This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I like the varying the cues approach. When I first got Joe, I listened to a friend (who was from the "kick to go" school). Joe does NOT like to be kicked, it pisses him off, and he will definitely tune me out. He is usually not an energetic pony, but we had a lot of success with the "passenger lesson" approach from Parelli. We rode him bareback (or sometimes in saddle), let him choose where he wanted to go. But every time he stopped, we would urge him forward with a progression of squeezing seat, thighs, calves, heels, and then slapping the reins / rope around our shoulders. Don't think we ever had to get to slapping him with the reins or rope. It was (and still can be) a test in patience as he will find every blade of grass in the ring to stop at, but when I can outlast him, he finally acknowledges that it is easier to go until I ask him to stop (or slow if we are trotting) than to stop and go and stop and go. The other thing that helped was recommend by a friend on this list: when working on trot transitions, make sure you stop before it's your pony's idea to stop. This often meant taking 5 steps at the trot and then asking for him to walk. After about 50 of these over a couple of days, he was so much more agreeable to trotting further and further without asking to slow down. Kate -----Original Message-----
<<It could be that you are shouting at her so loudly with your aids that she is tuning you out. Just a guess and I could be very wrong. But I found that when I refined my aids more, Juniper, who is very laid back, began listening to me more. But she would still be very mellow and a bit like your horse. She takes every opportunity to relax! >>
