western pleasure questions

[cherokee_92]

How can I make a old wp do the slow lope, she wont do it. She also wont sidepass ,she gets mad and ignores my que with my foot.She will sidepass with me on the ground . How do I fix that? Also what can I do to get her back in the swing of it? What excersices do you guys do? sorry I have never showed in wp. :rolleyes:

[xxrequiem]

For the slow lope, just check and hold her until her speed reduces - not necessarily to your desired speed, just until she slows down. Repeat until she gets to the pace you want.

She may just be balking at your request to sidepass. To make your cues clearer, walk up perpendicular to a fence and sidepass along that so that she knows she is supposed to and that there is no way to get out of it - you would eliminate backing with your legs. Also, if she isn't listening to calf pressure, try your heels.

As for backing up, practice this too on the ground until she is light on your hands. Under saddle, just squeeze the reins and your calves until she takes a step, and then release. Also do a lot of downward transitions to keep her listening to your hands. Any exercises that your coach can recommend to keep her light on your hands will be helpful.

Silver, correct me if any of this is wrong - this is what in my experience has taught me. ;) and Cherokee, I hope this helps.

[DixieGirl]

Since I show WP I get my horses to do the natural looking lope by collecting their head.

[silverleprichuan]

Chance are that she doesn't have the strength to collect and balance enough to perform a true lope.

Lots of hill work and slow, steady trot work will help build up her topline and increase her stamina.

Ask for just a few steps of lope at a time. Definately concentrate on quality over quantity. If you try to lope until she's tired and slows down or even worse, hang on her mouth, she will hollow out and build all of the wrong muscles.


With horses, correct is rarely easy, but doing things the right way will pay off in the end.


When sidepassing, just ask for a half of a step or one step at a time then walk forward. Like anything else, if you drill it then she will get sour and bored.

[Love My Dun]

if she's been out of the game for a while, of course she probably won't remember or won't want to do any of the work. its a horse thing :P

practice does make perfect...
try and try on these things until she gets it, and the ONE time she does move on. and then, once she realizes you won't give up until she does it and then she's free to do something else, she'll pick it up on cue.

do it often, and don't leave the ring without it IF POSSIBLE.
you obviously don't want to stay up there all night, just end with something good, like lunging or side-passing on the ground.

no treats unless she does exactly what you ask the first time, just in case you're one of those frequent-treat-givers. lol

[Love My Dun]

P.S.--

don't spend forever on it if you can avoid it.
like (silver?) said, she may not have the muscles.

but practicing little bits and gradually increasing the time spent on it will help her get them.

and don't drag her down into the lope by her mouth.
there are other ways.
patience is one of them.
you don't want horse with an irresponsive mouth in WP.


hope this helped.

[cherokee_92]

thanks everyone. I am going to work with her on it again tomorrow. but I think she is getting it now. I got a awsome trot out of her yesterday but it was to wet to work on a canter and a bored was down in the ring. so I didnt want to end up on the outside. I know not to rely on her mouth for slowing down all the way she doesnt like you to be up in her mouth.