am i going about it the right way?

BroadfordQueen

BroadfordQueen

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right, i have had my mad pony for about 2 months now. we knew he had a fault/vice as he was under £2k but had £200 bsja winnings (we are guessing he won them ages ago!) and was only 8yrs old. he was sold as a hunting pony though, which is what we wanted so we bought him. he has been fab out hunting/team chasing, like they said he would.
however, decided to take him showjumping to see what his fault/vice was. he was very cool and calm in the collecting ring and jumped the practice jumps really well. got in the main ring and he bucked his little brains out every time we went down the one end by the collecting ring. we ended up retiring before we got to fence 3. we came to the conclusion that he was a "napper".

we took him again on thursday and went in the clear round- got him round by giving him a fairly hard smack with the stick every time he bucked, and squeezing him with my legs at the same time. we managed to get round clear twice which was a huge improvement, and we even went double clear in the class with no bucks (although he threatened to by lifting his back end slightly)!

however, am i doing the right thing? he has obviously been beaten with the whip before as he is terrified of it. should i try a different method or carry on the way i am? i dont want him to get even more scared of the stick
crazy.gif
 
Think about it... He doesnt like the ring... so he tells you by bucking... what do you do (like most people) you smack him and reinforce the negitive mannor of the ring and give him more reason to play up when it comes to being in the ring. In other words in his mind, ring means smacks-I dont like the ring. Go back to basics get a really really good bond with him and re intro show rings slowly.
 
we tried that the first time though, we didnt take a whip and he just took the pi$$, couldnt stop him bucking for a good 5 minutes, at which point my mum had to come in and lead him out.
 
Can you hire somewhere and do some really small stuff. He's just got to learn that it is as fun as team chasing etc. so keep it small.

I would take him again and see how he reacts next time.
 
yeah he got lots of polos and fuss when he went round and didnt buck and we are going again on thursday and we are going to keep going and doing the same thing untill he goes round without bucking the first time.
 
Any chance you can take a friend of his with you, start of with some pairs sj(almost like the team chasing that he enjoys?), then jump different fences but still in same ring then gradually wean him off his friend?
 
personally i think you are doing the right thing! lots of praise when he is good, repremanding when he is wrong, the question is... can you repremand him in a way that is not smacking??

what sort or buck are they, would a jolly hard kick get you through?? does he put his head down?? if so keep his head up! does he fly buck or do it while standing?? if so keep your leg on, make sure he is moving.

obviuosly i havent seen the horse and not sure what he is doing but seems to me like he has learnt he can get away with it! my advuce would be to try lose the whip (if poss) and keep going at it!

keep us updated!
 
if he is starting to get better at going in the ring then you must be doing something right, its not like beating him up or anything and as long as you give him lots of praise at the end then keep using the method that you are using, he should soon get better and the whip can be used less and less. Good luck
XJX
 
I think you are going about it the right way, especially if you are getting results. Obviously you dont want to be smaking him long term but as the method is already working, you should be able to use less and less whip and he should settle. If it doesnt work, then try another method.
Friends daughter couldnt rid eher pony in the school as it napped really badly and started bucking at a certain point so she gave up then my daughters instructor gave her alesson in the school and pony napped, got a smack, pony did it again, pony got a smack, pony stopped and walked round beautifully. What a waste of 2 years when 1 firm, determined rider sorted it in 1 half hour lesson!!
 
hmm... would say that smacking may be re-inforcing his -ve view..but my bucky pony gets a smack when he does it and is gradually getting better at jumping so....
keep going, see what happens and try not to have to hit him (i.e I can anticipate whedn my boy will buck so send him into canter? )
 
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