outside leg back tells my horses to move their hinney towards the center of the ring while keeping their shoulders on the rail. Now depending on what my reins are saying tells them what bend I want while doing that.

Originally Posted by HopperVal

I figured by slipping my outside leg back and holding my outside rein pressure I would 'hold' him more through the turn. Idk though, I could be completely wrong...

Good thought process there, but you don't want to be apply pressure with that outside leg, as I'm suspecting since he's young, that will most likely have him falling on his inside shoulder, which does just set him up for popping the outside shoulder which then leads to the issue you're having.

If I was training this horse & I had this issue, I start working in walk & start mspiralling my circles. I would be holding my inside rein, with my outside leg back, not on, just there to support & push the hinney back where it should be SHOULD it fall to the outside of my circle. My inside leg would be on to keep the inside bend and my inside rein would be slightly up & opened (not back towards the riders hips, but opened towards the middle of the circle). Having that open & slightly up (we're talking slightly by like an inch) doesn't allow the neck/jaw to get stiff, and it encourages the horse to put his shoulder in that opening. When the shoulder goes there, my legs keep him moveing forward and voila you have no more problems. The inside rein being slightly UP & the inside leg keeping him moving forwards ensures the horse doesn't fall down on the that inside shoulder. Once the horse under stood this, I would even ask for a few steps of leg yeilding back out onto a larger circle. That would tell me for sure that the horse was really on my outside rein & listening.

But again, everyone trains differently, so perhaps for what you're planning/wanting to do in the furture this won't work for you.....but I hope it at least explains why I do things & who it helps the horse.