My daughter 13, has been riding for many years. She got her first horse 6 months ago. Caitlyn is a 5 yr old haflinger. She had much to learn. Her trott was faster than most galops, her whoa happened a minute latter before she registered the command and she was extremely nerveous and would spook at anything. She is now doing great on all of these...fast learner and very willing to please my daughter...
She was a nightmare to catch in the field...that is how we luckily found this site and she is doing all the recommended exercises successfully...they are well joined up :-) ... that being said she does not always come out of the field on a whistle ... work in progress there but this site is full of good suggestions there...
Our challenges that we hope you can offer advice:
First...she is extremely antsy...she moves around big time when tied for grooming, my daughter tried soothing techniques and backing her up saying No...she is better but still not there yet...she cannot stand the though of being restrained it seems...she jumped her fence 3 times, the barn owner put an electric one, she went under, now it's doubled so we'll see, she got out of her stall, broke into the barn to try to get her friend to escape...and she does all this in a very good friendly mood...you'd swear she is grinning...and she doesn't run away she just plays around...so hmmm!
Second which is a big problem...the barn owner had to change her 3 times to different field! ( they have around 25 horses and are really great horse people). She was kicking or bitting ( not agressive but to buggg and be a pest) ...so she was put with an alpha mare to teach her manners....didn't work...she went to a field with 2 playful geldings...they love each other and play...but now she started hearding them away when their owners come get them and barn owner thinks she's keeping them awy from water !!! Well now we don't see this when my daughter goes to get her...she is sweet with her! Never bites or kicks or bad humour ... energetic, happy go lucky a bit distracted funny little thing...who's about to drive the other horses and barn owner nuts...( she's polite to barn owner, vet, ferrier, other people etc) ...
we need to teach her to calm down, stop moving and not be a brat...any suggestions? Thanks...
I'm looking forward to replies to this. My mare is nigh anxiety and doesn't stand either, not to be groomed, in a stall, trailer, while mounted etc. She might give me a few seconds and her anxiety levels will get so high in all the above situations she will get a rock hard body from tension and start to shake.
Hi jojoboudreau44 and welcome to the Uni.
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Like arabiancrazy1 said before, I am really looking forward to other replies, too. I do not have ideas for all those problems you are talking about, but maybe some of them.
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You said your daughter joined up with the mare. Okay, so what about Follow-Up, did she get it? If not, I would repeat Join-Up, to get a Follow-Up afterwards.
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Do you have a Dually Halter for the horse? I think she has to learn the value of standing still. Every time she moves a foot without you or your daughter asking her for that, school the horse. If you do it right, your horse will be able to stand still at the end and won't move a foot (not even for a fly) even when you are 50 metres away. To make this process of learning easier for your horse, put a fly repellent on her before starting with the Dually Halter work.
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I would also recommend watching the lessons on the "Dually Halter", "A course on leading your horse" and "Catching your horse in the pasture" for that.
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So, that is how to solve the problems of catching her and her issue on standing still.
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For her problem of jumping over the fence I would say maybe it is just because she loves jumping? Then I would recommend your daughter to jump her in the riding corral or even start a bit on show jumping (therefore I would recommend you watching the videos on "Show jumping with Will Simpson"). Maybe she is a bit more relaxed in her pasture afterwards?
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I don't know, what would others recommend?!
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For all your other questions, I am unfortunately definitely not the right person to ask, sorry that I can't help more!
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Good luck and please tell us about your progress!
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Best wishes from Hamburg, Germany
Jasmin
Hi jojo,
I love this experience. You have a very intelligent horse on your hands. One of my daughters horse's sounds just like yours. We call him Houdini. He can get out of anything, even unlock doors and gates.
Smart big guy. Loves to play all the time and he is 7 years old.
Kind as can be and wouldn't hurt anyone. It's just that my daughter has to keep getting up in the middle of the night to put them all back in her pasture after he goes through the fence and of course they all follow him.
Finally she stalls him at night.
He's good for standing. She works him hard and grooms him often.
She does not tie her horses to groom them, she draps the lead line over her arm and does them this way.
That way if they get too antsy they have the freedom to move. She will back them up or give them a short break and walk them in a circle.
Works good for her big energentic boy, Ziggy. He's a beautiful Dun.
Thank you for your replies :-)
Renjaho...yes, join up and follow up...in the round pen or indoor rink ... not so much when she's in her field and needs to come in...
Dually halter...nope doesn't have one so we hadn't watched those videos...si I just did. Hmmm that could really teach her to stand still. The horse on the video is younger...wonder if it also works on a bit older horses.
It could help with that situation at least...thanks I'll consider the purchase.
Hi again!
Yes, it works with horses of every age, have just done Dually work with a 12 year old gelding and did so with a 20 year old gelding too.
Would recommend you buy one!
;-)
Jasmin
Jojoboudreau44 I had a 16hh TB who was 18 when i got my Dually halter for him! He was terrible to lead, would drag behind and barge through when frightened. He would not let me touch his mouth and would not stand to be mounted....all this and more fixed with Join up, follow up and the Dually halter :-) Age is no barrier there!
Just a question but is you pony getting any hard feed? If so i would look at the feed to see if this could be causing her to be antsy and badly behaved...it is amazing how much feed can impact on their behaviour.
Janelle
Standing still while grooming: may help just to change the place where you are doing it to interrupt the cronic behaviour. Then carefully work with PICNIC, correcting already minimal movements, always.
Rudi
Thanks, and actually yesterday we groomed caitlyn outside it was a beautiful day...and...no fidgeting or trying to get away, well not so much...but inside the barn is another story. So maybe when possible we'll take the grooming outside as much as possible as we work on the standing still issues and hopefully we'll have her more calm by the Fall.
Janelle...feed...Caitlyn eats hay (free feed) and grains, a few handfuls a day - I honnestly can't say what kind. Haflingers don't need to eat much, they love to eat but don't need to...so barn owner gives her the same stuff as her horses. Some other tenents there give their horses enriched or other added vitamins but not us. I was actually reading up on that (as you can see I really don't know what I'm talking about, I really left that to barn owner)...I hope the few handful of grains are not causing her to be hyper...she looooves them sooo much its pitiful...so yeah...I am in the process of educating myself - this is our first horse...lots to learn but at the barn we are surrounded byngreat horse people and I love this site for the excellent ideas as well...
Grains be it oats or barley are very heating and can cause over excitability in ponies especially, not always but most of the time :-( I know what you mean about the desire to eat but not needing to...my two are the same! I have been doing some research on feed for my two, i have a mini and a brumby who is 13hh at 2 years old. I have been advised to feed them a low sugar, high fibre feed like copra meal or maxisoy (a soy based product) as i need to feed them some minerals daily. I would try cutting back or even better cut out the grain and see what happens...just experiment for a bit and see if it makes a difference!
Janelle
Thanks, I really appreciate your advice and I will try cutting the grains but substituting with something less heating...
Hey jojo,
I have a girl who loves to run, all the time.
My vet told me to get rid of the grains and give her F&F (fat and fiber).
Gives them just about everything they need AND it slowed her down.
The way they told me to graduate her to it was: 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup/3/4 cup and so on until she got her max amount.
Because of her bout with colic in February I now mix it with a tiny bit of corn oil, 1 tablespoon of salt( helps her to drink more) and hot water until it is a mash.
The corn oil helps her with ulcers, they said. Not too much then she won't get hot from it. I wish I could get rice bran oil here!!! Great for their hoofs, coats and stomach.
That's what I do and her vet was right it did help.
Maybe it will for you too,
Ronda
Thanks Rhonda...I will most definetly talk to my vet about it. I had considered trying that a few months ago, then sort of forgot about it. She would so benefit by being calmer (so would we :-) )...and...I ordered a dually halter and daughter and I watched the videos...my daughter is having so much fun working with her little horse. She is such a natural with horses and just loves them so much it is beautiful to watch.
Hi jojoboudreau44 Great to read you have ordered the dually. I think you will find that it holds the secret! Watch all the videos carefully and all the best with it.
Hey Jojo,
Something else I can mention about the feed.
Reading and understanding the tags on the feed bags.
One of the most important parts on the tags is;
The purpose statement: simply this is a description of the class or classes of the horse it is intended for (ex. brood mares, growing horses,performance horses or mature horses)
Many manufactures design feed for speecific different classes of horses.
This will help to ensure the horse's nutritional needs are met. It is imperative that horse owners use feeds designed specifically for their horse.
Follow the instructions carefully and talk with a vet or equine nutritionist.
Hope this helps,
Ronda