Whenever l tell my gelding to go, about 60% of the time l have to keep squeezing and clucking. We started to use the bat on him recently. Sometimes he does not even listen to that (although l may not be tapping him hard enough.)

He is very smart and knows exactly what those ques mean, he just does not always do what they tell him to.

What can l do to motivate him in some way or make him go sooner?
The last thing l wanna do is use spurs. l could not do that to mey horse. l just couldn't. l will defienetly invest in a crop though! :D

You could try giving him supplements or putting him on sweet feed. Those are both great for energy-boosting.

try some ideas in this, it mentions that sometimes the worst thing a rider can do is give to many aids.

http://horse-canada.com/articles/HSmotivatingthelazyhorse03.00.htm

My horse is the same way you could try using spurs and rub them into his sides when his misbehaves, start with blunt spurs.

as the first person said, sweet feed is a very good way of getting ur horse a little more attentive by raising his energy level. Another thing l would suggest is doing some round pen work. If u do not have a round pen, a lunge line will do. Make sure u use a lunge whip. When u r lunging him, u r teaching him some sounds & words for each gait. For example, a cluck could mean walk, a kiss could mean trot & ''hup!'' could mean canter. And make sure to always say woah when u ask him to stop. If he resists, ask him lightly with the whip. If he still resists.sorry to say.but crack him one to get his attention & to tell him u mean BUSINESS! also, u want to watch out that u stay behind his shoulder when asking him to move forward & infront of it when u ask him to stop or turn around. Another thing u could try is instead of carrying a bat (wich r very short) try a dressage whip. ask ur instructor how to use one, l find they r much more effective, even for jumping(unless u r showing). You could also ask ur instructor about spurs. they can be VERY effective!

well.. hope i've helped!
good luck!

Well a good wack with a CROP does good sometimes, and l do not mean a little tap like a wack! haha. Mabye you could try some little spurs to motovate him more, and as said before some kind of feeding to up his energy; although in many cases that dose not work.

supplement might help or maybe you ride him to much. Try having a day were you groom him, give him a bath, or just walk him around bareback and let him graze. hope l helped.

If this is nothing new and he is just a bit more lazy then you have a choice to use external aids or not but thats a personal choice some horses just have a better work ethic than others.

The general rule for cues is to ask once, ask again in case u were not clear, then demand the point. That often means a spank with the whip, good hard kick, etc until the concession is made. Then u STOP the cue. Sometimes people forget to stop (ie - keep clucking after he is started to go), or get so tense from asking that they r accidentally telling him to stop at the same time.

In the crop/whip department, l like a dressage whip, as u can use it on the shoulder or barrel without taking ur hand off the reins. And like any other whip, u can give anything from a tickle to a sharp sting. To gain this control, my instructor had us practice it our our thighs. Then we knew how much force felt like what.

You may find it useful to lunge or free lunge him, though have someone who knows what they r doing work with you. Teaching him to respect cues from the ground helps him learn to listen to u while you're on his back.

Spurs should only be used by very experienced riders. If u watch the top English riders, u will see most if not all of them wear spurs. This is not to make the horse go. It is so they can use subtle leg motions to great effect instead of the larger ones many of us use. Spurs, used properly, should never elicit a '' l could not do that to my horse'' response. You r using good judgement to realize when you're not ready to try them yet!