How to slow a pleasure horse down at a lope?

» trimatchy - Young Pleasure Horse

Hi, I just started training a young thoroughbred to become a western pleasure horse and am having some difficulty slowing him down at a lope. . I have thirty plus years of riding and training experience with horses although most of my experience at training came at breaking young thoroughbreds for the track. I rode and showed western as a child and later became a jockey, and trained racehorses for 10 plus years. Within the past year my children have become active in 4-H they both have very nice horses for showing but now it's my turn. We recently purchased this three year old thoroughbred/quarter horse mix. He had a basic foundation and has improved dramatically in the past thirty days. He has a beautiful slow jog, is stopping nicely, has a nice rein on him now(would only turn like a plow horse at first), picks up his leads very nicely. My problem is this his lope is much too fast, I've tried bringing back to either a trot or stopping him to start over but I seem to be making very little progress. Does anyone have any suggestions. Maybe I'm just being impatient when he has picked up everything else so nicely. He seems very smart and willing to learn

-- posted by trimatchy

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» Horsechick757 - Re: Young Pleasure Horse

I am starting a 3yr quarter horse. I have everything excpet the lope also. What seems to work for me is taking the pole rope and going back and forth on the rail at the lope. Lope to one end stop back up turn around lope the other way stop back up turn around.I find if you dont lope long stretches it seems to make them wait and listen for the cue and in return slows them down a lot. I have been doing this for about a whole week non stop and it has improved a lot for my horse maybe it can help you out goodluck

-- posted by Horsechick757

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