Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

christina, you might hate the arena, but it is a good place to teach your horse speed control.   i use the "passenger lesson".   ask the horse to walk on a loose rein.  just sit there, dont steer, let him have his head and go anywhere in the arena he wants to. but, if he goes faster than a walk,  make him stop (i prefer one rein stops for this, alternating sides everytime you have to stop)    then ask him to walk again, make sure you keep a loose rein.  if at any time he goes faster than walk,  make him stop and start over again.  it might take a while.  i had one that it took 45 minutes before he figured out that he had to walk.   once he will walk on a loose rein, move up to a trot.  again,  on a loose rein, no steering, just let him go where he wants.  but,  if he goes faster than a trot, stop him and make him stand there.  repeat as much as necessary until he realizes that YOU decide the speed.  repeat the excercise at a canter.  if he takes off in a dead run, make him stop and start over.   this passenger lesson excercise works very well.   be patient and persistent.      cowboy ed