[Friesiangirl]

Grrr, stormy went back to rushing, but only at the trot. I circle him, or stop and back and neither are working too well. I checked my saddle, and his teeth/bit etc. Nothing is bothering him he just rushes at the trot. I can't always set up poles but i'm gonna work with those too. Any other ideas?

[Arwen]

To slow him down, it would help just to do lots of transitions from walk to trot, trot to walk, trot to halt, walk to halt and things like that, get him listening to you! Also by slowing your rise to the trot can make them slow their stride and therefore not rush, as well as squeezing with the top of your leg as this is a signal to stop/slow down.

Hope this helps
xx

[Friesiangirl]

Originally Posted by Arwen

To slow him down, it would help just to do lots of transitions from walk to trot, trot to walk, trot to halt, walk to halt and things like that, get him listening to you! Also by slowing your rise to the trot can make them slow their stride and therefore not rush, as well as squeezing with the top of your leg as this is a signal to stop/slow down.

Hope this helps
xx

Thank you! I just don't want to be yanking on him if he isn't paying attention (i own the add horse type) Like yesterday, he wasn't even listening, and that was a horible ride. Ex (Real life) ... "Woah"...horse keeps walking..."**** horse, WOAH *pulls gently on the reins...."thank you....."


He wasn't even listening at the walk. His stops were horible beacause of it. I'm hoping that yesterday was just a bad ride. He won't usualy rush that badly, considering i longed him for 15-20 minnutes before i rode. Grrr, silly pony... lol

[shakti21]

I agree with Arwen. The best time though is when your horses is rushing and your doing a left handed circle, then your horse decides they want to go right instead. Really throws something into the mix.

[China515]

When you say rushing do you mean that your horse is getting tense? When my horse was first broken, she too went through a phase like that where she would rush in the trot.

Does your horse accept leg pressure or does he rush forward with any contact? If not, I would work on putting your horse in small circles, preferrably around jumps, and do lots of figure eights and changing of directions, trying to turn ONLY using your legs. This means you need to keep lots of slack in your reins and your horse will most likely get tense and go more forward at first, but if you are consistent you will see a big change.

The first thing I would do is quit stopping and backing him up. That simply rewards him and it will make him worse not better. My advice is tons of circles, start small and work big. Try to keep slack in the rein, I have found that when I take back on the reins when a horse is rushing it will make them rush more. Also, don't be afraid to apply your leg, sometimes horses rush out of insecurity and by closing your leg you will remind them you are up there...

If circles do not work, I did this one thing with my horse that worked pretty well when she was going through the rushing stage. When I picked up the trot and she started rushing, I gave her her head and I kicked her more forward, asking her to do extended trot in a 30 meter circle. I kept squeezing and pushing her forward until she relaxed her head and started reaching for the bit...when she did that well for a few circles, then I started her normal workout as if I had just gotten on. After a few weeks, the time decreased that I had to ask her to move out and eventually I could get on without her getting tense and rushing.

[Friesiangirl]

No, he's not tense, he just wants to canter (he'll sometimes just start loping) and it's funny, he keeps his head down and acts normal except he is speeding up

[China515]

Then I would work on lots of circles

[Just_me]

Depending on where you live it could be that the weather is just getting him hyper.How much grain does he get and what kind?is there a possibility to cut back a little and upper hay intake instead?I'm pretty sure it is just a phase cuz if i remember correctly you had him going perfectly in the past right

I would,if you can,let him free lunge in an enclosed arena so that he can get the bucks and energy out b4 you ride.Lunging with a lunge line is also ok,as long as you don't do it to often(cuz remember,lunging will built up muscles and put the horse in a better condition).When you are done,get right on him and work him your ways.
Good exercise that help slow him down(and get him supple)are:

§ spiraling in and out,you basically ride a normal circle and go smaller and smaller until the horse slows down.Then you make it bigger and bigger again.Don't let the horse break into a walk if you go the smallest.

§Transitions on a circle with an initial back up in between

§lots of figure 8,half turns,serpentines and change of direction while you half halt.

§Most important use your seat,weight and back-not just your reins.Sit up,raise your eyelevel

§Post low and very slow,the closer you stay to the saddle the slower he will get.If you can try to even sit the trot(you have to get him slow enough tho).Sitting trot will be really hard tho as you have to focus on 3 things at a time.

[Friesiangirl]

He's on grass hay (one flake of alfa alfa in the morn just to perk him up) and one pound of grain. (An all around feed) beacause he started looking a bit ribby and it's winter her as well. And it's cold lol 24 as we speak. Sadly, i come from michigan and i complain when it's 40 here lol (oregon) I could try giving him more hay and less grain.... but the grain really is to mix in vitamens and essential oils more than being a feed lol

[TravelingGirl]

If he's not paying attention to you, do some leg yeilding and shoulders in, shoulders out to get his attention. If you're riding inside because of the weather, he may be bored going around in circles. Try to change it up...serpantines, weaving cones, circles, etc.