Used Western Saddles

German Martingale

What are some excercises I can use to help with training my pony/?

He is around 8 years old and has previously been used in lessons before we got him (were free leasing him).I want to use him for jumping and slowly work our way up to dressage training. He has beautiful movement but is very unbalanced. he wont stay on the rail and seems very confused when i ask him to bend to the inside and stay on the rail. What are some ways to help me gain more control of his movements and get him to bend more and become more balanced? I am going to work with my trainer but until we get our arena finished, I'm on my own! What are some exercises? Maybe I could lunge him in a German martingale or some sort of training aid? What would you advise?

Lots and lots of transitions, whether on the lunge or ridden. This will help develop his topline as well as help him increase his balance. Not snatching transitions, but not long drawn out yanking transitions, and you can use voice to help reinforce the transitions. The outside rein must have more influence to transfer balance to the outside hind leg, and the upward and downward transitions should start from the outside hind leg.

5 strides walk, 5 strides trot, 5 strides walk, 5 strides canter, 5 strides trot, etc.

I like lunging in sidereins, but I'm not a big fan on more involved gadgets, and the german martingale without enough energy production from your legs or the whip will just pull this guy onto his forehand which he already favors. Again, lots of transitions. He needs to build strength in his topline to have balance.

If he resists and downward transition, then he gets to "meet mister wall" in that he is turned into the wall and somewhat abruptly stopped. This uses the outside rein and leg, and makes him pay attention to their subtle use. I also use head to the wall leg yield lots for the unbalanced guys as that also emphasizes balance to the outside hind leg and attention to the reins. Don't let the neck bend too much; his head should always be between his shoulders, not bent around to your knee or allow the shoulder to "pop" away from the direction of the head.

Your trainer will likely have you do these things, and particularly head to the wall leg yield needs to be done with eyes on the ground at first to help you with enough angle and not get too much angle. I don't recommend doing it on your own at first.

April Reeves - The German Martingale

I have a 5 month old German Shepard male dog in obediance training. He has gone aggressive! Help?

Last Thursday we went to class and in the class the dogs are not allowed to associate with each other. Not allowed to smell each other or do other dog related things. My male, started barking and lunging at the other dogs, which he has never done before. I really feel he just wanted to play, but when he acted like that the other people jumped back and pulled their dogs back, which made him worse. Now, when out on our walks he is not staying at heel, not paying attention, and is acting extremely aggressive when we meet and greet on our walks. Tonights walk I finally had to almost sit on him to leave this dog alone. He was not like this before last thursday's class. We go to dog parks, pet stores and walk 2 times a day. He normally goes everywhere I go, weather permitting! Now What? He is going to be over a 100 pds and we are using a martingale collar. Any suggestions?

Your dog will need separate attention. This is not something that comes on. It's more then likely genetic. Aggression can be taught. It has to be there already. He can be taught how to use it. But in your case it's going to be up to you to see that he can control it. That will have to be through the help of a professional. Secrets to Dog Training, by Dog Trainer Expert, Daniel Stevens. It's a terrific book on how to train dog.

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