Getting a schooling horse to work from behind?

Question

I am leasing a very lovely, sound, gelding from the stable I ride at. He's about 11 years old, and was used as a schooling horse at what I like to call a "lesson factory" for a number of years before coming to the barn I ride at. He was ridden 5 days a week by children of all sorts of disciplines from beginner to advanced, and therefore he is just all over the place with his training.

He is, of course, very lazy and does not like to get moving forward at all, but after working with him on that for a while he is doing a fine job. My question is-what are some exercises I can do with him to get him working from behind? He is only ridden by one other girl in a lesson once a week, and I'm the only one riding him 4 other days out of the week.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

hill work!

lots and lots of it. take him out to a large field with a nice gentle slop, or work him out on the trails. walk, trot, and canter up the hill at first, ending your routine with walking down the hill and back up. then as you progress, start trotting down the hill as well, and then cantering. you can even do this as just a warm up or cool down exercise. hill work helps to build the muscles in his butt and back, and as these muscles get stronger, he should learn to carry himself and work more from his hind end.

also, if he knows how to hold himself on the bit, continue your hill work in a frame. if he does not know how to, start to ask your horse down onto the bit by doing lots of circles, not too small, but like 20 meter circles. ask him to round onto the bit by holding a firm, but gentle outside rein, and give and take on the inside rein. if this doesn't work, try this method. don't use your inside hand at all, give and take on the outside, this keeps his attention. do circles, but not a lot, just enough that you'll notice he'll start to round onto the bit in the corners of the rind. you may need a lot of leg once you get him on the bit. i don't suggest any draw-reins or anything, as they cause a false headset and he wont be using his hind end at all.

i hope this helps some! my Oldenburg had weak stifles, and she was too weak behind to carry herself, so i did lots of hill work, and it seemed to help a lot!

Answer 2

I would suggest you ride many transitions. Transitions help alot. Also, I would suggest you get him round, as it sounds like you are doing dressage. It is almost impossible to get the horses haunches moving in an uphill motion without roundness.

The best of luck to you!

Answer 3

Unfortunately, schoolies often do not have the muscle to come up underneath the saddle so you must treat your horse like you would a greenie/baby by taking small steps in building the muscle.

Lots of bending and flexing exercises usually work great at loosening them up a bit in the front and through the body.  Transitions I find are usually the top priority along with working on extensions, collections and simple movements like leg yeilding to/from the rail (either turn down the quarter line and leg yeild to the rail, or start from one of the longsides' corners and leg yeild to X and then leg yeild back to the rail).  Usually anything to get them moving off of the leg versus the hand will generally soften them up and allow them to come up underneath the saddle.

I also find that with horses that don't generally have the muscle built up, doing upward transitions and downward transitions helps.  For instance, I find it easier for the horse to come down and round out its back at the walk if we do a bit of trotting and I find the same thing at the trot if we do some canter work to warm-up.  I also usually find that soft hands will do the trick but you should stay very patient.  Most horses will at some point pick up the contact this way (but I consider this day a 'lighter' day for work).

Hill work is also a really great way to build up the hindquarters.  Walking/trotting/back up on a hill will really reinforce those muscles to work...as long as you do not let them simply throw their weight into it and power up the hill.

If you truly want to make him work and come round (once you have warmed up), stick him on a 20 m. circle and hold steady with the outside rein making sure that your horse does not pop his outside shoulder out and reinforce with the outside leg to ensure he does not swing the haunches out.  With the inside hand, give and release on the rein asking for the inside bend and do the same with the inside leg at the same time asking for him to bend through his ribcage.  It may seem repetative and boring but eventually he should come round and drop his head and come up through the saddle.  Make sure that you have your leg on and encourage him to accept the contact of the bit and really push him up through the bit.  A lot of riders make the mistake of "assuming" that their horse is round when they have dropped their head, but some horses will suck back and tend to be behind the vertical.  Really push your horse forward to accept the contact and when he does (even if it's for a small moment), soften your hands as a reward.  Eventually he will learn that when he does pick up the contact, the pressure will release.

Just take it in small steps because your horse may begin to get a little sore as he will be building and using new muscles (just like when you condition/build up your muscles, they hurt as well).  Building up the topline takes a fair amount of time and it will seem like you haven't gotten really anywhere until all of a sudden one day you'll notice the muscle in the neck, back and hindquarters.