Hello!
I need a bit of help. The horse I am currently leasing is extremely lazy, and so far on the forehand that I'm afraid he's going to trip over himself. He is completely dead to my leg, so I tried to school him with a crop. All I did was completely desensitize him to my crop, and my leg. I have no idea what I did wrong. He is constantly pulling me over his shoulders, and he is so light in his hindquarters that he sort of pops up his butt when he canters. Its awful, and his shoulders are obviously more developed that his back end! He used to be an A circuit hunter, and is a huge warmblood, but seems to have forgotten all of his training. He has never done dressage, and knows nothing of collecting etc. I have a theory that he is bored and therefore not trying, because he is much more active on trail and perks up when we are jumping over 2'3, or oxers. I would think about using a bit that could lift his head up, or some spurs, but that would not be fair as I am not very steady on him because of his bouncy, uneven gaits. I really need help getting him to wake up and carry himself, without having to buy equipment etc. because I do not own him. I am currently riding him in a french link snaffle. He is sensitive to his mouth and will stop with the lightest pressure, but keeps his head practically below his withers!!! He is perfectly sound, though he is a bit underweight. He has been gaining though since I started leasing him, and is doing much better. But I just can't get him to listen to me and wake up! Transitions don't help, circles make it worse, and he is awful to lunge (Kicking out, bucking, wrong back legs in leads, ignores my cues). Any ideas?
Thank you to anyone who read this! I know it was a pretty thick block of text...