Answer

By Your Horse

Instructor Jane Baker says…

Jogging is an uncomfortable, infuriating problem, but the key to solving it is to relax.
It may be an idea to school your horse before you ride out, as this will ensure he’s not quite so energetic on a hack – and more attentive to you. When you’re hacking, if others go off in front of you it’s probably best not to restrict your horse and hold him back when he jogs with the idea that you’re ‘making him learn’. This will just increase the excitement levels and lead to more problems. Go with the flow, or ask if you can ride near the front so the excitement is taken out of the situation. Once this stage is reached, you’ll be able to dictate to your horse a little more, and therefore start to get him to relax and just walk.
When you’re hacking out alone, it’s obviously not an option to let your horse jog and go at his own speed, especially on the way home. As creatures of habit, horses will rush if they’ve been allowed to several times in the past. If restrained, they’ll tend to get more excited.
Unfortunately, human nature tells us to pull on the reins to slow. If our horse doesn’t react, we often want to pull harder – and for longer. When this happens, it’s easy for a rider to lose her leg position, gripping with her legs to help the pulling. This has the effect of driving the horse forwards while still being restrained – causing jogging and later on running through the contact. So, initially, when you ask your horse to slow down and relax try to make your position taller, lift your hands rather than pulling them backwards. This helps to lift the bit in your horse’s mouth, rather than putting pressure on the bars of the mouth, which can be painful. Try to push your lower leg back and down. A light, non-pressured contact with the legs in a neutral position will help your horse accept the contact of your legs, so you don’t grip and tense up – giving your horse forwards aids by mistake.
This should help you maintain a more balanced position, so when your horse reacts to slowing aids you can easily relax the contact and be sat in a very neutral position, which rewards your horse for slowing.