[drunkenmimes]

Okay guys, the horse that ride is quite confusing......i wear spurs with him to get him moving forward cause he does not listen to my leg what so ever. The only thing is that when i do flat with him and dressage he completly ignores my calf which then causes me to spur him a little bit which he completly ignores too!!so then when he doesnt listen me spurring him a little bit i do it a little harder.....and at one point during our lessons i need to combined my long whip and my spurs at the same time to even get him to move forward and i do usually carry a long crop with me but if i annoy him too much he bucks....but then(this is what confuses me more) when we get in "jumping mode" he responds soo well to my spurs that i rarely ever need to use my short crop and when i do use it he bucks again......my trainer said that i should use a longer set of spurs but i have tried them before and when i do use them he concentrates so hard on either bucking me off or getting away from the spurs that my lesson or when ever i ride him we get nothing done cause im focusing on keeping him from acting up! i need some major help! cause i have absolutly no idea what to do!

[i_luv_moth]

u could try cowboy spurs. i haven't used them b4 but my dressage trainer uses them on my horse and she responds absolutley beautifully.

[Barrelburner37]

I don't know but he might just love to jump and is not so fond of dressage. My pony is western but does the same thing is good when we do something he likes. But if we do something he doesn't like so well he gets mad at me and acts up. And western spurs work very well.

[drunkenmimes]

ive sorta come to terms with the fact that he likes jumping alot better than dressage but weve been eventing all this summer and i need to figure out some way to make him like dressage more cause thats the only part we need to work on. and i really cant try any spurs that are stronger than what i wear now cause he will literally turn into a bucking bronco lol

[i_luv_moth]

lol.just keep trying work more on gettin his paces and stuff working.then maybe move onto roundness.or do roundess first.once he gets a good pace give him lots of rein and praise so he'll stretch his back out but keep him going round on a 20m circle at that pace!

[MissBandit]

I think that's terrible advice by your trainer. Getting longer, or harsher spurs is not what you should be doing. Your trainer should have you working on driving from you seat as well as your legs. You should be doing lots of driving exercises to get this horse moving.

[Cyn]

I have to agree with MB. And you have to be consistant and persistant. and lets not forget patient.

[Cowgirl2135]

I agree with Miss. Bandit.

To learn to drive, try lunging him. It gets him going, work him. Teach him that a kissing sound mean go. Or "Walk" "Trott" "Canter" and "Whoa"

[rusty_rulz2]

Using all sorts of different aids will not work, just adding more and more aids if anything will make your problem worse. Get rid of all your aids (you might need a dressage wip perhaps) and work on your transitions. Ask you horse to move foward with your leg, if he doesn't listen then reinforce with a small tap of the whip behind your leg (this tells him what to listen to next time) THen ask with just your leg again, if he moves off give him a pat and say good boy or something, if not repeat the process until he listen, patience and persistance is essential in this case. Start with going from halt to walk (all the time making sure the downward transitions are good) and then increse to walk to trot and trot to canter, in the end you will end up with a super responsive horse.

[drunkenmimes]

thankx guys! lol ive currently been lunging(sp?) him and using a bunge to get him bending more! its been helping alot but he still gets stubborn at times in dressage. and i do have a dressage whip which i sometimes have to use with my spurs to get him actually moving(which sometimes results in bucks)....the whole reason why this is confusing me so much is because he isnt a green horse....hes 11 and has been through it all....but thankx every one for your advice!! i really appreciate it! :0)