How to get a dull horse off the leg with Dressage Mechanic, Leif Aho

Do you have a lazy or dull horse? Forwardness is key in dressage, after all dressage is meant to look effortless, yes so many riders are putting a lot of effort just to get their horse forward. If a horse can feel a fly landing on them, they can certainly feel you touching them, but if you continue kicking and prodding every stride and not really getting results, you have effectively trained your horse that you WANT them to be only listen to a hard aid.
A horse should maintain forwardness without you having to constantly remind them to go forward- even "lazy horses" should learn to have their own engine. Your legs are not meant to be the gasoline, oil, and the engine, they are meant to be the gas pedal, politely telling the horse to fire his muscles and activate his own engine. Could you imagine if we saw people pushing their cars around? Hi Fred Flintstone! That is what a lot of riders end up doing with their horses, putting all their effort in just making the horse go forward, essentially they are pushing the car that should be taking them for a ride. Of course there is the opposite of that too, horses that can't be touched and you are completely out of control, no brakes, the gas pedal causes the "car" to burst forward- this also needs to be addressed- but a topic for another time.

Dulchi here didn’t allow us to have a great demonstration of this, but had she ignored the slight leg aid, the rider would have sent her forward with a big aid a couple steps, brought her back, and asked again politely and rewarding if the horse reacted correctly.

This is also the same method I use while leading a horse. If I stop, and the horse does not stop when I do, I firmly ask them to halt, and back up. I walk ahead, test and see if they are paying attention and stop again, if they stop, I reward with a pat and a continue walking, if they ignore me stopping, I pull the lead-line and tap their chest and ask for them to back up. depending on the horse this needs to be repeated 3-6 times in 1 session. I like to test this anytime I lead a horse to or from the paddock/ cross ties etc. it teaches good manners and teaches them to keep their focus on you.


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