First of all it is important to consider that horses are not naturally lazy. We make them lazy! Horses are prey animals, so instinctually they are wired to be prepared to run and get away from the predators!
We make them lazy because we are afraid and don’t want to get hurt. When we get a new horse or start a young horse none of us want to come off or have a bad experience so we desensitize the horse and in a sense make them lazy and un-reactive so that we can stay safe.
Here are a few tips for how to get your horse more reactive and moving forward:
- Make sure you are brave and willing to really ride forward – like gallop. Mentally you have to psych yourself up and get ready to really want to go!!!
- Be consistent with your aids and corrections -every time that you ask the horse to go, you MUST get a reaction from the horse before you release the pressure. Being inconsistent and giving up will only make the horse even more un-reactive and lazy!
- Ironically, on a lazy horse, you must take the legs off! The more that you take your leg off, the better chance you have to make a difference when you put your leg back on the horse.
- The kick is from the waist down – it is very important that when you kick the horse to go more forward, the aid comes from the waist down. Your hands must remain passive and quiet at the moment when you kick!
- The horse should feel like you have cruise control set in your car- the horse should stay going the same speed until you hit the brakes and tell them to slow them down. You should not have to constantly tell the horse to keep going.
- Transitions and short intense intervals in your training sessions are a must for a lazy horse
- Pay attention to the downward transitions and make sure that the horse does not stop or loose energy in the downward transition.
I hope these tips are helpful! Be prepared that when you start to wake up your horse, things are going to get exciting! As you change your standards and ask for more energy, horses often jump around, get a little spooky, and may run off. If you really want the horse to get more sensitive, you must be prepared to ride through this!!
