Thinking of ending horse share and returning to a riding school - advice please

[juniperjane]

I am thinking about ending my horse share. I have been sharing for a year. I am a novice rider, and horse is a complete sweetie, really safe and sensible and I am so lucky to have found her after all the nutters I tried when I was looking for a share last year

However she is so lazy in the school, on a good day I can get her to canter the long side of the school, on a bad day I can get about three strides of canter and that is all. I have tried mixing things up, a bit of jumping etc to make schooling more interesting for her but she is just so reluctant.

So I have pretty much given up riding her in the school and now just hack, which is slightly better but not much better. She is slightly more active when out in company but when we go out alone she is really lazy, it is such hard work to get more than a few strides of trot or canter. She also tries to turn for home (although I am always firm and never let her). As she is kept at a small yard there is often no one to hack with so I go alone most of the time.

I am not sure why she is like this, must just be her personality. She is kept at a lovely yard, she is in really good condition, very well looked after etc.

She is generally an angel to handle, but her one bad thing is that sometimes she will plant her hooves and refuse to either leave / re-enter her field, on occasion it has taken me up to an hour to get her back in the field and often I have somewhere else to be and am in a rush so I really don't have the time for these games.

I am just not sure how much I am getting out of it anymore, some times I don't even feel like riding as everything is just such an effort with this horse, although the thought of ending the share makes me feel like crying as she is such a sweetie and loves cuddles and being groomed etc.

As I am a novice rider, I am thinking I might just be better going back to riding school, but all the riding schools I have been to in recent years have been disappointing.

Any advice would be appreciated. I cannot afford to keep the share and do lessons though.

Also, if I do end the share I am not sure how to tell the owner - she has just lost the lady who shares her other horse and was telling me how much of a nightmare it is as the livery yard has just put its prices up too. I know I need to just be brave and tell her, but she is such a lovely lady I feel awful letting her down.

Elastamum I always ride with a schooling whip, I can't get anything out of this horse without one!
I had considered spurs, but my old riding instructor always said spurs should not be worn by the novice rider (which I am) so I decided against trying spurs.

So I had another unsatisfying ride yesterday. Did 10 minutes in the school, horse was utterly lazy as always, so went for a short hack. Horse was walking so unbelievably slow, was overtaken by several other riders

We had to trot down one lane (car behind us and too narrow to overtake) and it was such hard work to keep her in trot for the length of the lane (about 100m). I got about 10 strides of canter on the bridleway, but that was with leg, leg, leg, leg and flicks of the schooling whip to keep her going. Just such, such hard work and not very enjoyable for me.

I think I am going to have to end the share, as I am paying quite a lot and not getting anything out of it. Such a shame, as this horse is such an angel to handle, and such a sweet and affectionate mare, just is just sooo lazy when ridden.

If anyone has any other tips for dealing with lazy horses (other than leg on, schooling whip) do let me know!

Sounds like my share horse - except she was even worse... I'd look for another share.

Short whip, ask once with legs, ask second time with firm smack, if no response ask a third time and give a proper wallop. Do this consistently and most lazy ones will get the message!

Accompany with angry voice ''gerronwithityougit''! if needed! Can give a better wallop with a short whip than schooling whip, which is needed if horse is ignoring schooling whip! Sounds harsh but hopefully won't be needed too many times, and is better than constant nagging with the leg!

Likewise, don't constantly nag to keep horse in trot/canter- let them fall out then correct with the whip used strongly and send them back into the pace you had asked for. They soon get the idea.

I think it's worth trying to sort this out as it can only do your riding good in the long term, is there any way you could get just a couple of lessons on the share horse?

Also look at feed, what is it currently fed?

Do this consistently and most lazy ones will get the message!

My old share horse couldn't care less about the whip - she didn't even flinch. She'd just look round at me as if to say, "I don't want to and you can't make me!"

One time I had her in the school with another horse and rider. She wouldn't budge and I gave her a big slap - the other horse, right across the school, heard my whip, perked up, lifted his head, and started trotting smartly along. Mine still didn't budge...

All the suggestions of a whip are pretty cruel, I'd avoid that like the plague if I were you and look for another loan that suits you better.

That's why I said most! The occasional one may require more drastic action!

Bronze, what would you suggest then? A horse that won't move for a rider doesn't have much of a future- a short sharp shock is better than being designated as useless, no? They tend to get the message pretty fast- a horse will usually go for the easiest option. If the easiest option is ignoring you, some will do exactly that.

how much, per month does it cost to loan a horse? what are the general commitments? I would love to get back into riding and DD (8) is learning, but its expensive so I can't ride - was wondering how much a part-loan would cost? I'd be needing a heavyweight cob bombproof school master. DD used to riding bigger ponies so about 15hh would be fine. Have thought this is probably too expensive but well, other people do it............

I'll ask my DD, she's ridden for half her life and has never used a whip yet. I've not ridden for some time.

Since my mare died, I've gone a few times to a riding school. A couple of times I've been given the "lazy nag". Within 10 minutes they're working in outline, bending (the best they can), and forward-going and responsive. I dont carry a whip.

What sort of a shape is the horse working in? If it's so long and stretched out it'll be dragging its feet and real momentum in this form, impossible to achieve.

But again, this comes with experience.

Please don't go down the whips and spurs route, it's just time to look for something else.

(I only use whips/spurs for precision dressage movements and I always feel guilty when I do because I have perfectly adequate natural aids.)

if you used a whip on our very very unwilling pony he would buck

honestly, look for another share

Dolomites no she works long and stretched out - on the forehand not correctly. At her age (17) not sure a novice rider is going to change that.

Are you able to give and tips as to how you get the lazy riding school horses to work well?? What's the secret??

So I am going to book a riding lesson at a local school. I will have a couple of lessons and if I find it more enjoyable than the share I will end the share. A bit scared of looking for another share as only a novice and don't want to overhorse myself

Electric underpants! Seriously, cannot put it into just a few sentences - it's just one of those things which will come to you with time and experience and you'll look back and wish you had a second shot!

Honestly, I just think it's time to cut your losses and try another horse (or ten!) - life is too short to be PAYING to ride a horse you don't enjoy.

So very hard to make suggestions without seeing you and your horse.
Certainly we including DD always ride with a whip because we believe that it is an encouragement - often we don't even have to use it - and we'd rather give them one good whack, if they aren't responding to our perfectly acceptable aids, rather than nagging their sides which isn't good for them or us. Be ready for a buck though!

DD has been allowed to use spurs by her instructor (under his supervision) when schooling her show pony but she is very experienced for a young person and I wouldn't advise you to go down this route.

I would think about upping his feed. Most ponies/horses will be more on going if they have some internal energy. Most owners spend their time these days trying to cut back on energy but there is always a happy medium.

I never found owning my own horse very satisfactory. I couldn't guarantee enough time to exercise nearly every day and as I was a bit nervy when things went wrong. I didn't find riding school horses very satisfactory, they were either sluggish or a bit scary if I got one that was playing up. I solved my problem by going on riding holidays instead, always a short break in UK and somewhere abroad every couple of years (Iceland was great, riding across Scotland this year) sometimes the conventional answers don't work.

Higgle that's interesting, thanks.

Which riding hols would you recommend?

The "In the Saddle " web site/brochure is the best horse holiday fantasy site. I think i'd be off to Mongolia or Capadocia if I had a bit more money, but Iceland ( has got more expensive this year) was a really wonderful experience, glaciers and warm beaches on teh Skaefellness peninsula, seals, eagle nests, tolting for miles and some rides didn't set out until 11pm as it was 24 hour day light and we had to go with the tides.

LEMmingaround I loan a horse in berkshire happy to message you with what I pay/how it works? I think cost varies quite widely depending on where you are - livery costs here are high so likewise loaning ain't cheap. But very worth it!

I did this - www.chilcotinholidays.com/pack.php which was amazing. Top tip- don't leave your passport in the safe at the ranch as it's a 5 hr drive to vancouver... ;)

Dolomites, that looks amazing. My first riding holiday was Wyoming, the riding was good and the company even better. I will get my own again when I retire, probably an Icelandic horse or a Highland, but for someone who works flat out most of the time a fortnight or so of extreme horsiness seems better than the routine of mud and rain and hacking owning my own seemed to comprise of.

Higgle - it was fantastic, I fell in love with a big ginger mare called Dallas and came home and bought a giant ginger mare!

At the ranch we tried all sorts of meats including cougar!

I also combined it with a trip out to see the orcas from Victoria island. An amazing holiday - second massive mistake was getting cartilage pierced the morning of a red eye home doh!

And yes, the company was great. 4 British women, two young Canadian female guides. The weather turned on us so we had a lot of "cowboy coffee" over the campfire and battered through our duty-free and slept in ALL our clothes for 4 nights!