hi, i just rescued a horse that they said was not broke. we have had him less than a week,but we have had a saddle on him and he takes a bit like a champ. i have rode him on the trails with our other horses. he goes where they go and he will back like a pro. he has no idea how to turn. i have tried evey method  i know and he will not turn left or right. if you pull the reins he will turn his head, but he keeps walking the way he was headed??????????? any ideas?

 Flexibility to both sides is important for control. Just pull gently on one rein and hold it. His head will turn, keep holding the tension.Soon he'll get tired of standing that way and move his feet into the turn. Release the rein immediately and go again. Build from there, both sides.

 If the horse is a rescue, is he underweight?  Often when they are underweight, they will be very quiet and will pretty much accept almost anything.  He may not know anything -- there is a difference between him tolerating you sitting on him and following other horses and him actually being a trained horse.  I strongly recommend you work with someone who is experienced with green horses, it will keep both you and the horse safe.  :-)

he is very healthy and very stocky. once upon a time someone took good care of him, his teeth have been floated, not resently. they are in good shape. hes not just putting up with us. if you pull back a little on the reins and touch him in the side he will back up like a dream he knows what whoa means.he is a gental horse. i have had my 7 year old on him, with a lead rope and he did great. he takes a saddle and a bit better than the horses that we ride 2 and 3 times a week.( they are young) and were rode by teenage girls that ran them wide open before we got them.

 

angie09:

 if you pull the reins he will turn his head, but he keeps walking the way he was headed??????????? any ideas?

 

 

 Keep in mind that turning a horse is much more than simply pulling on the rein. Start by doing groundwork with your horse. I recommend no more trail riding until your horse has this figured out as this could potentially be VERY dangerous if you find yourself in a position where you need to guide your horse.

From the ground (with horse wearing the bridle) stand by the horse's side. Use your hand to apply pressure to the horse's side in the location where your leg would touch. As you apply a LIGHT pressure to the horse's side, gently pull on the rein on the same side. This will encourage the horse to bend it's neck in the direction you want him to turn and the pressure on his side will help him understand that he is to move his body as well. If he doesn't move his body, apply a bit more pressure with your hand on his side but DO NOT pull any harder with your rein. Sometimes making a clucking sound is helpful as well.Try this first at a stand-still with the horse besically turning a circle in one spot.

When you ride, your legs and seat should be the main source of communication, with the reins being a secondary aid. Work on this exercise often, but only a few minutes at a time with lots of rewards. At first his efforts might be minimal while he tries to understand what your asking. Reward any effort he makes so he knows he's headed in the right direction. Be sure to release pressure as soon as he shows any effort to move in the proper direction. Most horses will catch on very quickly, but be sure to keep working on it until he responds correctly 100% of the time.The goal with proper turning is to have the horse bend his body around your leg. Once the horse understands the concept from the ground, try it from the saddle. An easy way to help the horse understand to turn instead of moving forward is to have them start by facing a wall or fence. The barrier will have them thinking about turning and you can use that to connect your cues to that thought process that's already in their head.

 

On a side note: Congrats on the new horse! :)

 

Could be that he is so well trained, that if you are not using your legs and seat to steer and just pulling on a rein, he is gonna go where your legs are telling him to and just trying to flex his head around, trying to figure out what you are truely asking of him.

spragueme:

Could be that he is so well trained, that if you are not using your legs and seat to steer and just pulling on a rein, he is gonna go where your legs are telling him to and just trying to flex his head around, trying to figure out what you are truely asking of him.

IF you got the horse from the Rescue and the organization said the horse was not broke WHY are you riding the horse?  YOUr horse is not broke... or as I would rather say it:  your horse is not trained to be ridden.  Get off the horse before you traumatize the horse, get hurt, cause a big problem for someone else to fix.  Find a trainer that trains horses so that they are calm, quiet, sane, and sensible and rideable.  Get refereences from knowledgible people.  It will cost money.  That poor poor horse.  

angie09:

hi, i just rescued a horse that they said was not broke. we have had him less than a week,but we have had a saddle on him and he takes a bit like a champ. i have rode him on the trails with our other horses. he goes where they go and he will back like a pro. he has no idea how to turn. i have tried evey method  i know and he will not turn left or right. if you pull the reins he will turn his head, but he keeps walking the way he was headed??????????? any ideas?

I am in the process of training my TWH who was trained with a sidepull bridle. He was confused also until I started using leg cues to make him turn. He picked up on it pretty quickly. When I was on the ground and grooming I would put pressure with my thumb just behind where the girth would sit and tell him "over". Now when I am up in the saddle I use a pair of english spurs to put light pressure to make him turn. So while you are cueing with the reins also cue with the leg.

48northfarm:

spragueme:

Could be that he is so well trained, that if you are not using your legs and seat to steer and just pulling on a rein, he is gonna go where your legs are telling him to and just trying to flex his head around, trying to figure out what you are truely asking of him.

Unlikely. In order to learn turning off the legs he needed to learn turning off the reins, first.

Very likely if the horse in the past had training. And so far from what she is telling us, it has had some training in the past even though the "rescue" is telling her it hasn't. An untrained horse would not be going out on a trail ride. We have lesson horses that will not turn if the kids are just trying to pull it around by the reins, as soon as they start using their legs and seat as aids, the horse will listen and turn.

spragueme:

48northfarm:

spragueme:

Could be that he is so well trained, that if you are not using your legs and seat to steer and just pulling on a rein, he is gonna go where your legs are telling him to and just trying to flex his head around, trying to figure out what you are truely asking of him.

Unlikely. In order to learn turning off the legs he needed to learn turning off the reins, first.

Very likely if the horse in the past had training. And so far from what she is telling us, it has had some training in the past even though the "rescue" is telling her it hasn't. An untrained horse would not be going out on a trail ride. We have lesson horses that will not turn if the kids are just trying to pull it around by the reins, as soon as they start using their legs and seat as aids, the horse will listen and turn.

Nothing the OP said indicates this horse is moving off leg or seat cues. And it's not uncommon for an untrained horse to stop and back up when it runs into pressure on the bit. To the horse, it's like walking into a brick wall they can't get past and they experiment with reactions to find ways around it. Most often it's head tossing, turning and rearing first. But every once in a while they find the correct response the first time. And if the reward (release of pressure) is there, they "learn" what that stop/back cue is all about. 

 Whew, I was waiting for FH to step in.  I need not add anything further.

i know everything's been said, but, i gotta through my 2 cents in (and take it at face value)

you got a rescue animal--here's my most recent 2 rescues.......

#1--my horse:  i was told he was 5 yrs old and and they had taken him on a couple trail rides and he was excellent.  due to the freeze brand on his neck, i traced that he was just turned 3 yrs old and was a racehorse.  whatever trail rides they did, obviously he was just sticking his nose to the horse tail in front of him and going along with the group.  nothing bad happened, so he was a great trail horse.  he was not!  i started him from square one and was shocked at how much i had to teach him.

#2--my newest dog:  the spca brought him over as a foster dog.  they said, be very careful with him.  when you open the door he'll try and dart out and bolt.  he knows nothing.  he chases bikes, he hates cats, etc, etc.

turns out, he is a star obedience dog.  he never pushes his way outside.  he heels right behind you.  he spends his time in our 2 acre yard and never even considers leaving.  he even loves our cat.

point is:  it's a rescue.  you have no way of knowing the real story.  you have to start from the beginning.  and when it becomes clear they know a lesson, you move quickly through it, but, you check each step of training to make sure there are no holes in their training.  then no matter how quickly or slowly you move through the steps, you know that you have a fully trained animal and that animal will be a delight for you for years to come.

if you just try to move on from what you see in front of you, one day you might find one of those holes in his training and it could be a bigger problem than you expect.

Everyone has made excellent suggestins. The only thing which popped into my mind is to be sure the horse is wearing a snaffle bit, not a curb. You can't teach a horse lateral flexion in a curb. I know "duh" , but just had to say it.