First he's to fast, then he's to slow.......

I received an email today from Janette that I want to address.

Her question was this....

JR my horse always wants to speed up when we jog and lope. I have tried half-halts, stops and roll backs to try to get my horse to slow down. When we do the half-halts, that only works for a little while, when we do the roll backs that never works and I have tried doing smaller circles and he only speeds up. I have shown him in western pleasure and we are fine for few strides, and then he is back to going to fast, and the same goes for hunter under saddle. Is this a hopeless case for me and my horse or is there something else I can try to do that will help?


Should I stick to just one discipline with him?


On my trainers advice, I have had the vet out to thoroughly check him over, and there are no pain issues. I also had the tack fitted to make sure that is not the problem. And I have been showing him successfully for several years now. This is all seems to be a new bad habit.

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Well Janette, I really doubt that your horse is a hopeless case, maybe a little confused, but not hopeless.


When I say that your horse is a little confused, I do not mean that showing him hunter and western is confusing him. What I mean, is that you may be the issue and not the horse or the tack. I commend you for looking at pain and tack issues first, as many riders can easily overlook these things.

I do not use roll backs as a method to try to slow the horse down, rather, I use roll backs to get the horse to give me a little more impulsion as that is really what they are good for when not working a cow. Half-halts I try to avoid because I want the horse to maintain forward impulsion and not anticipate stopping every time he speeds up. If it is indeed the horse is speeding up on his own, which it rarely is, then I like to stop, wait a few moments and start again until he learns that he has to slow down. Kind of like re-booting the computer.

It is always important that we teach a horse to rate, be it off of us or cattle or when we are leading them. I personally prefer my horse to slow down when I slow down or stop when I stop.

The reason that horses speed up the majority of the time, is because the rider is out of balance and out of sync with the horse. If you are riding a western horse, then you need to slow yourself down and stay in one steady rhythm when you jog your horse, if you are riding English and your horse speeds up while trotting then, there again you need to post in one steady rhythm and not get ahead of your horse. Stay centered on your horse.

I always tell my students that our horses are always compensating for something. They have to balance themselves when we are riding them, if we are off balance then generally the horse will speed up to compensate.

While this may seem an easy feat because they have 4 feet, I bet if you ask the horse, they will tell you it is not so easy. Just watch a horse that is being ridden by a rider that is out of balance and you will see how obvious this all is. The horse may still be able to carry on and perform what is being asked, but it won't be as easy for the horse or as pleasing to the eye of the spectator or judge.

As far as sticking to just one discipline with him, I have shown many horses in multiple disciplines and have never had a problem with that. I think they are happier overall because they do not get bored as easily. Unless there are obvious signs that he his unhappy, then keep on showing him in both.