How to Get Your Lazy Horse Move Forward

of forward reaction. It doesnt necessarily have to be a pretty answer. It is fine if he puts his head up in the air and rushes off. None of those reactions matter in the beginning. Your only goal when you start this process is to get some kind of enthusiastic answer that shows your horse is paying attention to you. While you are sending him forward maintain a light contact with his mouth but do not give any rein aids. There is no point in using the reins if hes not thinking forward.
4. RETEST. Once you have chased him forward go back to a normal working trot. Ask for the lengthening again by RETESTING with a light leg aid. Retesting by closing both calves lightly is the most important step in the entire process. If you do not retest your horse only becomes duller. That is because you have only taught him to go forward when he feels the whip or kicking. You have not taught him anything about reacting to a light leg aid unless you retest.
5. Accept nothing less than a 100 percent response 99 9 percent isnt good enough!. If his reaction to your legs is better or pretty good but not wholeheartedly forward repeat the whole process from the beginning until he makes a 100 percent effort.
6. When you RETEST if he responds by immediately going forward energetically praise generously. At this point it is still okay if he breaks into the canter when you do the retest. Later on through repetition and reward you can explain to him that you just want a lengthening in the trot. But for the moment ANY forward reaction deserves to be rewarded.
About the Author  Jane Savoie has been longlisted by the USET with several horses won nine Horse of
 the Year awards and three National Freestyle Championships and was the reserve rider for the bronze medal winning U S. Olympic Dressage Team in Barcelona Spain. She was the Olympic dressage coach for the Canadian 3Day Eventing Team in Atlanta in 1996 and Athens in 2004 and coached several top dressage and eventing riders in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics including team bronze medal winner Sue Blinks. The author of bestselling books That Winning Feeling! CrossTrain Your Horse and More CrossTraining and producer of several dressage training DVDs Jane is also a frequent contributor to many leading horse magazines and a popular motivational speaker.