How do I teach my Morgan horse to pivot?

Question

I have a 17 year old Morgan named Timmy. My trainer bought him when he was about 11. Timmy does not know how to pivot. Nobody can get him to unless we have 1 person leading him, and 1 or more people pushing all their weight into his shoulder. My trainer has never been able to make him pivot. He kinda does it when I'm on him, but not the greatest. I really need to learn so I can place well at State.

Answer 1

practice this until he pivots [it takes awhile.. but it works!]:

take him while youre leading him, stop him and set him up. then stand by the side of his neck and do the cue with one hand that you want him to learn means to pivot. then with your other hand, take the index and middle finger and poke and hold right behind his shoulder [in his armpit almost] or on his shoulder and hold it there with pressure until he picks his foot up and over the other [or makes a general move in the pivot direction. IMMEDIANTLY release the pressure and stroke his neck to reward him.. then do it again and again and again.. when he is almost immediantly moving one leg over than start holding the pressure until he moves both over and so on.. but remember to reward him when necessary.. after awhile stop using your fingers on his shoulder and just try giving him the cue you wanted.. it may take awhile before he puts two and two together, but it should happen.. but before you try without your hand in/on his shoulder make sure he will do a full rotation without stepping out... its a little rushing to get it in time, but if you practice until he does a good full couple [and seperate] rotations each time you practice it and practice it any time you have a spare minute and he has nothing to do..then you should get it in time. if not, dont be too dissapointed because it is a little last minute, but just keep practicing for your other shows too! he will learn it in time!

Answer 2

For western that I do...when I am introducing the pivot.  I will walk my horse in small circles.  Moving with forward motion.  I will have the neck rein on them in a normal position.  The rein is actually touching them about in the middle of the neck.  I will make the circles smaller and smaller until the horse is basically turning 'donuts.'  When the horse is in this tiny circle with forward movement, I will lift the neck rein and place it high up the neck.  But not pullin on it.  I will keep leg pressure on, and add heel pressure.  The heel pressure from me...is my cue for a haunch turn.  I also make sure that my inside leg is not touching at all.  This has always caused my horses to cross over the front for the beginning of pivots.  I stop and reward for the correct movement I am looking for.  This is done again and again with the exaggerated cues of heel pressure and high neck rein.   Over time...I only use the leg cue and rely less and less on the rein.

I also teach this to the horses on the ground first with a particular 'sound' for a haunch/pivot turn.  That way, when I do get in the saddle...the horse makes the connection between the sound command and the physical cues I am giving it.  The poster above has a good way to introduce the movement on the ground.

This site has some info for riding a haunch turn...but it is for western...http://www.horsechannel.com/western-hors...

The biggest mistake people make is expecting a full turn at the beginning.  If your horse is moving in the correct direction...reward for that.  Once the horse is 'getting it' then I would ask for one, two, or more steps each time.  Once in awhile...a horse just does get it and does the full turns until it is told to stop.  But not very often.  Be willing to accept correct motions and fine tune when the horse knows what you are asking.

Answer 3

Black Bunny said it perfectly!!!!!!!!!