What should i do about my horse.?

Question

I want to do barrel racing, poles, and jumping with my horse. one problem. he is the laziest clumsiest horse ever. i tried to get him over a jump the other day and he walked right through it. what do you think i should do. i would feel bad if i sold him to my friend who wants a horse. but i do not have enough land for another horse because we already have two. my horse, and my sister's horse. my sister will not let me ride her horse though. HELP!!!!

Answer 1

laziest and clumsiest are two good adjectives to describe a horse that is not collected.  I am not going to take up the time and space to explain what I just said, but you need to just get on the net and start reading about collection, what it is for and how to achieve it.  You will learn a lot.  Not all horses are built or have the temperament for what you want to do with him, but again, he may be, give him a change and teach him where all of his body parts are and how to use them...seriously.

Answer 2

If you wanted a horse with jumping and barrel racing potential you should have been more careful in acquainting yourself with the horse you are buying to assure that it has the training and conditioning potential you require. Any reputable seller will allow you to trial ride the horse on several occasions and to become thoroughly acquainted with the horse's temperament and physical capabilities and limitations before you buy. Horses are not something to be tossed aside or passed around after you have made a mistake and buying horses should not be a trial and error process. You made a commitment to that horse when you bought it and to orphan the horse because it does not please you comes from a cruel and callus nature and is akin to abuse. There is no problem that cannot be overcome with a little patience and skillful training and I think you should keep the horse and get the help you need from a well respected trainer. But if you don't, then I certainly hope that horse's next owner is more mature and more faithful to commitments than you are.

Answer 3

Every horse has an activity that suits him/her. I have a few lazies myself that are half asleep at the lope. But the minute you turn them towards cattle/barrels/jumps they spring to life. Ears forward, alert eyes, and ready to rumble.

Also, has your horse been evaluated by a vet? Your version of "lazy" may be a vets version of "lethargic." Your horse could be lacking nutritionally which could be slowing him down. I'd have some blood work done on him, evaluate his diet, and see if there is anything that needs to be fixed there.

Answer 4

take time to go back to basics with him... work with him everyday (or almost every day) for short periods of time so that he learns to respect you and the two of you get to know each other better.

if you normally just ride in a ring or pasture, try going for a trail ride; he is most likely bored or "ring sour" and won't want to run or care.  if possible, you could also ride with a friend but he careful as they be inclined to race and can get out of hand...

if he doesn't improve in a few weeks try increasing his grain, as it will give him more energy.  just make sure to increase gradually!  you can also try riding with a crop or spurs to motivate him, but use sparingly.

also try doing some basic groundwork such as circles/diagonals.... if you change it often he will have to pay attention.  trot over some trotting poles to get him to pay attention and pick up his feet... you can even begin them with a walk.

so try some different things, and take a look at his diet and he will most likely improve.  make sure you appraoch jumps at the canter (or at least trot and then go into the canter a few strides before) so that he is able and more willing to try the jump.  start with small X-jumps since that will help encourage him to jump and stay in the center where it's lowest... he may need to build up his confidence. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

Use wooden poles. Horses can't feel it when they knock over the plastic poles as much. They can get careless over them. Wooden poles are much heavier and the horse can feel it much more when they hit them and it makes them want to avoid hitting them more.

Answer 6

There's no easy answer. Are you trying him too soon? IS he just lazy or just a laid back, truly clumsy horse?

Start over poles on the ground, walking, then trotting over them. When he goes over them easily raise  them up a little, increasing height as he masters the course.

Work him in circles and figure eights, Lunge him. Is he fed right to prvide enough energy? Are there medical reasons for his slowness?

If he just isn't what you want, you'll have to sell him in order to get what you want. Seek advice from a professional trainer who can work with your horse ( and you) or at least an experienced rider.

Answer 7

Your horse is probably not as lazy nor clumsy as you might suspect unless he's very old or has health problems.  He's probably been conditioned to be slow for the safety of children and perhaps he's clumsy because he's confused about what you want.

I would suggest to you that since you are young you probably don't know all there is to know about horses and that an order person with some experience who knows why your horse seems lazy and clumsy should be able to help you learn what you can from him - and that making him NOT be lazy and clumsy would be a large success story for you.

So the first thing you need to do is set some achieveable goals.  You said you want to do barrel racing and poles and jumping - these are long-term goals that take a lot of knowledge and experience to do well at.  also, the type of horse that does barrels/poles well is usually not the type to make a competitive jumper out of - their body styles are completely different.

For example, a good barrel/pole horse has knees and hocks that are closer to the ground than they are to the hips and shoulders - this allows them to get their feet under them, turn quickly and achieve quick bursts of speed.  A jumper on the other hand, should have longer lower legs that will allow him to stretch out and jump - he doesn't have to gather his legs up under himself and turn at the same time, he only must gather to jump - compare a rabbit and a ground hog for instance - the ground hog's body is made to move quick in different directions to get  to their burrow and out of harm.  The rabbit's body and legs are made to allow him to jump up and move across the ground and over obstacles at fast speeds.

I would suggest you get some knowledge about either barrel racing/polebending or jumping to learn what are the basics and how to properly communicate with the horse to perform the maneuvers correctly.  Then begin with some basics with your current horse.

The first step is really focusing on what you are telling the horse with your hands and body - this is tough for some young people - for example, if you're kicking the horse to go, but holding tightly on the reins, you are telling him to go and stop at the same time - you must focus on all parts of your body and get them communicating the same message quickly - once your hands, legs and spine are all telling the horse the same thing he will begin to go faster for you and quicker.  You also must learn to stop doing whatever you're doing as quickly as necessary to release and reward.  You must stop your forward movement, place your hands correctly and adjust your spine properly to give the correct command immediately to the horse.  when you get this stuff down, your horse will move off immediately when you ask and stop immediately when you ask - from there comes more and more speed and control and the lazy clumsy horse goes away.  This won't happen overnight, it takes months and even years to get perfect enough.  If you don't have this stuff down, getting another horse won't be the solution, the next horse will become lazy and clumsy as well.

good luck!  

Answer 8

Well if the horse is not going to do what you want it to do the best thing to do is to sell him to someone where you could stil go see him like your friend i am sure she would like that and you would still get to see him

Answer 9

He probably just needs more training. Hire a trainer who can balance him and ease him into jumps