My saddlebred x thoroughbred mare is very forward when you ride her. shes 15hh and 12 years old, heeeaps of education ie. she rounds beautifully, she moves off the leg, leg yields, does pirouettes, turns on the forhand, you can ride her bareback or saddled, trot and walk her fine, but this is all in a small sand roundyard. BUT, when it comes to the arena, as soon as she sses the arena, she wants to take off trotting. i ride her at walk and do small circles, she calms down, then, when i try to trot her in small circles, she wants to take off trotting extremely fast. for some reason she has an extremely shuffly and fast trot, and im gradually improving this with long lining and using a system lunger, but my main concern is that her trot is so shuffly she trips alot. she is awesome at in-hand shows, she knows shes a beautiful buckskin so she does awesome and shows off, but when ridden in an arena at walk/trot she just switches on and wants to go. does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop her from being so forward in the arena? would long lining her and system lunging her in the arena help?
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Hi HelpILoveHorses,
Just a few question:
- Being half Thoroughbred, did she race when young?
- Do you ride her with a snafflebit?
- Does she lean on the bit, when she starts her very forward-routine?
- How is she with other horses around in the arena?
- Does she also try to take off when you canter her in the arena?
- Would it help her to follow another trusted horse for a while, when ridden in the arena?
Since you mention her "showing off", I suspect she associates the arena with former experiences of fast forward work. I guess you'd have to "overwrite" these memories with new ones. Is there a posibility for you to block off part of the arena, so she doesn't see that vast open space? You could retrain her in a smaller section and then gradualy widen the space for her. This would take a longer period and lots of patience. Your mare seems worth all the effort and think of what you would learn in the process, too!
Have fun nad keep us posted,
Miriam
Well, being in australia, you arent permitted to race half bloods, it has to be full blood thoroughbred. I ride her in a D ring snaffle with a link. When shes forward she will either throw her head up as high as she can and theres no stopping her, or she will prance around while you try and calm her down. Shes never been in the arena with another horse being ridden before but i was thinking of trying it with a calm horse. Yes her past owner was a 12 year old girl who started riding her since she was a beginner and when she got more exerienced, she became a hotbum, wanting to get right into a trot straight away when in the arena. Thats where i think she gets it from, when shes ridden in the roundyard first for a long time, and you take her out in the arena shes fine and relaxed, but as soon as you trot her, she will want to take off. The thoroughbred shouldnt have anything to do with her forwardness, since she has never raced and has never been on high energy food before, and im sure most of her blood is saddlebred, she looks like it alot!!! Im wanting to take her to a ridden show soon, but im not sure what to do. Apparently shes been to adult riders and stuff before, and shes fine to take to new places, for example when we first bought her, we loaded her out of the float at our house, and she stood there calmer than ever like she lived there her whole life! She did slip over in the winter mud one night while it was raining and she did the splits and couldnt even get up at first, we thought we were gonna have to put her down, maybe thats got something to do with the shuffling?
I don't know how to get her calmer at all, but have you had the vet out to check the tripping? Sounds like she might be pushing through maybe because there is some pain at the trot? Or is this only in the arena?
Tripping isn't normal in a broke horse though, so I'd look maybe at her feet for that. As to her pushing, again I leave that to others to answer. :)
For throwing her head up, can I suggest that you try to fit her with a martingale to stop her from getting dangerous?
There is also the Gouge or the Chambon, but at least the latter is for work on the line(s), and either of them should be introduced during ground work anyway. I'm not a big fan of draw reins, but used in the right way they do have some advantages.
I agree with the physical checks if she is tripping/shuffling. I also suggest a dentist before you put a martingale on - just worked with a horse who threw her head up, turns out she had really sharp points on some of her teeth - I am waiting to see if that changes anything. If lifting her head avoids pain, tying her down with a martingale could be even more dangerous as she cannot relieve the pain. It does sound as if her history with teh previous owner makes her think that shes just doing what shes supposed to do :-) its become habitual - if that is the case I think longlining etc. in the arena would help, yes. However, I am most concerned with the tripping as she could seriously injure herself so may be worth getting a physio to look at her too. Keep us posted :-)
With the others here - she could have a sore back from the fall or she could have teeth problems or this behaviiour has become habitual since the young owner had her for so long and obviously failed to correct these problems. An interesting case as she sounds as if she has either been trained in dressage or western ridden given the leg yields etc. if she is very sensitive to the leg then she could have been western ridden and this can make them quite excitable when trotted as they expect to be asked for more. Once her teeth are checked etc. I would try a dropped nose band before trying the martingale. This will help her keep her mouth closed so that she is more responsive to the bit. Try her with other horses if you can - if she gets excitable with the others then have them continually circle her and when she can handle this then try in trot and canter. If she has been western trained and ridden western for most of her life it is hard to teach them dressage as they tend to panic when asked for contact and wish to take off as this is what their prior training has asked them to do. Sounds as if she could have been rough raced too which happens in some western riding. Good
luck with it. - she sounds to be a lovely mate so hopefully you can correct the problem.
Interesting info about western riding Maggie, I always learn new things on here!
perhaps try riding bitless? check first what she thinks about it on longlines so you can be sure that you can stop her...
Hi Vicci this is only my understanding of what happens in Australia with horses that are either trained western or trained as cutting ( cattle drafting) horses. Typically these horses need to be very responsive to the leg and are required to excellerate and stop promptly. I have learnt quite a bit from my horse, Nicky, who was western trained and western ridden for the first eight years of her life. It has been a huge challenge to teach her dressage and she still prefers to be ridden lose reined on the roads. She broke down under the Western riding and was then sold on to my young inexperienced neighbour who couldn't handle her at all and then she came to me. Even though she is now 20 years old she is still very forward and becomes very excitable and pulley when cantered particularly so if other horses are with her. She is perfect with traffic and an angel on the ground and isn't dangerous to ride - just wants to go and she can really gallop if she is allowed to . Helplovehorses mare sounds a bit similar hence my response.
Well shes dressage trained, she round beautifully in the longlines and the system lunging. Her teeth are fine, and im not sure about the pain being anything to do with the shuffling as she had it before the fall but it has got a little worse. She has been camp drafted in the past, and i tiny bit western trained so she is a little bit of an allrounder. Ive noticed the head up high and the shuffly trot etc only happens in the arena, in the roundyard she will trotnand round beautifully. Another thing is her hooves are fine, they are trimmed regularly, shes a very healthy horse, shes wormed properly, farrier comes regularly, she is fed 1-2 hard feeds a day with 2 lots of hay (shes hard to keep weight on) and shes in beautiful shape.
And and shes NEVER been raced, as i said before in australia only full blood tbs are allowed to race.
Also, her old owner mentioned something about her getting a chiropractor and a physio out every 6 months, maybe if was for a reason? Im paying to get an equissage on her soon as it seems she is sore on her saddle area and her neck, im assuming it could be from when she slipped as she doesnt like it when i pat her neck and her back.
She sounds like a very well cared for and loved horse! Perhaps it is her back and neck as this could explain the shuffling and tripping too. Even though she is not a thoroughbred she could have been fun raced with other horses by her previous owner - it would be worth asking her if you could. It is great to find out as much as you can about their background if you can
Hi HelpILoveHorses,
This is so good, to see that writing about your question you might have found the source of your horse's problem! One of the many reasons I love this forum!!!!
Will you keep us informed about the outcome of the treatment and her development?
You seem to be on the right track.
Miriam
I agree very much with the idea of miriam (training in the arena). My first step would be to lead the horse through the arena and look what happens (only halter). Second step: move the horse at liberty in the arena. Doing that I think you will learn a lot about the behaviour of your horse. You may see or excluse problems.
Rudi
It will be good to have her checked out as she does sound to have had a back injury in the past. i also think that her history of camp drafting is the source of her behaviuor in the arena . Camp drafting is typically pretty rough riding and does make horses very forward and excitable. She does have a very similar history to my Nicky who also has had a serious back injury in the past and has re- occurring back problems. I have a physio or chiro check her out every 4 months or so. Nicky' s back becomes chronic if she has a fall or if anyone over 60 kilos rides her. Now I have learnt the hard way for Nicky not to allow heavier or unbalanced riders on her.
Just. An add on - hope emlaw doesn't mind ! Some of the uni members who have been on forum for a few years may remember emlaw from New Zeealand and her valuable and interesting posts on forum. She had to sell her two beautiful horses in new Zealand and move to. Melbourne for her husbands work. I am delighted to say that she is now occasionally riding Nicky for me and they seem to be beautifully matched - emlaw is a lovely rider - a very balanced English dressage rider and she looks great on Nicky. Not sure if emlaw is still a uni. member -must ask her next time I see her.
Yes, i rode her this weekend in the arena and she was okay. I started by long lining her out there in various places and she did well. Then i tacked her up and gave her a ride. She was forward at first but i did small circles untill she calmed down, then i did bigger circles, when he wanted to trot, i didnt let her, i took her in samll circles and flexed her head around both sides, the flexing seemed to help with calming her down a bit. Then i was trotting her in a small 10 to 20 metre circle on a loose rein and no contact, and she was rounding and trotting beautifully, but shes still forward when you ask her to keep going whennshe stops trotting. I then took the saddle off and did some bareback trotting, she was fine. I think it was the best ride ive had on her yet, she loved it so much too i gave her a full bath with shampoo etc she was doing awesome liberty with me for the first time :) thanks guys for the suggestions, keep them coming!
Fantastic!
Hi HelpILoveHorses,
You're making great progress!
Still I'm very eager to know what your equissageperson has to tell about her saddle- and neckarea. Your mare seems to be very willing to please you, let's not forget that there might be a reason for her behavior. If you succeed in taking that reason away and then keep your good arena work going, just think of what a wonderful ride you can have with her!
Keep us posted,
Miriam
Hey Maggie - yes, it's while since I posted on here, still a member but haven't been on the forum for a while. Thank you for the nice comments and the lovely ride on Nicky this morning. Nicky is a very sensitive horse and you can easily feel her western training coming to the fore even when riding English style. She does sound very like the mare who is the subject of this post, not dangerous but forward. There is some good advice given here, keep us posted!