how do i keep my horse from galloping?

Question

ok, i have the best horse in the world and i always gallop her out in feilds and stuff and rarley ever trot her its amost always at a full speed gallop. when ever i click to her or any thing she just tears off and i love it, and im afraid that i kind of taught her that. so now when i want my friends to ride her, how do i train her to just stay at a steady gait( i hardly ever trot her cause its anoying and galloping is more fun) .

Answer 1

Cut his legs off.

Answer 2

Well I'm sorry to say that you have taught her that a galloping is the only thing that is expected of her. In other words, its the only thing she knows how to do.
Now do you mean gallop or canter, because galloping is hard on a horse, and doing just galloping could really hurt her physically, and as you found out it makes it virtually impossible for her to do anything else. As in everything there must be balance. You are basically going to have to teach you horse a different aid for trot. Maybe you can use a kiss noise. kiss to your horse and then ask it to move foreword with a squeeze from the leg. If she dose not trot squeeze harder....if she canters ask her to slow down. Keep kissing and asking until you get a trot. Once you start asking her to trot, don't stop asking her until you get a trot or else you will confuse her. After she trots for a couple of strides let her walk for a while and then ask again. It will take a while anmd a lot of patience, but you horse will finally learn that the kiss and leg squeeze means trot and not run for the hills.
I wouldn't let any of your friends ride her until she can trot happily for some time. Still I would have a hard time letting one of my non-horsey friends get on her with out me leading her.
I really hope you go through with this...as a result your horse will be much more well-rounded.

Answer 3

I agree there is nothing like tearing off on a horse full speed is there! However the others are also right. I too run my horse at full speed for the fun but I also start out at a walk then go to a trot etc to let the horse warm up and prevent an injury. From now on this is what you need to do with your's as well. When you go out and it tries to run pull back on the reins and make it halt then keep light tension on the reins to get it to walk and as you wish to increase speed loosen the grip on the reins. It will take time because unfortunatly you have done the same as I did and taught your horse a bad habit. Another thing we did was I put a lead rope on him and had my daughter get in the saddle, this way she could ride but I controlled the speed. The horse saw me beside him and realized other people were riding him and he started to register not everyone wanted to run. No matter what when he does what you want him to do make sure to praise him as with a child you need positive reinforcement this way he knows what is expected of him. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

Wow. "I hardly ever trot her cause it's annoying and galloping is more fun." Ignorance, such as your entire post contains, ruins more horses than malicious actions.

This is why some people shouldn't own horses. They aren't machines. Good job. You've probably ruined your horse. You'll sell her once she breaks down and someone else will have to fix her, if they can at all. The worse scenario is she'll end up at slaughter once she's ruined beyond use. Also, she's a mental basket case now.

Kudos to those who are trying to help you. They have more patience for ignorance than I do. Do your horse a favor and get a trainer so you can learn how to ride and treat your horse like a living being and not like a toy.

Answer 5

When you ask her to go and she starts galloping, then ask her to slow down. Keeping working at it and eventually she'll learn that she has other gaits besides gallop. Posting usually makes the trot more tolerable, but you're going to have to do it. Have you considered barrel racing? The two of you might find it fun.

Personally, I prefer the canter.

I hope you don't ever have to sell your mare, since it will be nearly impossible to find her a good home if you can't get her to do anything other than walk and flat out gallop. I have that problem (not being able to sell her) with my mare, but for different reasons. She's perfect for me, but everyone else hates riding her because she's just too much of a pain in the a**.

Answer 6

Oh dear I think its back to basics for you and your horse. Walk for the first mile, trot during the second and gallop during the third. You say your horse gallops on command but surely there are only certain stretches where you can. Your horse will associate the terrain with galloping so try walking and stand with voice comands to reinforce the leg aids. Finally do not let anybody else ride your horse until she is out of the bad habits you have taught her

Answer 7

You need to keep a tighter feel on your reins. Maybe instead of clicking, just give gentle pressure with your legs. If she goes faster than a trot pull gently until she slows to a trot and release again. She will eventually figure out not to gallop all the time. Make sure you are not bouncing on her back or yanking on her mouth , this will make her uncomfortable or she will not want to trot because it will hurt her. Good luck

Answer 8

You have taught it that now. Your horse needs to be warmed up before gallopping and warmed down after just like any athlete. Not doing so will lead to injury to your horse. At this point you will put anyone inexperienced with horses in danger by letting them ride yours.

This horse needs to be taken back to basic. It should be put on a lunge line and retaught voice commands for walk trot canter & whoa. Dont ride it during this time if all you are going to do is gallop. You need to break YOURSELF of that habit also, for your horses sake and for the sake of anyone working around this horse before things get compeletely out of hand..

Answer 9

You have taught her some bad habits. If she is to carry other riders, you must un-train her with your voice ques. She needs to be proficient in every gait she has and needs to be obedient to every rider, not just you. You can teach her these things the same as you taught her the bad habits. They are very smart animals and want to please. Being gentle but firm will let her know what you want her to know.

Begin by putting her through paces of walking, trotting and loping. Bring her to a complete stop and work her into a loap. Kind of like learning to drive a stick shift. Use pressure with your legs rather than voice ques.

Good luck!

Answer 10

What is annoying must be learned to tolerate.

Need to break your own habit before you can try to break your horse's.

That means, to walk and trot and lope at a steady time and speed distance. Supervise the horse and if horse is too much for friends, I recomend to work on the behavior prior to other people riding.

Answer 11

you should just ask her to walk, then very ver lightly ask for trot, but if she starts going too fast, you can just put pressure on your reins, but it will take a while to get her not to do that galloping thing, and after you get her to stop it, then you prolly shouldnt gallop from the walk again, or youl have to start all over!
good luckkkk!!