# How to cue for trot on a lesson horse?



## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

Use the crop. Lesson horses learn to ignore their riders so it's up the the rider to remind them that they are not to be ignore. That is what the crop is for. They ignore you once, you use the crop, they jump into the trot. Next time they try to ignore you they should remember the crop comes next, and if they still try to ignore you, you use the crop again. Each time they should go forwards a lot easier. It's reconditioning a response.


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## SamanthaApp (Jul 6, 2017)

The crop will let them know you are serious and can be a good tool. 

Have you heard anyone say "ask, tell, demand"?
You need to escalate your request, so start by "asking" with normal leg pressure, then "tell" with a firmer squeeze with your calves (some newer riders need to "kick" with the calves to get momentum to increase the pressure, as your muscles develop you can ask more firmly without bringing your legs out for momentum) and finally "demand" with a swat of the crop simultaneous to the leg pressure. 

Also, my instructor reminds me to "ask, ask, ask" in beat with the gait. So don't just squeeze and hold with your legs, release and try again, escalating each time, to the beat of the gait. Super easy  It does get easier, and those lesson horses are great to learn on, I know it can suck, I hate those rides where I feel like I am fighting the horse to pick up the pace. But once you get it and can communicate to them and have them listen, it is an amazing feeling


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

Instead of flapping the horse with your legs ('kicking'), try squeezing. 

Pay close attention to you balance. If you are already out of shape while trying to get the horse to trot they may simply refuse because they think you are going to fall off. 

Those girls probably have leg strength from riding that you won't get for another year or two. It will happen though. I bet one of those pro Jumper people can crush a soccer ball, it is a whole other kind of strength. 

Slow down some and just think about what you want the horse to do. In time I think you'll appreciate just how much there is a mind meld of sorts that happens. You'll soon learn to express that naturally with your body and energy if you stick with it. 

Riding is hard. It is one of those things, when you watch people who are good at it, makes it look really easy. You just sit there and move the reins and make funny noises and the horse just does stuff. Well, no. A great rider can say a lot to a horse with very subtle movements, but the horse hears them loud and clear because they are refined and easy to understand. 

That day when you can stop a horse by just stopping your body ("quit riding") is going to be a big day. Keep riding!


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Many different things may be involved in the situation you are encountering, zolantal.

Different horses may require different approaches. A good instructor should be able to help guide a student with any particular horse. In some instances, I will get on a troubled rider’s horse during a lesson to help determine what is needed under the specific circumstances.

Sometimes it’s a matter of finding the right cue. Sometimes the right process of ask, tell, demand is needed. But sometimes more subtle changes bring about the greatest difference in response.

Good balance helps the horse know the rider will not fall off if the horse begins to trot.

Good posture gives the horse the impression that the rider is more authoritative. While the horse may not be able to see a rider’s posture, the horse can feel it. A horse is more likely to respond to a rider it feels the rider has the proper authority to demand what is asked.

The better a rider follows the horse’s movements when riding, the more likely changes in the rider’s riding will influence the horse’s movements.

The more impulsion a rider can get from a horse at a walk, the more likely the rider will be able to get a trot when he asks for it.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Some horses do better with 'squeezing " and other will become resentful and drag their feet even more if you squeeze them. I tend to suggest thinking of it more as 'plumping up a pillow between your calves". What works better is to do it quickly. You ask with a little squeeze, if no response, one whap with your calves, both at once, and if no response, you lift your calves well off the sides of the hrose and WHAP WHAP WHAP! in rapid succession.

this is not how you should normally have to do this, but it's what you have to do now and then to get the hrose paying attention to your leg. So, you have to get loud, and do it fast enough to startle him a bit. Then, when he goes forward, make sure you don't pull back on teh reins, even if actually canters off. don't shut him down when he gives you some energy.

The reason that the girls can do it is that they are beleiveable to the hrose. for some reason, you are not yet believable. It's like you say, "I'm gonna kick you if you don't go" and the hrose goes "oh, really? I doubt it".
So, you change his mind about you, and from then on you won't have to fight that battle over and over again.


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

@zolantal is getting some good advice. 

Explain to your instructor that you aren't sure how to escalate from the ask and follow their advice.

I would not continue to ask with my legs past the first time or two. If the correction is too naggy, you are just boiling frogs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

@TXhorseman is absolutely right. All of this just gets better and easier as you improve as a rider. The only way to get there is to keep riding and working on your horsemanship.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

With a lazy horse, I would gather up the reins more (this communicates, "I'm anticipating needing more control because our speed is going to increase, get ready yourself"). 

Then I would sit deep and squeeze with my calves. Squeeze and release, don't keep squeezing. This is the ask. Your horse should either begin to trot or at least push forward faster, immediately. As soon as nothing happened, I would tap his butt with a crop. This is the tell. Again, there should be an *immediate* reaction. If not, whap him smartly. Once. Nothing? Whap whap whap. That's the demand. Good boy, you trotted! 

Do that consistently a few times and when you gather up and squeeze, that horse is going to trot without any recourse to the crop. If you ask and the horse can lay money on what will come next, he'll comply.

I would not kick him at all, frankly. He should trot on a soft signal or pay the price of ignoring it.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

@Avna
While I agree with much of what you said, teaching a person to look at gathering up the reins as a cue to go forward can eventually create bad habits in both horse and rider.

If the horse learns that gathering up the reins means go, you end up with a hrose often anticipating and heading out when the rider is not intending this, nor ready, they are just shifting the reins in their hands.. NOw, I realize that you are talking about a hrose that is not reactive, rather he is lazy. It's just a bad habit and there is no point in starting out with bad habits.
And, with a beginner rider, they will often , if taught that gathering the reins is the cue to go, gather them up tense and tight, and will be by that action inhibiting the hrose's urge to go forward , so they are giving a go and a stop at the same time.


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