My 4 year old welsh cob gelding has troubles with downward transitions, what can I do to help him out?

by Kat
(Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

Hello! My name is Kat, and I'm 12 years old. I have been riding for about 4 years now, and bought a horse just last year. I have a wonderful 4 year old welsh cob gelding. He is full of spirit, and does English in a D-ring, western in a snaffle, and also rides bareback with a bitless. He can do just about anything I ask of him, but when it comes to downward transitions, its near impossible. He loves to go forward, but I cant get him to transition down nicely. He listens attentively, but gets bored easily, and catches on to patterns almost instantly. I would like to be able to ask him to slow down one gait, without fighting, and circling. Ive tried running him into a wall, circling, sitting on his bum, "woah" etc. but nothing seems to work. He will get bored, and decide to misbehave if my training is too repetitive. PLEASE HELP! Thank-you!

Answer: Hello Kat, You have a horse that is getting bored and has started ignoring you. It is just like a child in school day dreamming. What we will need to do is to start on the ground with correct ground work. It will take a little time but when we get this done you will have a horse that will both be willing to do and also happy learning to do what you ask of him. You will need to get one of my ground work DVD's so we will be on the same page. After you look at the DVD you will see how to get started. You will still make mistakes and then you will learn from those mistakes. You have to learn what not to do as well as learn what you need to do. I look forward to working with you and your horse. With your dedication and hard work you will have the type horse that not only you will be happy with but all your freinds will want. Let me know where to send the DVD so we can get started.

Ray Ainsworth
The Man Horses Talk To®
rayainsworth.com