The fix for the lazy horse can be done while doing any riding exercise. The first thing that makes a horse responsive or lighter is having a clear cue. A cue is something that you ask the horse and can get the horse to do. That means a cue to stop will be picking up the reins. That would be a cue to stop. A pre-cue is something you do before the cue. A pre-cue is "ho." If I go forward and I say "ho," and he doesn't stop, I'm going to say "ho" and pick up the reins to say "That meant stop." So pretty soon, when I go forward and I say "ho" the horse stops. So a pre-cue is something you do before a cue that makes a horse lighter and more responsive. It's the same thing with your legs. What do you do before you use your legs? You sit forward, pick up the reins, kiss to them. But what's the first that you do before you squeeze or kick your horse? You take your legs out. You take your legs out, then you bring them together. So practice that. Practice taking your legs off and if he doesn't move, then tell the horse "Hey, that meant move" with a kick. And when you bring them together, be prepared to kick them until something happens. So practice that and pretty soon, when you take your legs away from the horse's side (as if to kick), that'll mean "move forward." So I'm not using my legs to keep kicking my horse. Practice this and remember, when you bring them together, bring them together hard enough to get a change of leg speed. If you kick him and you just kick him to keep him going, then…
Teaching your horse to next lift its feet by simply pointing is more than a neat trick. Recall how the horse learns to lean on us: We lift the leg, offering 2, 5, or 10 pounds of support and he quickly learns to lean with 3, 6 or 11 pounds. Simply put, when you expect less you get less. Expect the horse to lift his own leg and we'll never get into this situation.
I do this very simply. Take a dressage whip, kiss (to say "move something") and tap the inside of the horse's front leg, near the "knee joint" until the horse bends his leg, shifting his weight. Pet him and repeat the process. Each time he advances his understanding, ask for a bit more "of a lift." If he stalls out at a certain height, don't stop your tapping, keep at it until the leg moves higher. You might try taking your lead rope and wrapping it very loosely (so that it would drop off should he walk off) around the very bottom of his leg. Apply a little pressure to this rope, suggesting that he lift his leg as you kiss then tap. This often helps speed up the process. Also, when you tap, hold your arm and dressage whip as if you're pointing. When the horse consistently lifts his foot to the tap, drop the whip, but hold out your arm as if still carrying it. Kiss and move your arm as if tapping. Of course, the first few times you'll need to revert to using the whip to back up your request – but that's where a light tug on the rope can help out. Be careful to look for very slight improvement at first, maybe he just shifts his weight or bends at the knee. Reward every little improvement and your horse will soon be lifting his leg following a kiss and a point.
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Let's say your horse decides he want to blow up or have a wreck. Well, there’s nothing magical about a snaffle bit - it won’t keep the wreck from happening - but it will allow you to pick the place where it happens. If your horse says "I'm going to blow up here and buck you off," you can say "Uh, no, the ground here doesn't look soft enough. I thought I saw a softer spot over there." And so you ride over a few feet and your horse says "Okay, now I'm going to buck you off." But I say "Nope, I was wrong, you were right. That spot over there was a whole lot softer. Let's ride back over there."
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So I ride back to the other spot and keep changing directions. I keep asking and he keeps saying "Alright, alright, we'll have our wreck over here." I continue moving him around and pretty soon he decides it's too much trouble to blow up. If I had picked up on two and tried to control that energy, then I would have been begging him to blow up. No, I tell him to go – and to keep going.
Nothing else matters in those situations. It doesn't matter if other riders are near you or where the horse wants to get to. The more the horse wants to think about something else, the more you’ll give him to think about. This is not punishment, don't see it that way. See it as learning: You’re learning that you can avoid a wreck - and your horse is learning that acting up is just too much trouble.
Bottom line: If your horse bucks, if he bolts, whatever he does, as soon as you look at the ground at where you think you're going to hit, that's where you're guaranteed to land. So stay on top of your horse, look at your horse, ride your horse. Don't be a passenger. Work. Ask him to do something.
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Lyons Training 101: Issue Three, Part 3 "Learning to Ride a Horse: Horses That Want To Bolt, Buck or Blow Up"
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There are certain products that every long-time Lyons fan carries in his equine tool kit. They're the "gotta haves." Here are a few essentials - as recommended by this John Lyons Certified Trainer, Keith Hosman.
