Pressure. We need to understand that there are a number of different ways of applying pressure. Our reins apply different pressure to our legs which are different to our eyes and so on. It is important to work a horse from the slightest amount of pressure possible, on the ground i will use my eyes and body to move the horses feet, then reinforce with the rope if necessary, but we MUST first ask with the lightest action possible before we reinforce, otherwise you will always need to apply more pressure, making your horse numb, and possibly sour. Lucinda Dransfield - A horse that walks off while mounting could be a horse that has not had exposure the the right kind of pressure, or did walk off a couple of times and was not corrected. Its also possible that they lack the confidence to stand there for the rider to mount, possibly because the rider bangs down in the saddle, jerks the reins, of kicks the horse when they mount - the pressure caused by mounting is one of the types that we need to desensitize our horses to, as are things like traffic, plastic, whips and so on, you could argue that these arent types of pressure, but are stimuli, but they need to accept it regardless. Horses that set off while the rider mounts are often taught to do so by the rider, if you get on and immediately walk off, the horse will eventually anticipate that, until it gets to the point of being dangerous, when the horse wants to trot or even canter while the rider mounts (ex racers are likely to have this from the way a jockey mounts) - it is an easy problem to solve, but can be difficult the further along it gets. The best solution is to remember that when you mount up, just sit there for 5 - 10 seconds, that way when you put your foot in the stirrup, the horse is waiting to wait, not ready to go.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:07:21 +0000