tazzy69
Well-Known Member
New to this forum and have a bit of a long story so please bear with me!!
We got Jake 11 months ago. 13.2 Irish Gypsy Cob gelding, 7 years old now. The owner of a local riding stables found him for us and he came from another riding stables in the Scottish Borders where I think he was used for hacking and the Scottish Borders common rides. They bought him in Ireland a year before and I have no idea of his history before that.
Jake is mainly ridden by my 11 year old daughter. He is her first pony. She has ridden since she was 3, mainly riding school ponies with regular lessons and hacking out. She is quite a sympathetic rider who has light hands, is not very strong (she's tiny!) and not really experienced when it comes to 'naughty ponies'.
From day 1 Jake settled into his field well with his 3 companions. He is usually pretty laid back when out hacking and quite more than happy to go out on his own. Brilliant with traffic and doesn't bat an eylid at tractors, lorries, buses but not keen on combine harvesters, trailers rattling about on the back of vehicles and motorbikes. He was a bit spooky when he came to us but this has become less and less of a problem as time has gone on. If he does spook he either jumps to the side or gallops for 5 or 6 paces then stops. My daughter is used to this now and it doesn't phase her at all.
In the school Jake is very green. He is very responsive and goes from halt to canter easily and most of the times just needs a gentle nudge with the legs to get him moving forward. He is pretty good now with voice commands on upwards transitions or clicking noises but slowing down is another matter. He seems to think that once he's on the move he has to keep going and isn't keen on slowing down!! If he's cantering or trotting in the school he just keeps going. Doesn't speed up and get out of control, but isn't too keen on the downward transition. it's the same going from walk to halt. He just doesn't want to stop!! We've done loads of work on transitions which has improved things a little.
Out on a hack, if he's on his own or is the lead horse he is fantastic. Great with his downward transitions and halting. We do loads of practice out on hacks and he usually listens and does what is asked straight away. If he isn't the lead horse he can get pretty strong and tries to overtake the lead horse. If he's not allowed to he gets a bit wound up and bites the tail of the horse infront. Because he is so strong my daughter has a bit of trouble holding him back and keeping a gap between him and the horse in front. If he is out hacking with a big horse, he finds it difficult to keep up in walk as he has quite little legs compared to the big chaps! If a gap occurs he'll sometimes canter to catch up and on 2 occassions has overtaken and cantered off with my daughter. It's been a nice steady canter and he hasn't gone far (maybe 40 yards) and pulls up fairly easily then he just sticks his head down to munch the grass until the others catch up.
On the ground Jake can be a bit strong sometimes. He can be a bit bargy and if he decides he's going in a certain direction there's no stopping him! He's a clever chap and heads for a wall, knowing that whoever leads him can't get between him and the wall and will end up behind him, not being able to turn his head.
We have done a lot of work with Jake since we got him. Spook busting, lots of work on standing still when mounted which used to be a huge problem - perfect now! We have a dually headcoller and a rope halter and have done lots of work on leading, backing up - again a nightmare at first but a dream now, moves back in his stable as soon as you enter on the command 'back'. We moved yards a few months ago and his behaviour has deteriorated a bit since then and he's dragging people about every few days. We have let the groundwork slip a bit since moving so are going to up the anti on this front starting with some long lining this afternoon in the school. A few weeks after we moved, his 3 new field companions left and he had a miniture shetland as a companion for a few weeks until another pony arrived who he gets on weel with. Since then another 2 new ones have arrived but are sectioned off at the moment. The 2 new ones are stabled at night and when we take Jake into the stable block he switches off from whoever is leading him and barges straight to their stables whether they are in them or not!
I would like to ask if anyone has any suggestions for excercises we can do on the ground that will help with Jake's manners. We can do backing up, moving the hindquarters, ground tying, leading, backing up through poles and some basic longlining but get a bit stuck after that.
In general Jake is a lovely pony. my daughter rode him in a bitless bridle in the school last week just for a play around and he was great. She trotted and cantered him and he slowed for her as easily as with a bit but the steering was a bit harder (not thinking of going bitless, just an example to show he can be a great pony!!!). She rides him bareback with a headcollar the few hundred yards from the field, canters and gallops him up stubble fields one handed (thinks she's a cowgirl!) feeling in control. It's just occassionaly he gets a bit strong, his neck shortens and he doesn't listen, mostly when someone is on the ground but occassionaly under saddle.
Jake is ridden in a barefoot treeless saddle which he seems to like and has a loose ring french link sweet iron bit. He lives out 24/7 but has a stable which we use for grooming, tacking up etc and he has a hay net when he's in there. He has a feed when he is ridden of Allen & Page Fast Fibre with dandelion, magnesium, brewers yeast and seaweed. He literally has less than a cupful, just so he can have his supplements and a wee treat after working. He is ridden 5 or 6 days a week. One day is usually a lesson where the instructor schools him for half an hour then daughter rides for half an hour. The rest of the times it's hacking and we often incorporate a bit of schooling with transitions, backing up etc. The hacking is anything from 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on daylight, weather etc.
Does anyone have any advice on where we can go from here with Jake? my daughter is keen to try to get him to some shows next summer and possible try him with an endurance pleasure ride but he can be so strong when other horses are around I'd be a bit reluctant.
Sorry for the long post!!!
We got Jake 11 months ago. 13.2 Irish Gypsy Cob gelding, 7 years old now. The owner of a local riding stables found him for us and he came from another riding stables in the Scottish Borders where I think he was used for hacking and the Scottish Borders common rides. They bought him in Ireland a year before and I have no idea of his history before that.
Jake is mainly ridden by my 11 year old daughter. He is her first pony. She has ridden since she was 3, mainly riding school ponies with regular lessons and hacking out. She is quite a sympathetic rider who has light hands, is not very strong (she's tiny!) and not really experienced when it comes to 'naughty ponies'.
From day 1 Jake settled into his field well with his 3 companions. He is usually pretty laid back when out hacking and quite more than happy to go out on his own. Brilliant with traffic and doesn't bat an eylid at tractors, lorries, buses but not keen on combine harvesters, trailers rattling about on the back of vehicles and motorbikes. He was a bit spooky when he came to us but this has become less and less of a problem as time has gone on. If he does spook he either jumps to the side or gallops for 5 or 6 paces then stops. My daughter is used to this now and it doesn't phase her at all.
In the school Jake is very green. He is very responsive and goes from halt to canter easily and most of the times just needs a gentle nudge with the legs to get him moving forward. He is pretty good now with voice commands on upwards transitions or clicking noises but slowing down is another matter. He seems to think that once he's on the move he has to keep going and isn't keen on slowing down!! If he's cantering or trotting in the school he just keeps going. Doesn't speed up and get out of control, but isn't too keen on the downward transition. it's the same going from walk to halt. He just doesn't want to stop!! We've done loads of work on transitions which has improved things a little.
Out on a hack, if he's on his own or is the lead horse he is fantastic. Great with his downward transitions and halting. We do loads of practice out on hacks and he usually listens and does what is asked straight away. If he isn't the lead horse he can get pretty strong and tries to overtake the lead horse. If he's not allowed to he gets a bit wound up and bites the tail of the horse infront. Because he is so strong my daughter has a bit of trouble holding him back and keeping a gap between him and the horse in front. If he is out hacking with a big horse, he finds it difficult to keep up in walk as he has quite little legs compared to the big chaps! If a gap occurs he'll sometimes canter to catch up and on 2 occassions has overtaken and cantered off with my daughter. It's been a nice steady canter and he hasn't gone far (maybe 40 yards) and pulls up fairly easily then he just sticks his head down to munch the grass until the others catch up.
On the ground Jake can be a bit strong sometimes. He can be a bit bargy and if he decides he's going in a certain direction there's no stopping him! He's a clever chap and heads for a wall, knowing that whoever leads him can't get between him and the wall and will end up behind him, not being able to turn his head.
We have done a lot of work with Jake since we got him. Spook busting, lots of work on standing still when mounted which used to be a huge problem - perfect now! We have a dually headcoller and a rope halter and have done lots of work on leading, backing up - again a nightmare at first but a dream now, moves back in his stable as soon as you enter on the command 'back'. We moved yards a few months ago and his behaviour has deteriorated a bit since then and he's dragging people about every few days. We have let the groundwork slip a bit since moving so are going to up the anti on this front starting with some long lining this afternoon in the school. A few weeks after we moved, his 3 new field companions left and he had a miniture shetland as a companion for a few weeks until another pony arrived who he gets on weel with. Since then another 2 new ones have arrived but are sectioned off at the moment. The 2 new ones are stabled at night and when we take Jake into the stable block he switches off from whoever is leading him and barges straight to their stables whether they are in them or not!
I would like to ask if anyone has any suggestions for excercises we can do on the ground that will help with Jake's manners. We can do backing up, moving the hindquarters, ground tying, leading, backing up through poles and some basic longlining but get a bit stuck after that.
In general Jake is a lovely pony. my daughter rode him in a bitless bridle in the school last week just for a play around and he was great. She trotted and cantered him and he slowed for her as easily as with a bit but the steering was a bit harder (not thinking of going bitless, just an example to show he can be a great pony!!!). She rides him bareback with a headcollar the few hundred yards from the field, canters and gallops him up stubble fields one handed (thinks she's a cowgirl!) feeling in control. It's just occassionaly he gets a bit strong, his neck shortens and he doesn't listen, mostly when someone is on the ground but occassionaly under saddle.
Jake is ridden in a barefoot treeless saddle which he seems to like and has a loose ring french link sweet iron bit. He lives out 24/7 but has a stable which we use for grooming, tacking up etc and he has a hay net when he's in there. He has a feed when he is ridden of Allen & Page Fast Fibre with dandelion, magnesium, brewers yeast and seaweed. He literally has less than a cupful, just so he can have his supplements and a wee treat after working. He is ridden 5 or 6 days a week. One day is usually a lesson where the instructor schools him for half an hour then daughter rides for half an hour. The rest of the times it's hacking and we often incorporate a bit of schooling with transitions, backing up etc. The hacking is anything from 40 minutes to 2 hours depending on daylight, weather etc.
Does anyone have any advice on where we can go from here with Jake? my daughter is keen to try to get him to some shows next summer and possible try him with an endurance pleasure ride but he can be so strong when other horses are around I'd be a bit reluctant.
Sorry for the long post!!!
