I bought a paint yearling a little over a year ago because she was a total doll and I felt sorry for her.  I have some experience working with yearlings on the ground, but mostly I've worked with green broke horses.  I've never broke a horse by myself.  She really has been a good girl, with no major mishaps.  I've done alot of Clinton Anderson's desensitising She lunges and knows my voice commands on the lunge line.  I have been on her about 10 times and we have walked around.  My problem is however, that when she stops, I can't get her going without someone on the ground helping me.  I'm not sure how you teach a horse that leg means go. 

 I've heard that you should do it from the ground and put pressure on their side and give them the signal to walk...praise them when they do it.  She figured that out pretty quick on the ground, but it's not tranferring when I get on her. 

 If anyone has any suggestions, I would be most greatful!   Also, if anyone knows of any good books on ground work, I'd love to know the name. 

 

I don't know what the age is that most people start their horses, but I don't even attempt getting on until they're three.  IMO, they still have a lot of growing up to do (both physically and mentally) at 2.. Personally if I were you I'd just concentrate on teaching her cues from the ground until she's at least 3.

At any rate, I had an Arab that was having problems figuring out what I wanted when I got on him, and basically what I eventually had to do was have someone "round pen" the horse while I was on.  I would ask for the go, and if the horse wouldn't start moving, I'd have a friend of mine ask him to move out from the ground.  I had done a lot of groundwork with him and he round penned without the aid of a whip, rope, etc.

Have you tried clucking or kissing? When I started my colt I used alot of clucking during ground training so when I got on I simply added bumping and/or squeezing with my legs to the clucking and it's worked great.

Yeah, I don't want to start another long drawn out debate on the proper age to start a horse. And I am in no way judging you or trying to critisize you. That being said, 2 year old horses have a ton of growing left to do both physically and mentally. Please don't start riding her yet. Lounging puts alot of strain on the back, joints and leg bones. There is great potenial for long lasting damage to be caused during a lounging session. This filly should only be doing ground work, learning manners and developing emotionally into a mature, confident mare. Please consider waiting at least another year before you start her under saddle or on the lounge line.

2 is young but its your horse and your gonna do what you wanna do. However at 2 all you should be doing is walking and ground work. When you are riding and your cueing her to walk you have to make sure to do everything the same. Voice wise. Then it wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone lunge the horse while you are on her. Her balance is off with you on her. She has to learn to cope with it. Another thing is get a friend on a broke horse thst she likes and ride around the pasture together so she sets a pace.

Please make sure your horses legs and back are ready for your weight. Good luck!

Hello, Thank you all for your advice.  She is actually 3 now.  She turned 3 on October 29th.  I accidentally put that she was still 2. I started getting on her in September, so she was almost 3.  I did have the vet look at her and make sure he thought she was ready to be ridden.  I have only been on her about 10 times for no longer than 10 minutes at a time. 

 

Glad to hear it! Still go easy one her. 3 is still young to be working her under saddle. I know you said you are riding her very lightly, but sometimes we get tempted to take it a step further and push too hard. Other than that, be consistant. If you choose a que for something, stick with it. Right now she is learning to carry weight and balance  herself. She will need lots of practice with that.

I had that problem with Calista. I just did more ground work. Even just walking around with her, I would kiss and tell her walk. When I rode, I had a crop with me, and I first asked with leg at the same time as kiss and walk. If she didn't go, I'd lightly tap her rear end, and that worked. She figured it out in just a few minutes :)

Jessi

What I do with mine is on the ground to start with.  When I start leading them I tell them "walk", and give them a light tug on the lead rope.  Give them about 3 seconds to respond.  Then I tell them "walk" and kiss, then give a light tug on the rope.  Give them another 3 seconds to respond.  If it doesn't work I tell them "walk", kiss, and put lots of pressure on the rope.  For the most part it doesn't take a lot for them to catch on.  The when I transition to riding, I do, for the most part, the same.  Tell them "walk", give them 3 seconds to respond.  At first even one step is good.  If they don't respond, I say "walk" (always in a firm voice that leaves no doubt what I mean), and kiss.  Give them 3 seconds to respond.  At any point if they do respond correctly they get praised.  If they don't respond I move on to saying "walk", then kissing and then bump with both legs.  From there, if they don't respond I repeat the "walk" "kiss" and leg bumps with more and more intensity each time.  Smart one's will pick up on the fact that they get two tries before they get leg and usually move off pretty quick.  

Same goes for the trot only I cluck three times really quick instead of kissing, and when I kick, I tap twice real quick.  Later they learn that one tap (bump, what ever you want to call it) means walk and two quick taps means trot with no voice cue to go with it.   When I move to the lope/canter, it's still the same process.  I use the word "canter" and a kiss and leg.  But with the canter I use the word and/or the kiss combined with the leg.  That way the learn which lead to take.    When asking for the canter I try to start them in a smallish arena that way I can use the arena to help them learn leads.  Typically, they will take the correct lead in a smaller area pretty quick on their own cause it's more difficult for them to "counter-canter" then it is to canter on the correct lead.  Again, I tell them "canter" and bump with the heel to tell them which lead.  If they don't get it right away then I tell them "canter", kiss, and bump a little harder with the heel.  Eventually, All I have to do is say the word "canter" and bump with a heel OR kiss and bump with a heel and they go into the canter on the correct lead. 

The key difference between the walk "kiss" and the canter "kiss" is the heel.