Horse experts ONLY?

Question

After teaching my horse to rein, every time I spurr him, he won't move. Please only answer this if you know how to ride. Does this ever happen to you? He is fine when I put him to reining, but when I just ride him, I cant get him to a canter. What should I do?

Answer 1

first of all I don't recommend using your spurs to cause you horse to move forward. If spurs were meant to be used for speed then jockeys would use them. Spurs are made for moving a horse laterally (side pass, turn on the haunch, turn on the for hand, spinning and to give them lift when you collect them). From my experience working with horses that don't want to go, using spurs is eather gonna make them flinchy, angry, afraid, or they just shut down and ignore you.

I have a really help full exercise you can do with your horse, you will have him going in no time. First of all for your safety you should try a few things on the ground.

Tools
(1) halter, a rope halter is prefered
(2) 12 foot lead rope.
(3) lunging whip, or a 8 foot rope to twirl around

You will want to use an arena or some other enclosed area for this. After you get your horse, bring him to the enclosed area, start by rubbing him all over with the whip to help him relax. You want him to see the whip as an extention of your hand, its gentle, but can be firm if it needs to be. (step 1) When he seems ok with it, stand 6 feet infront of your horse, hold the rope up and direct your horse with that hand to the left. Look into his eyes firmly, (stage 2) if your horse does not start circling around you at least at a trot, then use your other hand to grab the whip (have the whip leaning against you) raise the whip but still keep eye contact, (stage 3) if he still does not start moving to the left, then start flicking the whip up and down, (stage 4) if he still does not move then quickly tap him on the rump (don't take any longer than 5 seconds to get to stage 4, this will teach him to react quick). By now he should be moving , as soon as he does, lower the whip, and say "good boy"! but be sure to keep him moving around you a few more circles. If he start to act up and buck, just ignore him but keep him moving. When he is moving along calmy then bring him back to you and rub his forhead. Do the same thing starting with stage 1 but the other way now. When he starts moving calmly at a trot or lope on both sides at stage 1 then your are ready to ride.

Tools
(1) saddle and pad
(2) bridle
(3) 6 foot medium thickness rope

When you are all tacked up, bring your horse to an enclosed area, rub him all over with the rope, the same way you did with the whip. Take the 2 ends of the rope and feed them through the loop on the other side, stick your wrist in the loop you made. You should now have 2, 3foot ends dangling from your wrist. Mount your horse, have him stand still, and just relax on him and casualy flick and twirl the rope so he is comfortable with it. When your are ready (stage 1) sit up strait, look in the direction you want to go and lightly press your calves to his body. (stage 2) If he does not start moving then press firmly, but do not kick.
(stage 3) If he still does not start moving then, quickly flick the rope from side to side slapping your own back (keep your calves pressed on him, but no kicking!). (stage 4) If he still does not move, then flick his rump from side to side the same way you did to your back and start clucking, increase the intensity if need be. When he does start moving imediatly stop you impultion and praise him. Ask him to stop and keep doing it over and over till all you have to do is think about going forward and he will. You can even get him to go from a standstill to a gallop (just like a roping horse) With practice. Remember not to kick, no matter how much you feel tempted to. Targetting the rump of the horse is gonna give you the propper impultion. The hind quarter is the powerhouse of the horse, not his sides.

Answer 2

HE KNOWS He;s boss :) a good crack on his but and keep crackin til he goes is the only way :) if you have split reins with leather poppers on the ends is best since it makes a lovely crackin sound that help get the point across :) Also, try doing some ground work withhim, lunging and round penning or even ground driving :)

Answer 3

When I can't get my horse to canter I set the up to lope and ask if them again. If they don't I use more leg (not heel) pressure. If that does not work I might tap them with the rein on the rump. but if I was you I would try what "barebackrider_19" suggested or ask your trainer if you have one.

Answer 4

Depending on what he was previously trained for (some reiners do it too) he could be have been taught to spur halt. Reiners want to do as much as possible through leg commands. In general the less rein and bit action the better, they're taught to stop for a certain spur action so you won't have to pull the reins to stop.

Answer 5

Real simple, you have a crop? Really sounds like a lazy horse or your not asertive on his back. You have to be in charge. No 1. No. 2 Go to some horse clinics. Be the Boss.

Answer 6

umm i have rode my whole life and trained a few horses i have had this happen to me. instead of just kicking his with spurs try rolling the spurs up his side. also if the person who trained him trained him with spurs and used them to much he could possible be num to spurs. if that does not help i would try a crop.