Backing 3/4yr olds

CastlelackSportHorses said:
I am not back in "Youngster camp" also as a work colleague has deposited her 4yr old with me for a few weeks.
He is huge(17hh at least), lazy and a bit "Tim nice but dim"

He was sent off for breaking 7 weeks ago and I honestly have no clue what they did with him as I had to start from scratch!
Double lining and teaching him what Trot on actually means.
He is fabulous out hacking, leads or follows and no leg needed.

But my god he makes life hard in the school.
He is slowly getting the forward idea but its taking a while.

We haven't even attempted canter yet, I fear I may expire with the work ill need to do on top 🤣 View attachment 164466View attachment 164465
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He’s a bit smart though!!
 
Small pony doing SO well!
Went for a hack around the village and saw the most cars he has so far, we did our first on board gate when we got home and then went in the school and did really great trotting.
I think a teeny 10 minute hack and then into the arena might be a good way forwards as he was definitely less hot from a little hack first.

Then today, rode giant ginger at home for the first time. And got bronked off going into trot 🙄

He had lunged well, the saddle is good, he was super relaxed in walk but as soon as he took a stride of trot we had big broncs and dramatics.
So put my big girl pants on, back to the yard and mounting block, got back on board, back up the track and into the arena.
We did 2 small trots without issue and ended there with big pats.
In hindsight, perhaps I was a little trusting and more soft than he is used to- I went straight to rising trot and I didn't have much contact at all so he was able to get his head down very easily.
I'm sure we'll be fine, he was absolutely ok afterwards, no issues mounting or trotting afterwards.
We can't breed and want super athletic and reactive horses if we then complain they are super athletic and reactive at moments we don't want!
Back to it tomorrow.
 
millitiger said:
Small pony doing SO well!
Went for a hack around the village and saw the most cars he has so far, we did our first on board gate when we got home and then went in the school and did really great trotting.
I think a teeny 10 minute hack and then into the arena might be a good way forwards as he was definitely less hot from a little hack first.

Then today, rode giant ginger at home for the first time. And got bronked off going into trot 🙄

He had lunged well, the saddle is good, he was super relaxed in walk but as soon as he took a stride of trot we had big broncs and dramatics.
So put my big girl pants on, back to the yard and mounting block, got back on board, back up the track and into the arena.
We did 2 small trots without issue and ended there with big pats.
In hindsight, perhaps I was a little trusting and more soft than he is used to- I went straight to rising trot and I didn't have much contact at all so he was able to get his head down very easily.
I'm sure we'll be fine, he was absolutely ok afterwards, no issues mounting or trotting afterwards.
We can't breed and want super athletic and reactive horses if we then complain they are super athletic and reactive at moments we don't want!
Back to it tomorrow.
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Whoops! Good that he didn’t take it to heart though- let’s hope he doesn’t fire you off again!
 
Pleased with Myka today. On the Mylo & Myka thread was the photo of her suspicious face from earlier this week - re-attached. This is after lots of showing her the pad and saddle and her response being to avert her gaze, just offer nervous glances at it. But today - finally - 2 weeks(ish) after the fitting, she actively explored the pad when given the opportunity. I always think that fear morphing to curiosity means we are on the way to everything being fine again.... soon I hope. And today we managed to tack up and lunge in tack with no fear reaction. It feels like I’vebeen deaing with this for AGES but it’s not beeb that long really. We lost a non th when her back was resting, and we had no saddle to use to work her. Minor delay in the grand scheme of things I think!


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Back on Willow, she's come back into work nicely after a month break. She's filled out quite a bit and really changing shape, and looking a lot less like the gangly giraffe when she arrived in Feb!

My main priority really is to get her out hacking now. It's not easy as don't have any help really other than hubby, but if he comes for a walk, the kids inevitably come too.
 

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CastlelackSportHorses said:
Lads, success!
Big lanky grey horse cantered under saddle last night!
And it was easy! Now to be fair I did teach him voice ques during the week but wasn't sure if he could put 2 and 2 together BUT he did and I'm super proud! :D
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That's great!

Because even with voice cues the legs can get in a muddle or they lose balance so well done big lanky grey boy!
 
SEL said:
That's great!

Because even with voice cues the legs can get in a muddle or they lose balance so well done big lanky grey boy!
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Oh I know, he did loose the hind end on one transition but once he figured out the voice + leg aid he was off!
Next thing is cantering over a pole and then a fence :D
 
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Photographic evidence of us trotting and me staying on 😂
Had a lovely ride this morning, really free moving and forward without being chased and we managed rising trot too without any shapes.

I think yesterday was just a blip for no particular reason.
What is nice, he is so much easier and nicer to ride at home than he was at the breaking yard- more naturally forward and not so set in his mouth. Still nowhere near a contact but I can feel softness at the end of the rein now

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millitiger said:
Photographic evidence of us trotting and me staying on 😂
Had a lovely ride this morning, really free moving and forward without being chased and we managed riding trot too without any shapes.

I think yesterday was just a blip for no particular reason.
What is nice, he is so much easier and nicer to ride at home than he was at the breaking yard- more naturally forward and not so set in his mouth. Still nowhere near a contact but I can feel softness at the end of the rein now

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He is gorgeous 😍
 
Thought I would move in here to an appropriate thread

Went on our first arena hire today, aiming to keep everything calm with plenty of time. In my head even if we just loaded that was great and everything else was a plus.

Loaded without any hassle, unloaded without any hassle. Stood being nosy but not unduly bothered about being somewhere new in the wind. Tacked up without fidgeting. Took a while to get on as he was busy gawking at everything and kept moving away from the block but with a bit if perseverance and patience he stood still and I got on unassisted. Then my friends joined late and he coped very well with extra horses coming in and “worked” independently. Then went for a little hack down to road with everyone to “cool off”, we only did 10 mins of walk and trot.

I also think we’ve cracked some of the contact issues. I massaged a knot out of his back on Thursday (qualified equine massage therapist) and he was much happier in walk and once he was forward in trot he was much better there too.

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Managed to get out for a 20 minute hack last night on Willow with hubby on foot. Purposefully chose to go out at 7pm thinking it would be quiet as wanted to go a new direction, obviously we met what felt like a million cars, including one that sounded like a tractor. Dived into a few driveways to give her plenty of space and she coped well.

Tonight I rode and led from the mostly retired 14hh pony. So, all in all, a generally successful weekend getting more out and about.
 
Amara has had a few days off after having the physio . Who found she was tight over the wither, due to the saddle not fitting
So today has been an expensive day , but worth it . She was far more forward and went the best she’s ever gone . Really proud of how she handled all the faffing , especially has she hasn’t been ridden for 10 days .
It’s a very similar one to the one her grannie had . A silly thing , but it made me smile
 
Both of my babies have now achieved 2nd gear loose in the arena 🥳
Enya is just a natural- she’s very balanced and responsive and she would be easy to get carried away with as she finds it very easy. The mule is a bit more tricky and our steering is limited, but he got the idea enough that I braved a trot and it was surprisingly good!
Hacking next week and then both will be turned away until next Spring, but I’m delighted with how they have taken to ridden life

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After Myka got curious about tack instead of terrified of it, I gave her 3 days off then brought her back in today to tack up. No fear evident! Hurrah. I feel like we are back where we were before saddle-gate. It took forever then all of a sudden seems not to be an issue anymore. Joe is coming a week tomorrow and I plan to ride then. For the first time since she decked my trainer in June. I am nervous but I just need to get on with it now. She behaved as she did for a reason. That's now been fixed. So nothing to worry about... honest guv.

Here she is looking very beautiful. I left her alone for a few seconds to fetch the tack from the car and she hooned around for a while. Not sure why - she doesn't nornally. But I guess she was feeling lively!

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TheMule said:
Both of my babies have now achieved 2nd gear loose in the arena 🥳
Enya is just a natural- she’s very balanced and responsive and she would be easy to get carried away with as she finds it very easy. The mule is a bit more tricky and our steering is limited, but he got the idea enough that I braved a trot and it was surprisingly good!
Hacking next week and then both will be turned away until next Spring, but I’m delighted with how they have taken to ridden life

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Your mule is very cool .. but Enya is just stunning, such a lovely model
 
TheMule said:
Thank you- I am very excited about her! Thankfully the loss of the eye doesn’t seem to have adversely affected her, and if she won’t do the eventing job I think she will do dressage pretty well to a reasonable level 🤞
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That’s brilliant news . I do think being homebred helps . The trust is there, from your photos she looks like she has plenty of movement for dressage
 
I might get to visit on Thursday but had a little update to say that Aspen is in, and has remembered his halter and lead training etc and ground work is progressing nicely and today he was introduced to having a pad on his back for the first time. Some initial wariness but quite happy with it by the end.
 
All going ok here, no more flying dismounts 🤞

Giant ginger has been hacking the last 3 mornings, learning about life and gaining some self confidence.

Pony is just the cutest! His hacking is fast outgrowing the village so I'll need to venture off down the lanes soon, out into the country.
And he has been in the arena again this week, the hotter than Hades act is disappearing and we're making good progress on trotting and turning and even a teeny bit of bend.
I couldn't look much happier with him this morning 😂
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Really enjoying everyone's updates and progress 😀

Not a lot going on with mine, work has been busy and it's still dark by 6pm so pony has been taking it easy. We do some ground work and go for walks when we can. Planning some float training in the coming week to prepare for his trip to the trainers.

Working on suppleness and balance, his right side is stiffer and it has helped so much.

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Feeling over the moon right now . I’ve just had my first hack on Amara . She was rock solid , even faced with a tractor and slurry tank , then a truck with a rattley trailer. It’s amazing what more you can see when you are on a tall one . Had a good nosey over hedges 🤣IMG_9994.jpegIMG_9993.jpeg
 
Still not on. Could care less about the bear, even with legs lengthened by stuffing sandbags and a cardboard spine for the bear. At least we know he is desensitised to stuffed animals should I ever take him to a carnival 🤷‍♀️

So back to standing on any and everything, waving limbs around and leaning on & over him.
Leaning on him from on other horses etc just everything possible to desensitise him to people being above and doing stuff.
He will now stand next to most farm machinery, logs, silage bales, gates etc. which will hopefully come in useful for getting on out hacking one day.
 
YourValentine said:
Still not on. Could care less about the bear, even with legs lengthened by stuffing sandbags and a cardboard spine for the bear. At least we know he is desensitised to stuffed animals should I ever take him to a carnival 🤷‍♀️

So back to standing on any and everything, waving limbs around and leaning on & over him.
Leaning on him from on other horses etc just everything possible to desensitise him to people being above and doing stuff.
He will now stand next to most farm machinery, logs, silage bales, gates etc. which will hopefully come in useful for getting on out hacking one day.
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Has he gone for rides with the bear on? So it moves and spends more time on his back? We go for hacks around the field then out, ponied from another horse, with bear attached. Person after that.
 
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