From:
Hi Jessica. I think I finally have a question that, not only can you help with, but I am sure there are others that would be interested in the answer. In summary, the question is, "How do you generate impulsion in a horse that doesn't seem to have any?"
The horse: Jazz is my 14yo ex-racer TB gelding. I ride English; I was working toward Novice eventing when he was diagnosed with Degenerative Joint Disease in the front left fetlock. The vet proscribed "light work (no work will hurt, not help)", "no small circles", "no jumping", and "working collected (off his hind end)" through the winter. EquiFlex has been keeping him ridably sound, although he still fails a flex test and limps for a while after being shod.
History: Jazz has always been a bit lazy about flatwork, since I got him 2 years ago, when he was supposedly showing 1st level and schooling second. So, he knows this stuff but would like to pretend he doesn't! I used to sometimes jump *before* working on the dressage (after warming up of course) in order to get more impulsion and to get him working off his hind end more. That worked fairly well until his leg started hurting. He also is not great about taking a contact (he either goes behind the bit or behind my leg), but we have worked through some of that, *when* there is impulsion.
So, my problem: Especially since his injury flamed up, Jazz is lazy, somewhat dead to my leg, and short-strided. In fact, this was one of the things we noticed first before he went lame. Recently, I have begun to suspect that he just doesn't feel like working forward, because he is nice and forward when we are pointed toward home on the trail - the stride lengthens, his back rounds under... Grr. Just what I want to have, but in the arena! If anything I have *too* light of hands - most horses love them and relax down into them, and I am constantly having to remind myself to close my fingers and shorten my reins. So, I don't think "compression of the front end" is the problem.
This was especially apparent a couple of days ago, we reached a low spot, I'm afraid. After trotting him on hard ground breifly to check (one more time this week) that he was "sound", I went out in the arena. The arena is very lumpy, and he was a bit nervous about placing his feet (and so was I), and he was *very* behind my leg (like riding a big slug). So, we went out into the pasture. The walk work wasn't bad for once, but when I started trotting, our circles looked like something a kindergarten kid would draw. slug, slug, away from the barn (and I had spursay a lot of attention (he lets me know if I hit him with the spurs and he didn't deserve it), and he seems to respect them a bit more than the whip when I do use them. He actually trotted with a slight calf squeeze at one point yesterday. But they aren't enough, and I am afraid he will start ignoring them too. I have also tried lots of transitions. They make him pay attention more, but he still feels way behind my leg afterward.
So, I desperately need ideas! The more the better, since I can try them out one at a time (I am starting to feel like I have tried everything now!). Should I give up on arena work until I have a horse that is more sound? Should I "get tough" and work with a whip and spurs all the time?
Thanks,
Lisa
I know that Jazz isn't 100% sound, but then, not all that many horses are, if truth be known. Since he's officially "riding sound" and can generate impulsion on the way back to the barn, he must be ABLE to do what you want -- the problem, then, is getting him to do it when you ask him to.
Part of the problem may well be that he is bored in the ring, and barn-sour enough to want to stay near home. Wild horses associate safety with their herd; domesticated horses, especially stalled ones, associate safety and security with their familiar stall, arena, and barn surroundings generally. Many horses, even if they LOVE to go out on trails in the summer, will be very barn-sour after a winter in the barn and the indoor arena, and will act extremely reluctant to go away from "home" -- hence the difficulty you were having in the pasture.
Horses don't HAVE to be bored with ringwork! They get that way because we, their riders, get that way -- we "put in half an hour" of endless circles and then wonder why we didn't have fun and why the horse didn't move forward. It's a two-part problem.
Part one: your expectations. I know that Jazz was "supposedly showing first level and schooling second" when you got him, but my suggestion to you is that you FORGET you ever heard that, for several reasons. One, a horse's training doesn't stay forever; even if a horse is doing genuine second-level work, he won't be a second-level horse two years later unless he's done that work steadily during those two years. Two, his lameness problems would have set his training back in any case. Three, there are many, many horses out there who are being shown at first and second level but that have NOT been properly trained or conditioned, and are not even really at training level! (And this is a quick and easy formula to create a sore horse that doesn't trust the rider's hands...) Four, even if you knew that he HAD been trained properly at one time, you would STILL be better off if you would wipe the slate clean and begin again, from the ground up. If you can think of yourself as TEACHING Jazz to step under himself and respond promptly to your leg, which is what you must do in any case, it will be easier than if you get frustrated and angry because you feel that you are PESTERING him to do things that he should know how to do, and is just refusing to do because he wants to annoy you! Since he would have to be responsive, on the aids, and more flexible just to DO first level work, or even reasonable training level work, let alone second level work, I think you'll find that he'll respond better if you start over with him, and treat him like a brand- new horse that needs to learn EVERYTHING.
Still with me? ;-)
Then TEACH him everything! That means standing still for mounting and staying still until you use your legs to ask him to move off. It means moving forward from your leg... if you can carry a whip without hitting him accidentally or stiffening your hands and arms, use it (with the other hand holding the reins) to enforce your leg aid after you've given him the aid to which you WANT him to respond. Squeeze, WAIT, then give him a good whack behind your leg -- not a series of taps, just one good loud SMACK! If he jumps forward, fine - - be ready to go with him so that you won't sock him in the chops with the bit. Then praise him. He's responded by going forward, which is what you asked him to do.
Training -- or re-training -- takes a lot of focus and consistency on the part of the rider. Jazz can learn to listen to you and expect a constant stream of "talk" from you -- voice and aids -- but you'l have to pay constant attention to HIM if it's going to work. And you'll have to listen to him, too. It's a dialogue you're trying to create, not a monologue.
And remember that what you're asking him to do is WORK -- he will need to use muscles that he doesn't normally use, and when he DOES use them he may be sore the next day. It's okay to ask him to work, it's fine to expect him to stretch along his topline and bring his hind legs up underneath him, and to ask him to do that, and to enforce your legs with your whip -- but DO remember that if you have a great ride one day and see real progress, you shouldn't be too demanding the next day, or too surprised if he seems to have taken two steps back in his training. It's just tight, sore muscles, and if you'll take him for a long,quiet, stretchy walk (and ask him to step up under himself with his hind legs....) you'll probably be able to work hard again the next day.
If you treat him like a green horse, and take him up through all the Training Level requirements slowly, and then through the First Level requirements, you'll accomplish several things: he'll develop more correctly, he'll work better and more happily, and you'll be able to build a very good working relationship with him, because you'll be preparing him for each new task, teaching it to him, and rewarding him for doing it. And this way, you WON'T be put in the position of feeling bad because you got mad at your horse for not doing something he didn't know you wanted him to do, and didn't know how to do -- or something that he couldn't manage physically.
Keep me posted!
- Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.