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My western horses jog and lope are off help2007-11-24 21:18:44

im trying to teach my western horse his paces. his walk is pretty good, and his headset's nice, but his jog and lope are off. i got him to jog at a pretty good pace, but its more like prancing. how do i get him to stretch out his legs and go smoother?

i recently got him to understand leads, and he usually picks them up. now i need to get him to slow downt and go smoother. when i ask him to slow down, just the tiniest pull on the bit, and he slows to a trot. i ask him to lope, he takes off.

how do i get his gaits to where i want them?

Answers:

First you need to go back to basics, he needs to be worked in a bitting rig and in a round pen. He needs to relearn how to drive off his hind end, lift his shoulders and and lighten up in the front. why he also drops out of the canter is because u r not driving him into the bit you are trying to pull him back to you to slow him down. Once he gets the idea to give to bit pressure u can start driving him, leg pressure, into his head, this will collect him. Start doing circles, starting big and the more relaxed and slower he gets the smaller your circles become. Good luck

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Hey there. Make sure that when you are jogging you are sitting nice and deep, whcih should help him relax and extend his jog a bit. I can't say I know a ton about Western but for loping, try giving a bit of rein pressure when he lopes and that will teach him to go slower. If in doubt ask a trainer or try searching on the web.

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The western pleasure jog is usually the hardest gait to teach, when you ask him to jog push with your seat to keep his momentum going, also with the lope. Keep him collected up under himself with the lope and work him in circles. As he gets better at the lope and staying up under himself you can make your circles larger and as you sit deep and push him forward with your thighs he will learn to go slow the last thing you would teach him is the headset. As he collects the head set should come along nicely. Ride him two handed as you push him to collect and ride in circles, as he goes slower and does as you ask widen your circles if he speeds up shorten your circles. Same with the trot keep your momentum going at the speed you want him to go, never post in the jog keep a deep seat and rock with him. When he slows down at the lope if you put slight pressure on the bit try sitting deeper and really use your upper legs to keep him going as he does this take off the pressure from the bit.