Advice needed

Wigglypigs

Wigglypigs

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Looking for some advice please…..
Purchased a new horse in December last year., 17hands 9y.o DWB with a view to show jump him and have some fun….not that its worked out like that so far

My history……
My last horse was a 15.1 opinionated nappy beyond belief mare who I had for 4 years and ended up with her being fairly well schooled and an ideal riding/pony club horse.
I used to hack her out in company (struggled to get her 500 yards from end of drive on her own) and she was really nappy but I used to deal with it and I was never scared of her .
Had loads of fun and she for all she was nappy and used to rear (not full blown) she was never spooky.
I have had horses most of my life and would say im a confident capable rider (have dabbled in most things , broken in a youngster, ridden lots of different horses etc)

His background with old owner and me
When I got new horse I was aware he had issues re tacking up and out hacking he was nappy. Previous owner very honest and was selling him as she was a novice and he had shattered her confidence.
Had a wobbly few weeks when I first got him where I was really unsure of him and kept expecting the worst. Rode him in school with no problems, hacked out and he was very ‘alert’ but again no major problems. Had been taking him to new places for lessons and to a jumping night at a local big venue – again no problems. Took him to a combined training day and had a bit of a stressful journey and a few strops but then an excellent SJ lesson over some of the biggest fences we had tackled so far (around 1m, lots of fillers and odd distances).On to XC course and had a huge strop, nappy and I felt like a total passenger and had no control. Reared up – right up! and I got off. Scared the bejesus out of me. Friend who is v confident xc got on him and got him round some of the course but had a strop at the water (he has gone in water loads out hacking with no problems) and eventually reared up, fell over and ran off.

The problem
I now have a huge spooking problem at home in the arena where the tiniest thing sets him off. I cant get him near the top end of the school and I have ended up being a quivering wreck at the though of it. So much so that I hadn’t ridden him at all this week and when I did venture to the school I stuck to the bottom half to stay away from the ‘scary stuff’. I felt such a failure but when I tried to walk round past the top he spooked at something behind him and shot off – I was able to get him back fairly quickly but he had gotten worked up again. He seems really ‘on edge’ all the time in the school and I almost feel he looks for things to spook at. Oddly I have a SJ lesson booked for Friday at another yard and im looking forward to that even though I know we will be jumping decent sized fences in am arena he has only been in once.
Any ideas how I can get over this problem????

(sorry its so long – JD and coke if you made it to the end)
 
You owe me a JD and coke!
You could try giving him something like Equine America So Calm which contains Tryptophane which is a naturally occurring calmer, I give it to my boy and there is a definate difference. Or you could get a local professional to come and school him however the problem still remains when you get back on and you have to over come your own fears, I know all about this as I'm going through it myself. I can ride anything else, my loan horse is 17.3hh and can be an absolute arse and if he doesn't like something he shoots backwards at speed but it doesn't bother me at all where as my baby ned just needs to swish his tail in the wrong way and I'm on edge which is soooo annoying but I know in my heart I must get through this and I will!!
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
 
It sounds to me like he is feeling full of it and cocky and I have found that these big warm bloods can be like that, they seem to know their own strength! People are going to tell me that I'm cruel now, but I have have a six year old warmblood at the moment and a few months ago he was being downright rude. Similar problems as with yours, always looking for something to spook at or shoot off at. I took him to a show and he spooked in the warm up arena, threw his head back and gave me a nose bleed. Well, I have found that by far the best way is to leave him out 24/7, especially if it's raining lots. He is on hay whereas all my others are on haylage. After a few days of leaving him out day and night he was sooo much better, I even had to kick to get into canter! I think sometimes we are too soft on our horses and they get such a cushie life and feel too well!
 
My horse is v v spooky and i am convinced he likes to find things and it gives him some sort of 'rush'! However, he is NOT dangerous and doesn't rear. Sounds like this horse had maybe not done x-country before and not ever been asked to tackled a water fence? It takes a long time for a horse to feel confident and trust their rider enough to go through water. Remember generally at a water fence they cannot seen the bottom yet if you go through a stream etc the horse can see the bottom. Water fences on x-country courses just take time.

To be honest i would forget about the x-country for now and concentrate in getting him to get trust in you. Stick to the end of the school he is not scared of if that helps you work him and make him listen you can gradually shift him up the end of the school as you go. You haven't had him an awful long time in the grand scheme of things and, being spring they like to get their silly heads on anyway. Once you feel confident with him and he is trusting you and you are enjoying your jumping lessons then maybe consider trying him x-country again but do it bit by bit. Honestly some horses who don't bat an eyelid showjumping acn see x-country as totally terrifying. Maybe invest in having some proper x-country tuition with someone experienced. If he keeps feeling he is pushed into situations he can't cope with the rearing is going to get worse (sounds dangerous enough that he fell over!) so just try it little by little and seek help rather than trying to battle through on your own!
 
Agree with a lot of what has been said above, but would add that I would lunge him in the spooky end of the school (personally I would lunge off the bit so you have a bit more control) and would make the b**ger work until he stopped being an arse and then ride him.
 
Any time Squirty - starting to think i might have one before i ride lol
wink.gif

Glad im not the only one to have odd confidence issues lol

LadyT - thats what i have been thinking re forgetting the XC (something about wild horses couldnt make me lol).TBH im not all that bothered about the xc as i dont really want to event , happy with nice showjumps that fall down but the whole arena thing is such a sill problem.
Thanks Oofadoofa - in the summer he will be out 24/7.at the moment he is out 7.30 to 4pm ish (yard rules)

I might get shot down for this too but im getting to the stage where i want to stick a set of draw reins on him and keep his head to the inside so he cant get to look at any of the scary things (which cant be that bad as no other horse on the yard behaves like him)
His last owner let him away with murder - as soon as he thought about misbehaving she got off.Ive managed to get him out a kimblewick and happy and controlable in a hanging cheek snaffle or a dutch gag on the snaffle ring.
 
Maybe he's testing you to see if he gets the same response from you as his last owner? Have you tried taking him to see the spooky monsters from the ground?
 
Ahh oldmare that was my thought for tonight when i get to the yard.
I think my fear comes from the fact that im frightened to have a battle with him at the 'spooky' things as i have it in the back of my mind that he might go right up again.
my last horse was far worse and i got so used to it that i didnt think twice about buying another one the same.
Id also bet that some of my friends would be amazed that i feel like this as im usually confident and enjoy a challange.
its easier to come on here and share my worries!
used to be on another forum but it all got very 'nicey' and if you wernt barefoot and bitless you were wrong!
tongue.gif
 
Mine's in a dutch gag too - I've had my horse 13 years and schooled him last night (in a strange school - i don't have my own), you wouldn't believe how scary the jumps, dressage markers and 'whatever is behind the hedge' were!! He's just an idiot basically so I just tell him to stop being an arse and get on with it! Think he's got worse in his old age and also cos my mum hacks him and she too lets him get away with murder! I think once he realises you're in charge he'll start behaving better. Just need to be firm but fair I think and reward for good behaviour.
 
ellies mum - yip i think that might be the case.He was fine for a few weeks as i think he knew i was a different kettle of fish from last owner - confident on the grond and quite firm with him when he tried to walk over me/ran around stable whilst trying to get rugs changed etc BUT since the fateful rearing up day i think he has realised i might have a weakness.....
He is just as spooky on the ground and tries to jump into your arms ''help mum'' not nice when he is so big lol
 
I think it would be surprising if you werent having feeling a bit apprehensive of him! Its so much easier once you really know the horse and therefore know the extent of what he/she is likely to do. These days my self preservation streak kicks in a lot earlier than it used to! Hope the lunging goes well - I would personally keep him going a fair old time before getting on! Good luck
 
My warmblood was the same.
it took me (here's the bad news)... 3 years to get it thru to him that pi55ing about pretending everything was scary wasn't going to work with me.

i had to learn to judge when he was going to throw his teddy out, and pre-empt it with one sharp smack before he did it. (harsh i know, but it was the only way that worked!)

When he started the whole thing he started with whipping round on me and bu66ering off home. When i got him out of that he started shying at everything (and then whipping round).
I got him out of that and he started to go backwards if he didn't want to do something.

I was having regular lessons on him with a fab instructor. We had his back and teeth done every 6 months. He had his saddle checked yearly etc...

In the end the answer (as well as loads of schooling) was to keep him as fit and tired as we could.

Let us know how you get on.
 
I had similar problems with my last horse, also Warmblood. He was fine to start with but as he got fitter, he got sharper and I struggled to keep the upper hand. I used to cut his feed, he'd be much easier to ride but then he'd feel a bit dull. It was always difficult to get the balance right. After 3 years I'd lost a lot of my confidence and ended up selling him.

Those calmers / supplements are supposed to be good though, my friend swears by them for her Warmblood.
 
Echo looking at the feed, my normally spooky Appy mare became a complet nutter when I fed her alfa-a. She wasn't just trying it on, she was out of her own control. She now just has apples, still has bags of energy but is much nicer to know and is much happier in herself.
 
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