Advice needed: where to go next...

Bluebelle666

Bluebelle666

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I have had my loan horse for 4 weeks now. She's at a different yard to previous where she was pretty much out in a field and very, very rarely ridden. When she arrived I didn't ride her for a week, let her settle to her surroundings and just took her around various parts of the yard to have a look. I then gradually began to ride, no longer than 30 minute stints and the vast majority of the time in walk.

So... the past 3 rides have been awful. I'm trying to understand possibilities of why and ways forward so advice would be great.

bad ride 1: over a week ago, she was schooling nice in the indoor arena. A girl was lunging her horse in there, as her horse was asked to canter mine went bucked and set off charging around the arena, took a long time to calm her.

bad ride 2: a couple of days ago, in the outdoor arena, weather good. She appeared unable to settle into the ride, again predominantly in walk. There was another girl in the arena having a lesson. My horse from walk did a humongous buck followed by several others and then set off at an uncontrollable canter for a minute or so. I was petrified. Got off straight away and asked the girls instructor if she'd seen anything to spook (I know it wasn't the other ride as they were walking on the opposite side of the arena), she said she could see nothing.

bad ride 3: thinking that my horse comes from a history involving more cross country pursuits I decided to try her on a hack as felt the issue may be that she's getting frustrated with schooling. She's stabled on a very large farm where you can hack on the grounds for an hour and not go near a road. I had someone walk out with me just in case. Straight away she was not settling, the walk was as fast as a trot so after just a couple of minutes I chickened out and decided to turn back (I know you're not meant to do this but to carry on would of been another 20 minutes circular route), the way back was her jogging sideways with me trying my hardest to keep her under control.

She has the dentist next week and had saddle checked and flocked and back done around 6 months ago. Am I asking to much of her?

I could do with any words of wisdom, insights, helpful tips or confidence advice as I'm feeling pretty horse shaky at the moment :(
 
I'd pay a local professional to come and work her a few times. She could just be lacking confidence and its manifesting itself as bad behavior. Get a rider on that won't be fazed or take any messing, then they can probably give you some training in what you need to do (or tell you if she's a lost cause and to get rid before you get any more attached ;) ).
 
It sounds like she is fresh and perhaps needs more than a walk. Try just working her as you would any other. Also lunging before riding. It could be as above but try harder work.:D
 
Heilo said:
It sounds like she is fresh and perhaps needs more than a walk. Try just working her as you would any other. Also lunging before riding. It could be as above but try harder work.:D
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My first thought too- sounds fit and now not getting enough work plus maybe too much protein- what are you feeding her?- cut right down on protein- spring grass coming through too - was she doing much fast work before you got her?
 
If you have been feeding much protein she could now be at risk of azoturia - look into that before you do anything else- I would call the owner and tell them exactly what you have been feeding her and ow much work she has been getting. Ask them for advice- they will know her/ know how fit she is.

Good luck
 
I have 5, and none of mine would stay sane on a mostly walk regime. If any of them is injured and I have to do it to bring them back into work, we go on long road only hacks so they have no opportunity to be silly. On a soft surface they'd all explode, which is what I would suspect your horse is doing.

More work is the answer, either longer walk hacks slowly building up trotting then cantering, or lungeing before you ride. Find a good fitness programme and follow it, but do remember that the intial walk work is best done on a road or other hard(boring) surface and often in company so there's less temptation to spook and run off just because they want to.
 
bluebell
you are just getting to know her. Three weeks is such a short time,
I speak only as a first time owner who got it wrong from the word go.
my horse i think was used to someone confident to be his boss before i got him and my lack of confidence unerved him. I had to give up riding him when i got on first name terms in casualty. Because i ended up scared of him i could only do the stuff that i was comfortable with.. i learnt to gradually be his boss on the ground and then in the school and then we hacked out. It took about 6 months,
We had to take it slowly because i am not that confident... but it paid off in the end . three years together next week:)
 
Flame_ said:
I'd pay a local professional to come and work her a few times. She could just be lacking confidence and its manifesting itself as bad behavior. Get a rider on that won't be fazed or take any messing, then they can probably give you some training in what you need to do (or tell you if she's a lost cause and to get rid before you get any more attached ;) ).
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this and the fact that if she is lacking confidence she will need someone to be strong and confident with her which sounds like your not and i dont mean that it a bad way my old horse would do the same thing in the end he destroyed all the confidence i had
 
first step for me would be to talk to the owner!

Is she in season... mares can be very funny and unpredictable when in season, some can also be in a lt of discomfort!
 
Thanks for the replies - she's not in season (she's a very obvious mare when she is) I have known the horse and owner for the past 8 months and in that time the horse has never really been in full work or anything near that.

She has been getting fed cool mix, sugar beet and chaff as when she came to me she was quite underweight (not owners fault, she was working away a lot and had her on full livery who took the opportunity to underfeed her without informing owner). I am going to cut out the sugar beet and see how that goes.

I went to lunge her today (not sure about lunging but am about to post something new on that rather than get this post really confusing) and she immediately set off at very fast trot, then canter, then very fast canter with a few bucks - this was not me asking for any of this, I just wanted her to walk to warm up, she then did the same on the other rein, finally after 15 minutes she calmed to a good walk.

Someone at the farm said it could simply be that she is getting the food she needs, the company she needs, and is very excited and just needs the opportunity to run off some energy. Could it be this simple?? :confused:
 
YOu mention she was turned out before. Is she now stabled? A change in routine plus you feeding her up sound like she just has excess energy. She also might be bored with all the walking. It's good to build up gradually but unless she is so unfit and wasn't worked at all previously it sounds like you need to get her moving.

And whoever said about protein in feed - it's an old wives tale - it's not protein that causes fizzy behaviour - it's more likely to be the starch and sugar level. And just because sugar beet is called sugar beet doesn't mean it's full of sugar. I'd get rid of the cool mix - that's more likely to be the problem. Unless she really needs feeding up Id go for plenty of hay and some happy hoof.

I'd also get an instructor to help you PDQ before your confidence starts to suffer.
 
Her stabling routine is the same as before, she is out 8 - 4. I am looking into the instructor route as well. I have the dentist out later in the week so was just wanting to rule out any teeth problems before I got an instructor involved.

The horse feed does admittedly confuse me. :confused:
 
Unless she lacks weight/condition, I would feed plenty of hay and very basic chaff and pony nuts. This is the easiest and least confusing thing to do. You could also talk to a nutritionist at a feed company - you will find a phone number on any packet of feed. And yes - feeding is very confusing as there are so many products on the market - 99% of which are not suitable for the normal pleasure horse! Don't worry - you are not alone in this!

With regard to your horse's behaviour - don't ride again until teeth and saddle have been checked. If you have another bad experience your confidence with take another knock and that will not be good! Providing teeth and saddle all ok - the next time you plan to ride have a good instructor with you - not necessarily for a full-on lesson but speak to them beforehand and let them know you concerns so that they can talk you through the issues you have experienced and find a way to go forward.

Good luck!
 
Routine, home, person all changed.
Does she get plenty of turnout, what is she fed?
Check, tack, teeth, back etc.
Get an instructor to help, even to ride for you.
But hopefully nothing more than excitement, in a new home and doing more work.
 
Bluebelle666 said:
Someone at the farm said it could simply be that she is getting the food she needs, the company she needs, and is very excited and just needs the opportunity to run off some energy. Could it be this simple?? :confused:
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This probably has a lot to do with it - its sheer exuberance. I think the advice to lunge before riding for a little while is great, you can gauge how she is feeling and may be more confident if the edge has been taken off her.

now her weight and condition are improving will you be reducing her feed, particualrly with the spring grass coming through? That could help.

As said before in thread, a lot has changed for this mare, it sounds like it is all for the better too, give her time to adjust and enjoy :D
 
I will definitely be reducing her feed as I am told that generally she is a good do-er. I am lucky in that the livery yard lets you change from full livery in the winter to grass livery in the summer (if you choose) which is the option I think I will go for.

Thanks for your advice :)
 
Not sure if this has been said but I would get an instructor out to lunge her a couple of times to make sure she learns the commands and behaves and then get the instructor to school and hack her. If she is happy with her then start riding her but make her listen to do (lots of transistions and school movements so she's always thinking) if you are still struggling to get along with her then I would personally give her back.
 
I'd reduce her feed to just ad-lib hay. I wouldn't ride her in the school if any-one else is in there.
You say her saddle and back have been checked, was it 4 months ago for both of them? If so I'd get them checked again. As I was reading my first thought was that she has been out of work, so possibly the saddle needs adjusting.
 
I'd stop feeding the cool mix tbh, just chaff and a unmollased beet for now, with ad lib hay when stabled.
When I fed my mare a cool mix she was mental, now she has a lo cal balancer and low sugar chaff.
 
maybe she just wants a bloody good run! lol one of mine is a nightmare jogging and bucking till we settle into a long extended canter/gallop then after i can eventually stop him he calms rite down and is an absolute angel! works for us anyway maybe not for all though! :D

also i agree with others about cutting out/down on the mix
 
Are you riding her before or after her turnout?
She sounds like she is just fresh, yes she was good the first few times, but you often find that they can be little angels the first few days back in work as its such a shock, then turnn into demons until they re in regular work. Mine would go nuts if I tried to just walk them, so I don't bother. I'd lunge, up the tempo, and drop the mix, most of them have barley in, which can be heating
 
I'd say she was fresh. Daughter's horse usually lives out but is being part stabled / fed build up mix etc as she lost a bit too much condition in the snow. She's feeling VERY well atm and has been showing this by putting in some pretty spectacular bucks & being generally strong / keen to go the last couple of times daughter has ridden her. Went XC schooling yesterday & tanked off @ high speed bucking after a fence several times. Not being nasty, just excited to be on a XC course for the first time this year.
 
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