Ugh! I'm so stupid?

Question

Ugh I feel so stupid. I found out yesterday from the farrier that my horse used to be a race horse. He showed me her tattoo & everything. I had been wondering about it because of our difficulty picking up different leads & such. I'm not completely stupid I knew that they got tattoos if they raced but I never connected the dots & looked for one on her. ha... but my question is there any specific things I should or should not do in training her? & more importantly how do I train her to pick up her other lead? Before I need the cues very exaggerated & tried doing circles & having her pick it up in the circle then canter around the area.

Answer 1

Age has nothing to do with it. & Gallop said it perfectly!!!!!!!!!!! Thats excatly what I was going to say......

Answer 2

to start on the right lead kick with inside leg support with outside leg and rein

if u think i can help you with anything else u can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

age has a lot to do with this. the longer they raced the harder (not imposable thou) it is to get them to take there leads or getting them to keep the one there on (they will change if tired on one lead). Start with the basics as if the horse was a green broke horse. lounging the horse to get them use to voice ques . When lounging at a canter if they take the wrong lead stop them and start again. I use the voice que of "change it" on my horse to let her know that she has taken the wrong lead. Once it is clear that she understands what you want revisit it in the saddle. when you feel her take the wrong lead stop her and start again. patients is important here. Race horses that race a long time are known to switch leads when they get tierd on one lead. If they are use to being able to to do that it is hard to break them from doing it. Just be consistent with her she will learn. Horses live in the moment and will let go of there past pretty fast.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

When you are on the rail and trying to get her to canter on the inside lead, put your weight into your hip thats closest to the rail, pick up on the inside rein a little and ask her to canter, do the same for the other lead.  Putting your weight through your hip will make it harder for her to take the lead that your not asking for.

Answer 5

She would benefit from lateral work to develop her flexibility, and it would also keep her slowed down.  Work on collecting her, and add in two tracking (half passing), shoulder in/out exercises before trying to force her onto the other lead...she is probably stiff and needs to go through conditioning first.  Many race horses have this problem because of the way they are trained.

Answer 6

I would suggest lunging. when i first got my gelding all i did was lunge for the first few weeks. by the time i was ready to canter him under saddle he had built up the neccessary muscles and strength for both leads. all i had to do was push him into it and he picked up the correct lead and hasn't had a problem with it since. its all about them having enough balance and coordination so let her figure out the basics for herself on the lunge without a rider, who may be inadvertently unbalancing her, then you can work on perfecting the leads under saddle. good luck