Tips for activating lazy horses!

Some horses become lazy from too much time spent on the same kind of work, speed and routine. What they need is some interesting exercises that stimulate them and make the work we're doing much funny and brain working. An example is what is usually called the 'Hangbahn'; this consists basically in dressage schooling on sloped outdoor terrain. This is perfect for those horses who are uninterested to perform in the arena or tired doing the same things and need to be rev up. The ideal is to find a quite sloped area in which there are some trees you can circle around. This outdoor area can be used for ride transitions, figure-eight around trees, half-halts, and ride leg-yielding exercises. This kind of work will stimulate the horse who will have the need to be careful of the terrain, re-wiring his brain in a positive way, mentally and physically. The best is to alternate a soft ground and an hard ground. Another useful exercise is based on a change of speed: gallop or fast trott between cones spaced at 50 feet apart and then slow jog for about 50 feet and then another sprint. Continuing like this, the horse will start aricipsfing the sprint and activating. This exercise also helps the delivery of oxygen to the prime movement muscles, increasing strength and continuous animation in the movements. An advice is to work together with a faster horse, which will past him during the sprint and walk slowly behind him during the rest line. The horse will be much more stimulated!
Hope this tips will help you and please, let me know if you want me to write about something in particular! Saba