# Help!My horse won't Walk!



## palominolover (Apr 28, 2010)

I rode a horse identical to this. She was so uptight that she would prance for the whole trail ride. What worked for me was pressure and release. How you do this is keep a firm contact on the reins and as soon as she slows down even for a second praise her and release. Keep doing this until she no longer feels the need to trot. Remember to only praise her if she's walking if she trots as soon as your release bring the pressure back. What also helped for this mare that I was riding was talking to her on the trail. Good luck


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

Your best friend with a horse like that is going to be circles.
Plain and simple, horses dont like doing them but the key is to make her circle until she comes to a stop _on her own._ When she starts to move out of the gait you want, pull your left or right rein around so that her nose is turned into your boot toe (or close).
She will want to spin and that is fine but _dont_ release the pressure until she is _standing calmly_.
Let her walk on again and repeat every time she disobeys. It will be tedious at first if she is really bad but eventually she will catch on that moving fast (or faster than you ask) means circles and she will learn to calm down a lot quicker because she will know that calming down now means she can move freely.


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## digggin (Mar 15, 2012)

Same as post above. When I bought Buck the owner said he likes to go, he's not a kids horse. When my 11 year old gets on him I taught her when he picks up speed you didn't ask for, ask for his head to come in and touch your foot ( when she started doing this at first, he would circle a bit) basically it's telling him "wrong" come to a complete stop and start over. After about 10 mins with this I was able to take my daughter on a long ride with another horse out into the country with no problems. Someone once told me "it's easy to get a horse to run, much harder to get them to just walk". But this worked for my daughter and I've used it to get Buck to hold his speed in his gates.


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## I LOVE PAINTS 101 (Mar 26, 2012)

palominolover said:


> i rode a horse identical to this. She was so uptight that she would prance for the whole trail ride. What worked for me was pressure and release. How you do this is keep a firm contact on the reins and as soon as she slows down even for a second praise her and release. Keep doing this until she no longer feels the need to trot. Remember to only praise her if she's walking if she trots as soon as your release bring the pressure back. What also helped for this mare that i was riding was talking to her on the trail. Good luck


that helped a lot but when i pull on her to make her stop she most of the time wont but when she does she wont stop backing up because i pull on the reins


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## Super Nova (Apr 27, 2010)

You shouldn't be pulling on both reins .....just one>

Super Nova


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## palominolover (Apr 28, 2010)

The key is release as well as soon as she slows down release her. If she wants to back up make her do more of it until she stands calmly. If your horse is anything like my mare circles did not work for her. It would only make her panic and freak out even more. Good luck .


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## BarrelRacer3 (Mar 11, 2012)

Wow that's bad


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## digggin (Mar 15, 2012)

Ok. Do this on the ground first. Use a halter and lead rope. Stand beside her about where the end of the saddle would be. Place your right and the excess lead rope over her back (don't need the saddle for this). With your left hand slide it down the lead rope and pull it up to her withers. She should stick her nose into her arm pit. Keep the pressure there until her feet stop. (My 14 year old and 17 year old trail horses went half way across the field side ways before their feet stopped. STAY WITH HER and KEEP THAT HAND ON THE WHITHERS). They will stop. My Morgan got it quick and my paint took a week. Once they give to their head And their feet stop drop the rein. Practice this on each side till they tuck their head into their Armpit and their feet have stopped moving. (Clint Anderson has a video on this, that's who I learned it from. It worked with both my horses for controlling their speed. 
I started my daughter on a 50 foot path. Had her move the horse forward if he started to trot she asks for his head to come in to the left and then the right. It took about 20-30 mins of practice before our ride. He got the point quickly once he learned it on the ground. Your horse has been trained to go wide open so he may learn a little slower. 

The first part asking them to pull their head in can get a little scary if your horse freaks out and runs side ways but it only takes about 10 mins and then their fine. Maybe search You Tube for Clint Anderson ground training. It does work but you have to be consistent. Every time he doesn't listen and takes off shut him down immediately.


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## Black Beauty 94 (Dec 26, 2011)

I would say as above make her do circles until she walks. I also agree with the give and release. If she starts to trot off or canter off turn her tightly.

My gelding likes to do this up hills, he only wants to canter. If he starts going any faster than a walk, I pull him hard, turn him around, make him walk to the bottom of the hill again and ask for the walk again. The give and release pressure also helps my gelding alot. If he does try to move into a trot or canter I say NO! and turn him around.

If your horse does not respond to this I would say lounge her for awhile before you go on. You can also try leading her around from the ground to get her used to the trails.

Good luck!


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## tbstorm (Dec 16, 2010)

pressure and release is what we use all the time, it works well for us because your rewarding her with the release when she does what you want. I would go with that.


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## paintmepretty (Jan 9, 2012)

I am a bit green in handling a horse. I rode my dads ranch cowhorse when I was 16, but never really got to know it. Now I am in my 60s and own a little buckskin mare that is sweet. I do have trouble when I want her to walk with me leading her she keeps trying to speed up. I say Whoa and pull on the rope that is attached to a halter. Then start again. when I ride her she walks and if I barely pull back and say whoa she stops.So when leading her I turn her into herself?


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