Anyone have a really sensitive horse ? Cracked Tessy at last !

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bearTessy

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For those who have never met Tessy she is one of life's little worriers, it's just the way she is and always will be. Hacking she is fantastic with the biggest, fastest and stupidest of drivers and vehicles on the road but would spook a lot at simple day to day things.

After a year and a half, i have only just cracked this mare ! She will always walk past something she never refuses to not go past something scary ... you might just jog past on a slight angle :p. This week i decided to ride her out on the buckle with hardly any contact, she hadn't been ridden all week and can be on her toes when you first take her out. Do you know what, i thought someone had swapped my horse she was so calm , still looked at things but she was plodding along rather than on her toes.

She reacts to the rider so much which is why i would never want to put a total novice on her or someone who seeks confidence from the horse. She looks to her rider for support when faced with something scary and I realised by me gathering up a contact when i spot something i think "oh she will spook at it" it made her panic and she would start nervous chomping on the bit.

I wish animals could speak, she has been screaming out at me for an entire year and i'v only just sussed her out completely. Perhaps someone different riding her would have worked this out sooner, i suppose when you get used to riding something you don't notice subtle things.

On another note she is being a right grot bag this week, the faces she is pulling not even her mother can love. Would anyone like a slightly creaky, hairish cob mare . Free to good home as long as you don't bring her back !

Showing her spooky side ... after calmly trotting over the other poles she decided this one was home to a monster and therefore sucking her hind legs into her stomach was the best survival method.
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Well done - such a nice feeling when you finally get the hang of something they were trying to tell you! On a completely random note - what make is your numnah? Is it fluffy or just fluffy edge? Been looking for one for ages but none of them are a very good shape on my GP - or they're a weird colour!
 
Lego said:
Well done - such a nice feeling when you finally get the hang of something they were trying to tell you! On a completely random note - what make is your numnah? Is it fluffy or just fluffy edge? Been looking for one for ages but none of them are a very good shape on my GP - or they're a weird colour!
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Thank you, I felt like an idiot for not realising something as simple as giving her a loser contact would stop her worrying about what's coming next ! She gets so worked up in the school if she doesn't 'get' something straight away. Which i think is why she loves jumping its point and go to her lol ! Just asked mum- its from Shires and its completely fluffy underneath and very soft :)
 
One of the horses I ride is just like that, he's must more on his toes and fussy if you pick up the contact. If you ride on the buckle he just plods along.

It's tricky for me to get used to as he likes no contact whereas the other one I ride needs contact or he jogs and is generally silly!
 
Captain Bridget said:
One of the horses I ride is just like that, he's must more on his toes and fussy if you pick up the contact. If you ride on the buckle he just plods along.

It's tricky for me to get used to as he likes no contact whereas the other one I ride needs contact or he jogs and is generally silly!
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I bet that is hard to get used to, each at the end of the scale. Out hacking , we plod and therefore i ride her on the buckle but in the school i work into a contact, she does get a bit hot headed and worried to begin with but soon settles :)
 
My horse is exactly like this. He is absolutely brilliant to hack and as long as I am confident he will go past pretty much everything even when another horse refuses to albeit sometimes quite quickly! However on the ground he can be very jumpy, not to lead he is perfect then, but when he is tied up or when someone touches him and if my instructor or anyone else tries to come near while I am riding even to give me a drink or take something from me and he is not sure what they are doing he will whip away.
I think he must have had a bad experience in his past because he can also get very tense if I put my gloves on when riding or once when we did a pleasure ride my friend had a map on her horse, her mare not at all bothered by it rustling a bit on her neck, mine kept trying to run away from it even though it was nowhere near him !

He is just a very sensitive boy never nasty just a bit unsure of things but I have learnt to work around it and he has got much better with practice bless him.
 
Ahhhh... it's so nice when you have that lightbulb moment with a sensitive horse!

My boy is a sensitive petal too, he's huge but is scared of vets, farriers, physio's, clipping, men he doesn't know, parked cars, new people trying to catch him, and the list goes on! he's never nasty with it though and is a really good boy to handle/ride thankfully so we just avoid the scary stuff if we're able too. He's the same on hacks as your girl, if i buy into the drama by picking up the reins it makes him 10x worse but if i ignore him and the monster he generally gets over it. I always think with the sensitive ones you can build a great bond when they trust you. :)
 
I'll have her, she sounds just like my mare and it would be great to have a pair of them :) Maybe you should try western with her?
 
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