I have one who doesn’t naturally love schoolwork and sometimes needed to go back to basics as per the poster above, re her super nanny technique. We did something similar. It does work, but just make sure that when they go forward when you’ve given your level 3 volume aid that you do not restrict at all with your hand. Reward him for forward, big pats and tell him he’s the cleverest pony in the world- whether he’s just jumped into trot or shot off faster than you anticipated!
Clipping should definitely help, mine certainly becomes less forward if he’s hot and uncomfortable- which means clipping every 3 weeks in winter because he’s park yak.
i know it’s hard and you’ve heard it, but I really can’t overemphasise hacking fitness, and actually fitness generally, how much of a difference it makes. I don’t know how fit you’d say he is now, or what your current hacking fitness level is, but in general, I’d always suggest 6weeks walking hacking, marching not mooching, building up to 1.5/2 hours over the 6w. Then start adding trot. Just a few reps of 30 seconds, building up again, so that by 6w in your ‘trot phase’ you’re doing 15 min trot. You can then do similar with your canter. You can probably start with 1hr long marching hacks if he’s currently doing 30min schooling, so fast forwarding to week 2/3 of the walk phase.
By taking it slowly you know you’re building a solid base fitness, conditioning him slowly and reducing risk of injury, small steps mean he shouldn’t find any stage too difficult so that he doesn’t become discouraged.
Hillwork is great! I use an equine heart rate monitor as part of my training. On our steepest hills his HR can go up to 120 marching up, using his bum to propel him- that’s the same as canter on the flat.
i would also recommend one of the tracking aps, like Equilab. They can help you see how much you are really doing- it can be quite eye opening! I know when I started tracking, I’d think, ‘lovely long canter up the field, and two shorter ones… we did loads of canter today!!’ Then I’d look at the ap and it would be something like 47 seconds! 🤣 It was similar in the trot too. Before tracking I’d think he’d worked hard, but actually what we’d done was nowhere near what I thought he’d done… which then made a difference if you were then asking him to do 10/15 min of trot and 5 min canter in a 30 min lesson.
But remember that ‘schooling fitness’ is a bit different to hacking fitness. The school us harder- the surface is softer and constant turning/circles.
if you can, go in company, it’s more fun for both of you- it sounds like that’s what he needs, to realise it can be fun, not just hard work/tiring. It doesn’t have to be hunting, just something where both of you can relax and enjoy yourselves (and hopefully let your hair down 😊).
Like everyone else I don’t think spurs are your answer, if nothing else changes, he’ll learn to tune those out too. You need a really stable lower leg, that stays completely still unless you’re actively asking. Otherwise every stride you’re using them and teaching him to ignore them (Easier said than done, I’m well aware!).
Good luck and have fun!