# Horse won't lope



## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

I need help with my 5 year old Paint Mare, she is the first horse who has challenged me with this problem. First, some history behind her, I bought her in November at a 4 year old, who was lightly broke to a walk and some of a trot but very green broke her 3 year old year. Then before I got her she was ridden 3 times, her 4 year old year. So when I got her we had some issues, she wouldn’t tie and had feet problems, so our first couple months was all ground work. Then I missed up my shoulder so I was out of training her for a couple months. When I started riding, I rode her in a D-ring and this first month was nothing but relearning how to steer. Now, I can get her to listen at a walk at all times and a trot almost all the time. But she won’t lope. Now, I have tried to push her into it, but that didn’t help. So I figured take her back down to ground work. She will not lope on a lounge line either. She will do just very fast trot but will not break into a lope. She was to be a barrel prospect, but she isn’t looking like western pleasure. She has a nice lope out in the pasture. I’m going to try to lounge her and once she lopes good like that I will start having someone lounge me on her for a few for her to get the hang of it. The problem I’m having is no matter how hard I try she doesn’t lope. Now a trainer is out of the guestion at this time, but I’m willing to read any book or watch any movie that you think would help. I have trained horses to lope before, but never with this much problem. She is becoming a good horse, if I could get her to lope.


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## Skipsfirstspike (Mar 22, 2010)

Do you work her outside of the arena/pen? Maybe until she gets her balance under saddle she would be more comfortable with a long straight away or open field. You could also try going out with another seasoned horse and rider, and ride just behind them going for a nice long fast lope. Maybe that will give her just enough extra motivation to finally break into that stride.


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## bubbleslove (Mar 9, 2010)

What cues are you using now to ask for a lope, both on the ground and in the saddle?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ScharmLily (Nov 23, 2009)

Skipsfirstspike said:


> Do you work her outside of the arena/pen? Maybe until she gets her balance under saddle she would be more comfortable with a long straight away or open field. You could also try going out with another seasoned horse and rider, and ride just behind them going for a nice long fast lope. Maybe that will give her just enough extra motivation to finally break into that stride.


I agree with this advice. Also, maybe post a pic of her so that we can see if there are any physical problems. Have you checked her tack recently?


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

I don’t have an actual arena I ride in. Normally training is done in our lane and or in the pasture and or our old garden area. I have attempted to get her going in the lane, and have got her in a lope, but by time I get her in it, I ran out of lane. She has loped like 6 strides with me and they are smooth and balanced. I would be hide another horse when I did this, but finding another rider isn’t always easy. If we get brakes on our truck, I want to haul her to our local trails where you is sandy, safe ground for miles where I normally use to get them in shape. Someone has told me it’s a bad idea to use another horse to train like this, but I have done it for years like this and never had a problem?
Let me try to think of my cues, it’s automatic now. When on the ground I get her trotting then start making like a kissing noise ( I guess that how you explain it) then I hit the ground behind her with the whip getting closer and closer to her. Does that make sense? I have also tried tapping her with the whip. I wondering if the noise of the bull whip with help? Should I try it or any different cues. 
When I’m riding her, I trot her then make the same kissing sound and start squeezing with my legs, getting harder and harder until she can feel the spurs. (she is ridden in spurs a lot of times, because she trys to be bossy at times and needs the extra aid) I have tried tapping her shoulder or butt to get her to lope, cause I know horses respond in different ways. Any other ideas?
I will post some pictures of her. Now she is normally ridden in my western saddle, with a tie down and breast strap plus we are breaking her for the back girth. When I work on her loping I would take the tie down off to allow free movement of her head. She has a D-ring snaffle. The back girth has only been on a couple times, but normally it’s also is removed so she doesn’t have many new things at a time. I have left it on the last time to see if many she didn’t like the feel of the saddle. I could try one of our other saddles, but my niece moved her horse and now we only have my English saddle, my western and my dad’s two old heavy western saddles. I don’t have good enough balance to ride the English saddle if she goes crazy on me, but can in the western. I have rode western 12 years and English like 10 times. I know there is still a lot for me to learn in both areas. 
Saddled and not happy but being tied. Also on a note this picture I took the breask collar off before I worked in and put a back strap on. I don’t know why I didn’t take a photo of her like that. 








Other side








Her sitting tied








First ride on her at my place maybe. I had tons of layer on. So you can’t tell much from how I was sitting. 








Does this saddle fit her better? It’s heavy and old so I don’t use it, unless someone is ridden my retired mare. 








I will try to get better pictures if they will help?


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

There is nothing wrong with this mare other than she has made up her mind that she does not want to or have to lope. She is not unbalanced or sore or afraid. She does not need more ground work. Her riders have just asked her several times to lope and she knows they did and she succeeded in having the ride end without loping. You only have to fail once to have a horse be more difficult to get into a lope. After several tries that end with failure , they REALLY, REALLY do not want to lope.

I have seen it over and over and have written about it many time here on this forum. When I trained for the public, this was not an unusual problem to come my way -- usually (but not always) brought to me by a do-it-yourself novice rider/trainer.

You say you cannot put enough pressure on her to get her to break out of a fast trot. I say you have just not put enough pressure on her to make her WANT to break out of that fast trot.

If a horse is manageable at the walk and trot, I go out to an open field or on a long trail that is not rocky or real rough and go for a really long lope. I usually take my long harness leather split reins and spank one with an 'over and under' action. I do not like a whip or bat and have found that getting after one on one side just teaches them to duck around and head the wrong way. They usually do ANYTHING they can to get you to let them stop, so I make sure they are loping freely when I ask them to come back to a trot. Then, I make them trot a good ways before I let them walk. Again, I want to call ALL of the shots.

I have seen so many of these horses, that i have always made sure i taught horses to lope by the 3rd or 4th ride. I have many of them lope on their first ride. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of teaching horses good forward impulsion and a good work ethic early in their riding. 

If you do not have the resolve, confidence, balance or riding ability to ask a green horse to lope/canter, you should let someone else ride the horse for a while so that the horse learns that very important impulsion and work ethic.


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

The way I ask for a lope or canter is... Pressure with the inside leg... a heel roll or rub with the outside leg. It tells them what lead to pick up.


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## bubbleslove (Mar 9, 2010)

I would start to differentiate your cues for trot and lope. Here's my basics:

Trot on the longe - cluck NOT kiss, and raise the whip so that it's pointed at the hocks, if they don't take the cue, I raise it higher, then tap the ground with it. If you move closer, make sure your taking a very precise first step with your leg that's closest to her hindquarters. The whole idea is that you're steadily increasing the pressure, and as soon as she gives in, you release. 

For canter on the longe line, that's when you kiss, and do the same with the whip as for the trot, except you raise it a bit higher, and almost take a lunge towards her with your leg that's closest to her hindquarters. If she still doesn't take it, then you can pop your whip. DON'T pop the whip unless you absolutely have to, that's your ace in the hole, and if you use it all the dang time she's going to get completely dull to it. 

The poster above gave the right cue for the canter - inside leg at shoulder, to keep her shoulder up, and slide your outside leg back to her hip so as to push her into the right lead, kiss and squeeze. 

Once you get her longing on the line, after you've trained her the difference between kiss and cluck, it should be pretty straight forward. Give her a pop with the reins if she doesn't get it, get out of the arena, and increase the pressure until she gives in. Be sure to reward, and give her every opportunity to do it right. Going straight to your big guns (like spurs!) will just make her increasingly dull to the cues. 

The goal is to reward her for being responsive, not to force it, so make sure you're breaking everything down into enough steps that she has a chance to give you the right answer.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I am afraid that at this point the cues have absolutely nothing to do with the horse picking up a lope. Cues have to be taught to mean something. This horse it at the point where it just needs to lope any way you can get it to. The refinement of specific cues, specific leads, collection and a slow comfortable lope are all waaay in the future. Any kind of lope is perfect at this time as is any cue that gets the horse to lope.


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## XbaRR3lchickX (Mar 22, 2011)

I had the same problem with my 4 yr old mare and Cherie ^^^ told me what to do and I have not had a problem since. I used the split reins in the "over and under" action as she suggested and my mare picked the canter right up and I have not had a problem since.


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

I agree she has made up her mind not to lope, but that damage was done way before I got. I’m here to fix this problem. When I got this mare she has had more problems then just, from the point she would rear and refuse to even move at a walk. She has loped a couple times with me putting pressure on her but it’s two strides at a time. I haven’t rode her in a while so I don’t might her problem worse until I get more ideas. I have no problem training a green horse, or even starting a horse, I would get into the number of horses I have trained. I also agree with you that a horse should have a good lope by the 3rd or 4th ride, when training a horse I don’t baby them and once they are 5 years old, they are solid horses but I didn’t have say in her early training. I had to reteach her to tie, walk, pick up her feet, and lots more before I could even being to try to ride her. I wasn’t expecting her to be this much work when I got her for a very good deal. If I had a good enough area where I could get her going I would have done what you say, but my truck is down and so I can’t haul her to my normal place. Actually, my horses in training normally are starting on trails by there fifth ride. 
I might get to work with her tomorrow and I will try what you guys are saying. Spurs aren’t used unless she is getting bossy, she has been allowed to be boss before I got her and every once in a while she still thinks she rules, so then she gets rude awakening. She also has a few of whips which we are over coming. I’m going try to go on her more to lope, cause I know she can. I have used my split reins on her before too, but I will try that again.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

Sorry there is no magic bullet. But I think you know what you need to do and I think you are able to get it done. Now, you just need to find the right place and time to make her do it. I would not ask her at all until you are in a position to make it happen.

Let us know how it goes.

Chick -- I'm happy you got yours fixed. Hope it keeps going well for you.


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## bubbleslove (Mar 9, 2010)

Spotted Image said:


> I agree she has made up her mind not to lope, but that damage was done way before I got. I’m here to fix this problem. When I got this mare she has had more problems then just, from the point she would rear and refuse to even move at a walk.


I didn't realize she'd had a bad start put on her, which would explain the dullness. Definitely agree with Cherie in that case, you just need her to do it at this point. It's 100x harder to fix bad training than just do it right in the first place - really hope you get her sorted out soon...


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

Thanks. Hopefully I can get my truck going soon and then I will be able to take her to a good place to try. Sorry I haven't responded any sooner. College has decided to take over a big part of my life. I will let you guys know how she does.


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## bubbleslove (Mar 9, 2010)

Lol I feel ya! First day of the semester for me tomorrow, I want to cry just thinking about it - goodbye life!


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

My first day of my first freshman Semester started today, but I only go Monday - Thursday, plus I have two short days.


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