Trot, and others?

Question

Hi, i'm teaching a young girl the rising trot and she just doen't go with the beat atall we haved worked on it for 2 years now and with 7 different ponies but she just doesn't get it she's 13 and 7 stone can someone tell me how to get her to rise, ive tried everything!?

She also hits the horse with the crop, she doesn't mean to but her hands just go mad, and i can't take it off her she needs it.!?

I have a really stubborn little 13.2hh pony and whenever i do a canter lesson with someone he won't canter proparly. We have to hit him with the crop like 5 times otherwise he just does the really fast version a rising trot which is very uncomfortable for my riders! How can they just use their legs to move him on, he just wont budge!?

Answer 1

lunge the girl sop she doesnt have the crop, this will give her more control, and influences the trot dramatically. you may want to put her on a western horse for a couple lessons, and she can get used to the jog, posting with it.

for the stubborn pony, you may also want to lunge him. if you hit him with the crop really loudly, he will be alright. remember, its not how hard you hit the horse, its how loud it is, because horses get scared of loud noises. and putting their legs back helps, if you put your legs too far forward, he will go slower. put them back a little.

Answer 2

There are alot of good answers on here but I do agree with the others that before you start having a go at people and saying you are the expert! If I were you I would take a step back and ask myself why I would be asking for advise on here if I were such an expert already.With horses you Never stop lerning even the experts are still learning remember that!!!!!!!

Here goes this is what I think you need to do:

1, Stick her on an easier pony that is schooled to some degree.

2, Put a neck strap around the pony's neck so she can hold onto that.

3, Make her stirrups a bit shorter so she doesn't have to reach so far.

4, Get her to practise rising in walk.

5, Show her how it is done on a horse too so she can get an idea.

6, Count 'up,down,up, down' when she needs to rise, also get her to close her eyes so she can feel the pace. Get someone to run along side her while you do this so she doesn't loose her balance!

7, Last but not lease TAKE THAT CROP OFF OF HER! If she won't ride without one then scrap her lessons all together as she obviously isn't getting it is she!! Could be down to bad teaching or she just hasn't got it!!

You really shouldn't be smacking this pony it's not his fault he is fed up un schooled and tired!

Answer 3

Okay, you definitely need to lunge the horse when the girl is riding it! This way she doesn't need to carry a crop, you have control of the horse!

Ask her to say '1,2,1,2' as she rises and sits, to help her keep a rhythm.

As for your second question, a pony at my yard has this problem. You need to do lots of lunging and when you're not on the lunge and he's not cantering, ride him in a circle in a corner, and give him a sharp tap with the whip behind the girth. He should get the picture!

Good luck x

Answer 4

Tell the girl that if she won't get rid of the crop, you can't let her ride. If she still won't leave it then don't teach her. Or explain the problem to her parents and ask them to tell her not to use it.

Make her stirrups short, like they would be for jumping, so she doesn't have to stretch her legs at all to reach them. Tie the reins in a knot so she can't use them, and get her to hold the saddle and use her arms to push her up and down. Once she can do that, make her let go of the saddle and use the reins, but make sure they're long at first so she doesn't hurt the pony's mouth pulling by accident.

Lunge the pony without a rider on him, use a long whip and get him to canter. Don't touch him with the whip at first, but if he still won't canter give him a tap so he know's you will use the whip if you have to. Once you get him catering without a rider, put someone on him and lunge him in exactly the same way. If that works, Lunge him again, but get the rider to make him canter, so don't use then lunge whip. If he does canter then do the same but not on the lunge, if he doesn't get the lunge whip again, and get the rider to kick at the same time as you wave the whip/ tap him with it.

Make sure riders dig in their heels and give one hard, firm kick. If he doesnt canter the first time, do it again, then if he doesnt canter the second time, us the crop.

Hope that helped! I'm no instructor or anything, but I've ridden a lot of lazy ponies, and I've seen instructors deal with bad riders too so I'm just passing on what I have learnt, mixed with my own methods!

Answer 5

You can try the rising trot on a lunge the first few times just to get the hang of it. When she is lunging, she doesn't have to worry about other things, like control of the horse, and that can improve riding dramatically!

You should show her how its done on your horse, before she tries it. While you are showing her, say up,down, up,down, so she can see pattern. Also, tell her to look at the horses shoulders, and when the shoulders go up, you go up, and when they go down, you go down. Try to show her some good ways of doing it.

Have her walking on the lunge, and tell her to practice going up, and down. Practice rising. Tell her some good tips, like squeeze with your thies so you can land gently.

Take the crop away, and give her an easy pony.

If you can't take the crop away, tell her to not use it, or else.... !!!

And besides... she uses a crop to trot???

Take things slow with her!!!

Good Luck!!!

Answer 6

take away the crop,  give her a dressage whip.. and but a bit of baling string around the ponys neck. for her hands.  If she holds the string she cant get to wild with her hands and the longer whip will allow her to tap him but not let go of the string, by bouncing the whip over her leg.

Also for her digaonals.. Mark one shoulder of the pony with white chalk.    and have her practice rising slowly to it at the walk.  A large mirror will help to.. have her ride towards it with you calling the stride for her so she can "see" the leg move

Answer 7

Okay here goes my suggestion.

1.  I would lounge this little gal so that you have control of the horse and she does not have to worry about that.

2.  I would then tell her you are going to say "up" "down", "up" down" and she is to rise when you say up and sit down when you say down.  She really should get it unless, of course, she can't hear, in which case, you will have to give hand signals.  

3.  Do this repeatedly until she is able to feel the diagonals by herself and post.

Good luck!!! :-)

Answer 8

I vote put the first girl back on the lunge and lake the crop away. She wont need it if you have the whip.  When she can control her hands better she can have it back. The lunge will also give a better chance to learn the posting trot. I have seen it taught in a day or two so I dont quite get your problem. Get a neckstrap and let her hold onto that in a two point or half seat position untill she feels the thrust from the steps. If she feels it then let her try to sit and rise with it for a couple steps while holding the strap. She will probably use the stap to pull herself up at first. Any 13 year old should have enough leg strength to post off their legs though.

As for the pony, if you were able to try the girl on your seven other ponies why not put the kids on the other one and retrain the pony for get rid of him. If is stuborness is hindering kids from learning properly and rely on a crop then he doesnt need to be a lesson pony.

Answer 9

well ... i would personally give the 'lazy' horse a holiday, and before he goes back into the school, i would re-school him, i hate it that riding schools teach on horses that are unschooled and school sour!!! its a bug bear!! how can anyone expect to learn to ride properly when they are given disobediant lazy school horses ..and i HATE when i hear 'give your horse a nice BIG kick' ..its a lazy really unhelpful way to learn to ride, as soon as the 'pupil' gets on a half decent horse...they wonder why they get launched into orbit..when they apply the 'nice big kick' ..

secondly.. the young girl, take the crop away.. artificial aids SHOULD be used by people who can ride ..not people who are learning, (I also HATE that the beginners are given whips and crops ...wtf??) put her back on the lunge, take away her reins and her stirrups, start from scratch!!

I would be really p!ssed off if i went to a riding school and saw a horse getting 'hit' with a crop to make him canter.. and i certainly wouldn't go back a second time..

oh and i love puzzles answer... don't ask a bunch of people on here for advice on how to teach the basics.. its not right, people are paying YOU to teach them.. sorry to sound mean.

Answer 10

if you are a bhs instructor then i suggest you go back for more training as the first lot didn't work properly. you say you are qualified yet you ask unqualified people how to teach. not good. give your rider the phone number of a good registered instructor and stop kidding yourself