My pony is sluggish, how can I use spurs properly on him? My legs are long and it is really hard to touch him without jabbing him. - Natalie

Reply from trainer Tracy Zadow:

Using spurs takes alot of practice. When your legs are long and unable to gracefully apply pressure then I recommend taking a different approach. You can take the spurs off and work with them on the ground instead. Teach your pony to respond off of light pressure of the legs instead of the hardness of the spurs. Start out by putting the lightest pressure of the spur just behind the girth area and gradually increase pressure until the horse takes a step to the side. You can help guide his head to prevent forward motion and encourage the pony to take a step to the side. Just ask for one step then take pressure off and praise. Ponys can be stubborn and will play the waiting game to see who will give up first. So make sure you don't give up. Repeat this on both sides until he is choosing to move off of the lightest pressure first given.

Now if he is being sluggish when you ask him to change gaits this ground work should help but sometimes you'll need to add a little extra pressure in the beginning to help emphasize your request of the gait change. So, instead of kicking harder and harder or applying spurs, first give the option of squeezing with your legs or a light kick(giving a "clucking" sound for trot and kissing sound for canter) then slap the reins back and forth harder and harder over each of the pony's shoulders until he moves into the gait. After a couple of strides ask the pony to stop then ask for the gait changes again. Repeat this until he moves into the trot by the lightest pressure first given(leg squeeze/kick) Make sure that you get him moving smoothly into the trot before asking for the canter.