how to get a horse more responsive to leg aids when riding circles?
Whenever i ride circles on my lesson horse, i have to literally pull him over to get a decent circle. I just cannot use my leg how do i get him obeying my leg aids and not having to pull him to get a good circle. Thanks for any help.
If this is a lesson horse ride other people so this is a familiar issue. Lesson horses need to be reliable and steady. Unfortunately, that means they are not as responsive as horses who learn from one trainer or rider at a time. The best thing to do is to let the horse know you actually mean business. When your leg means the horse must respond he wants. Do you need a track or crop? Have you asked your trainer / instructor about how to handle the horse? If this is your horse teach him to move smartly off you leg before going back to the circle. Get respect for your leg, then require that respect no matter what exercise you’re doing.
That lesson is common in horses. except my lesson horse who I have been leasing for months 2nd He is sooo responsive! ANYWAY! Try spurs. That usually works! Poker help make the horse move and respond to your leg aids. It is not an insult!
I accept that I might get some TD’s for this. My instructor last week did a horrible thing to me last week (lol). I have a 3 1 / 2 year old horse. I never pull on the reins and I do stay out of his mouth but he does not get leg aids. He would stay against the rail and basically follow that direction because the rail was there and I had my hands at least collected on the reins so he knew there was nothing to do but stay in pace the way he was going. When I wanted to turn him I would just put my leg on him and shift my whole body, once I slowly tugged on his head, he would turn the other way. But he never understood leg pressure, he just knew to go. So she came up to me, tied me reins in a not and as i started to walk off she yelled at me not to touch them. I told her, “but he does not know leg aids!” she said “i know, this is to teach him” and I mumbled “no it is just to frustrate me” as I expected him to go around in circles and pick up hay and Do ANYTHING but go where I wanted, but here is what happened. I used my body, and i put put pressure on him from the left, he ignored it, I tried harder, he titled his head towards the right. Right at that moment he got a praise, he moved away from my pressure. I tried again, but the other way, he ignored it a bit as i kicked left behind the girth, and he finally turned. I was so proud of my horse, he had started getting leg pressure! To do this though you really need to let go, or make the reins as loose as you can and not worry about holding him back. Do not worry about the horse trotting or going faster. Mine picked up speed and started turning into a trot, but he was still turning and giving me forward motion, so I let him. I would wear a helmet during this exercise and make sure the arena is clear. Do not try and keep your horses going along the rail, let him go through the middle and make zigzags if needed, as long as he gets your leg aid.
Get some sharper spurs and let him run into them when he leaks, work on making him not hang his Hindquarters to the outside of the circles and it will be easire for him. If you use the spurs correctly soon you would just want to be able to put a little leg on him and he respond. Spurs are not there to just keep pecking at him, there are there to make him move away from them if you have to.