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[RC] It's not jigging; it is collected trot/piaffe/passage - k s swigartJan Rainey said: I am having a frustrating problem with 1 horse.... I cannot get her to WALK on the trail when riding with other horses... she wants to jig or do a really slow jog. She does not jig like this in the arenas at home, nor when I am trail-riding by ourselves... only when with other horses. One way that you can teach a horse not to jig down the trail (especially with other horses or on the way home); is to take the approach, "if you are going to do this, you have to do it right." :). It may not work with every horse, but I have had it work with some of even the most confirmed jiggers (e.g. 15 y.o and have been doing it his entire life). Rather than just letting the horse "jig" what you do is ASK the horse to do it. But you use lots of leg behind the girth to really activate the hind quarters and ride her forward into it; depending upon her strength, ability, and the speed of the other horses this will either be a collected trot or a combination of piaffe/passage (and use changes of lengthening to get her to move forward and back in her place in the group). If she tries to forge ahead (which she probably will), don't let her, make her COLLECT properly. If she tries to shuffle, loses cadence, or whatever (which she almost definitely will), don't let her, make her collect properly. When she asks to stop having to do this (because she will, it is LOTS of work), don't let her, make her collect properly. When she asks you again (which she will), don't let her..... Push her to the point where she almost cannot continue to do it properly, not even without lots of support from your leg (don't support her except with the lightest contact with your hand); depending on her level of fitness, this may take miles:) but probably won't. And then, relax you leg and ask her to/let her stop her collected trot and do a free walk. And she will say, "thank god that is over with!" :). During this whole exercise, you aren't allowed to tense up/hunch your shoulders and "hold onto her face." The collection has to come from behind, with a nice relaxed soft contact in your hands. If she ever starts to do it again (which she may never), just tell her again, "Okay, if you want to do this, we are going to do it properly." Every horse that I have ever used this lesson on, then says, "No, no, please, I was just kidding; I don't want to do this." Depending on whether you want her to be a "dressage horse" that you actually want to be able to get collected trot/piaffe/passage on cue, you can continue to ask her for the movement for 8-10 strides and then let her relax back into the walk. Also, if it is something that you are going to want to be able to ask for on cue, you would also want to practice it in short amounts (i.e. only enough so that she doesn't get totally exhausted by it) in the arena and/or when you are alone on the trail, interspersed with periods of lengthening of the trot. By doing this, you will have turned the unpleasant/nerve wracking behaviour of "jigging down the trail" into an elegant and elastice movement that can be asked for whenever you and she are in the mood...a thing of beauty for both of you. kat Orange County, Calif. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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