Franklin Levinson's
Horse Help Center
Professional support for you and your horse!
No forward motion
Franklin,
We have had a 4yr old mare approx. 6months. She is very green. Recently she has started planting her feet and refusing to move. We've tried turning her in circles. A crop, etc. She is totally numb to any force. Sometimes even backing up and kicking out. I decided we needed to retrain, since we don't know how much professional training she's had. The problem is she won't move for us in the round pen either. She has no fear of the lunge whip and absolutely no fear of me. I've even tried attaching a plastic bag to the end of my whip hoping to get some forward movement. How do you start on the ground when she won't move. She leads great, however she won't trot in hand. Help!
Gretchen
Hi Gretchen,
Can you back the horse? If yes, back her and then ask for some forward motion. If none, back some more (which is work and unpleasant for the horse). Stay with it until some forward motion is achieved (even a step or two) and then put the horse away as a reward. Do you know how to really bend the horse into a hind end yield? I have a lot of success having the horse do a few very tight hind end yields (both directions) and then asking for a step forward. The theory is making what you do not want hard and what you do want easy. There has to be a consequence of 'work' for unwanted behavior. This is where the hind end yield works so well. When you cannot get a horse to move forward or back, you can always get a 'bend'. At least I can. Do you understand what I mean? Please let me know........Let me know how it all goes.
Sincerely, Franklin