Young horse, training methods?

[ehilton]

Hi all,

I have a young 4 year old gelding that has never received any proper training. He walks, holts and trot just fine, but when asked to canter he shoots off and starts bucking. I have been cantering him on circles and he has improved a lot, but just wondering if there was any more tips?

Also, I am trying to get him in more of an outline but I am unsure how. I have been advised to use bungees but I am not sure. Does anyone know of anything I could possibly use as I am unhappy with schooling him when his heads like a giraffe! :/

[sarahp]

If safe, cantering uphill is great to help them learn to balance, which may be his problem.

I have used a bungee in the past with success, but that was with a more mature horse who had already muscled up all upside down. With a baby like yours I'd try to do it with correct schooling - lots of turns, transitions and changes of pace within the gait. Teach him to leg yield - I've always found much easier on hacks if you have wide paths available to you. All these are designed to help him learn to take more weight on his quarters, or as daughter's dressage trainer says, move from front wheel drive to 4WD and eventually to rear wheel drive! Once he can do this he should come into a correct outline and drop down onto the bit naturally.

[babybem]

Teach him to go forward first and really work from behind from your leg into your hand, hard work and proper schooling will build the correct outline in time if he's bucking in canter, (do all usual back/teeth checks first) sit in a light seat and send him forward, I rode for a well known sj trainer and I spent half my life in a light seat sending the youngsters forward!!

[fanfarefan]

At 4 yrs old what is the rush, get him matured and muscled with hacking walking and trotting , and when hes fit and able cantering will be much easier , he is probably still growing , give him time , i dont disagree with any of the above but time is the key

[Deleted]

Try not to stiffen and tense up going into canter. Let the transition be a natural progression from trot ie let him 'roll' into canter. Practice increasing the trot pace and slowing again and then increase it until he makes the decision to canter. Use your canter leg aids the same as you always do but don't fret about allowing him to run into the canter to start with. Take the pressure of trying for a perfect transition away and just get a quiet change of pace first.

[cupcake909]

Bunges are best the elastic inside stop it from begin to harsh and if u can use draw reins correct there best because there more easily slackend off than bunge though try doing some work on the lunge

[ponymum]

NO no NO Bungee , gadgets or anything! First , get him , saddle etc checked out . Then if you have brakes and steering go hacking and then on a nice long track let him naturally fall into canter . dont worry about right or wrong leg! He is 4!!! Just do that for a while , till the transition is more established then try him in the school , use poles in each corner to help create a natural bend, then you will (hopefully) get the correct lead. Try not to get too frustrated if this doesnt happen ...but im sure with time it will happen. At this stage all I would put on is a martingale...nothing else x

[winterwood]

Nov 24, 2013 18:33:09 GMT ponymum said:

NO no NO Bungee , gadgets or anything! First , get him , saddle etc checked out . Then if you have brakes and steering go hacking and then on a nice long track let him naturally fall into canter . dont worry about right or wrong leg! He is 4!!! Just do that for a while , till the transition is more established then try him in the school , use poles in each corner to help create a natural bend, then you will (hopefully) get the correct lead. Try not to get too frustrated if this doesnt happen ...but im sure with time it will happen. At this stage all I would put on is a martingale...nothing else x

I would definitely check out the physical side of things and tack fit initially. If his head is high I would guess that his back is dipped a certain amount. This could be him trying to avoid discomfort of some sort. Good advice above from ponymum

Good luck

[sarahp]

If the head is high then from the history given it sounds more likely to be due to lack of schooling, and the pony never having learned to use his back properly to carry the rider. When I was young there was no such thing as physios, and these sort of problems were always put down to riding/schooling. Now that we do, I wonder sometimes if too much blame is put on bad backs when we need to be looking at schooling. It can be very difficult to work out which is the culprit, and of course they are often related anyway.

[ponymum]

We had a mare that went beautifully under saddle until this spring - turns out her saddle was pinching her spine and it only came into play when halting , so Again , check all you tack BEFORE using any aids , and then only use mild ones such as a martingale x

[foxylady]

I agree with ponymum tack ,teeth, back etc must be checked on a regular basis with young horses as they are constantly changing physically . Please remember these are the building blocks for a well educated horse that hopefully will go on and have a productive life. A four year old will still need time off and do not school every day their muscles will be tired from hopefully working correctly and you risk injury if they are not given time to recover in my experience canter will improve as the horse strengthens and his balance improves , hacking, hacking ,hacking great for a young horse and time in the field is essential . I would not use gadgets at this stage a lot of young horses will learn to evade and that will only bring more problems perhaps some lessons would help with someone who is used to bringing on young horses oh and keep the schooling sessions short with plenty of praise when he gets it right so many people forget to praise their horse but are quick to tell them off. You will get there but time is the key .

[cavana13]

Hi, I bought a 4 yrs old conni x last year, who was very weak behind, when I rode in the school she could only last 10 mins before she was tired, so I took her right back to basics, also she is was still growing, and still growing now, she is rump hight again. I started hacking to build her up and started to build up her work load in the school very short trot work to fitness up, also lunging once a week with a equiambi on very loose to stretch her down to build up her back muscles, I didn't keep her on the circle for too long as she is still growing and developing. My trainer advised not to keep her in the small area use the whole arena in trot and just get her moving forward, and when cantering come off her back and don't try and sit until she is a bit more built up, my training a year on, I still use the whole arena unless I am practising my dressage tests. I hope this helps