Backing 3/4yr olds

[YourValentine]

Things were going well, I was mounting normally we had walk halt and steering was improving. Unfortunately an incident, 100% not his fault - he jumped saddle alipped a bit scared him so he jumped more - has left me off games for 8 weeks and highlighted that we don't have the facilities needed to bring him on safely, for me or him. So looking at sending him away for a few weeks post Christmas.

Any recommendations for a quiet professional, with a good arena, who is willing to work with a nervous horse who needs his confidence building not bullying into line. SW area, ideally Glos - Wilts.

Have appointment with saddler to check saddle fit and discuss options to avoid future slipping.

 

[kaiserchief]

@YourValentine have you considered Sophie Seymour in Badminton? Alternatively, and I don't know if she has other peoples' horses in for schooling anymore, Holly Norris is excellent.

 

[millitiger]

@YourValentine I'd recommend Vittoria Panizzon if she has space.
Very horse-centric, lots of empathy and I've never seen a yard of more confident, forward thinking horses.
I wish I'd sent giant ginger there tbh but I wanted him closer to home so I could visit him weekly- in hindsight, he'd have been better there which is a little further but I trust Vittoria implicitly.
She has had 2 of mine previously, the first was incredibly tricky and had 'failed' at 2 previous pro yards and been sent home in disgrace. Vittoria got him going so well and confidently in very little time- not with any force but by convincing him it was all good fun and lots of praise.

 

[Asha]

Things were going well, I was mounting normally we had walk halt and steering was improving. Unfortunately an incident, 100% not his fault - he jumped saddle alipped a bit scared him so he jumped more - has left me off games for 8 weeks and highlighted that we don't have the facilities needed to bring him on safely, for me or him. So looking at sending him away for a few weeks post Christmas.

Any recommendations for a quiet professional, with a good arena, who is willing to work with a nervous horse who needs his confidence building not bullying into line. SW area, ideally Glos - Wilts.

Have appointment with saddler to check saddle fit and discuss options to avoid future slipping.

What a pain , hope you feel better soon .

 

[YourValentine]

Thank you for the suggestions, I will contact them both.

 

[millitiger]

Good day today with the boys.

Small pony has mastered the canter transition
We did some cantering earlier this week and I was surprised by a few fly bucks in the transitions! It felt like he couldn't work out how to get into canter, rather than being naughty, so I didn't tell him off but we did quite a few to practice.
He's then had 3 days off and we had a look today and he did 2 perfect strike offs so had a pat and we finished.
He has a little arena hire planned for Sunday.

And, finally back on the giant ginger! £5500 later, with a terrible infection and wind operation, then a field kick, he has had about 3 months off.
I just walked up and down the drive, tomorrow we will venture around the village.

 

[alsxx]

Oh @Asha , they just love a curve ball, hopefully they don't come back. I had 5 or 6 treated on my (at the time) rising 5 year old, and they haven't come back.

Willow is still on barn rest, husband trotted her up yesterday for me and she looks 1-2/10ths lame, now on no pain relief. Stubborn swelling around the fetlock still, so chat with the vet tomorrow I think about what we do from here.

And we are BATTLING pastern dermatitis on her white leg, I am literally chasing it around, one bit clears up and then spreads to an area next to it

 

[Shoei]

Things were going well, I was mounting normally we had walk halt and steering was improving. Unfortunately an incident, 100% not his fault - he jumped saddle alipped a bit scared him so he jumped more - has left me off games for 8 weeks and highlighted that we don't have the facilities needed to bring him on safely, for me or him. So looking at sending him away for a few weeks post Christmas.

Any recommendations for a quiet professional, with a good arena, who is willing to work with a nervous horse who needs his confidence building not bullying into line. SW area, ideally Glos - Wilts.

Have appointment with saddler to check saddle fit and discuss options to avoid future slipping.

Mines been away under similar circumstances but yorkshire so probably too far for you but can highly recommend. Pm me if younlike

 

[millitiger]

Small pony went on his arena hire this morning. Loaded perfectly, travelled well and was very good to tack up when we arrived.

I'm now that knob who turns up with a halter and long line to run a few groundwork exercises before getting on
All non-eventful and then had a lovely relaxed ride. No looking or spooking at any of the jumps, fillers or advertising boards. Practised our canters too, that is still very new but he will show his best Welsh cob ENORMOUS trot instead if he's not ready/sure


Giant ginger went around the village yesterday and, although nothing went wrong, he felt pretty unsure and didn't really seem to relax or gain confidence the further we went.
So today we went back out but this time took my older horse as a nanny and giant ginger thought that was much better!
Even in front, he was definitely more confident knowing my other horse was behind him
So, as I only have 3 weeks until my op, I'll probably just keep him hacking with a nanny so I can then turn him away on a few weeks of good experiences.

 

[YourValentine]

Mines been away under similar circumstances but yorkshire so probably too far for you but can highly recommend. Pm me if younlike

A bit too far, but thank you.

 

[BenvardenRach2]

Ru updates from this weekend.
We had the saddle fitter, he's chunked out, up 2 gullets from August.
Watched a beautiful sunset and trotted around some pole exercises - great success
I could just eat him, he is a cutie!!

 

[cosmic389]

Pony has settled down after a couple of weeks of being nervy and spooky. I've put it down to the effects of spring grass as it started a few days after the herd moved into a new paddock full of spring grass! We are ticking along slowly but making progress. He's doing so well in the arena now, no more drifting or trying to stop at the gate, so schooling sessions have been short and sweet (20mins max).
A few times a week we go hacking on one of the tracks around the agistment, still on property so he can't go anywhere if something does happen. We also ride out with a seasoned older horse once a week and he's much more confident then!

I did have my first fall off him though last week. We were trotting down the lane and he spooked at something and I came off his left shoulder just as I was in the rising phase. It happened so fast and I'm glad he stayed calm and just stood there and looked at me. Got back on and trotted back and forth a bit more and he was fine.

Have our first lesson booked for next week!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Just before having to graduate from this thread, Myka has turned into a Normal Horse . We have w/t/c and (sort of) jump. She hacks solo and in company. She can be spicy but no longer loses the plot. It’s taken a while and I still have to take a deep breath before getting on, anticipating an issue. But she’s not giving me any reasons for doubting her so hopefully my trust in her will carry on growing until that fear dissolves.

Very happy. Wasn’t sure we’d get here at times.

 

[millitiger]

Well done @Ample Prosecco , so pleased your persistence has paid off!

Giant ginger has made great progress at home.
He has been out hacking with his nanny for a few weeks, he's graduated out of the village and happily doing the 50 minute block.
He now pretty much leads all of the hacking, occasionally waiting for his nanny for something but that's getting less and less.
We had one discussion about being in front of my leg last week, that took about 4 minutes if cajoling. Next ride was SUPER! in front of my leg from the off and never dropped behind me, really carrying me forwards, much straighter etc.

So today we ventured into the arena.
When he came back from school in August, he had a mouth like concrete and bronced me off when we went into the arena
I was more confident today as he now feels properly broken (which he didn't when he came home from school), he has a much softer mouth and better connection and I can get my leg on with a nice reaction.
Still super chuffed today to have a really relaxed arena ride, nice trots both ways, ears pricked.
This despite next door having a huge fire going 40m from the arena and a concrete mixing lorry on site.

I feel we've made massive progress in the last 4 weeks, just quietly hacking and building confidence. He's got a way to go to catch up with a lot of 4yros but at 18hh+ I don't think a slower year thus year is necessarily a bad thing.

 

[alsxx]

Lovely updates from everyone, nice to hear of all the good progress being made!

It's turnout day today for Willow her fetlock is still a 'bit of an odd shape' but vet was out on Tues to x ray and nothing untoward, 1/10th lame on trot up so hoping some r&r does the trick and re-evalualte in Spring

Otherwise, she's just been getting lots of pampering, as what else is there to do really!

 

[McGrools]

Update on mine. Cos I think it’s a good learning curve! Firstly, lesson in patience! Which is not my greatest strength
Overheight Connie, gelding. Will be able to say he is 5 at the turn of the new year. And he has needed every bit of that time.
Go to was a bit of a plant, shut down, zone out. Which at least has made him safe to get this far cos it was a freeze response to tension rather than an explosive one,
Which has meant he has been out to many farm rides, fun rides and been very sensible. If a little behind the leg and a pain to load on the way back.
He was zoning out under pressure.esp at the bottom of the trailer ramp and I could see it was his brain that was the issue.
So cue lots of groundwork, then a course of ulcer meds. Omeprazole.
And it appears we have come to life! Which is good and bad. I love a forward ride, but he is a sharp thing,very aware and ready to react to his surroundings. Will scoot forward to any sound behind him,
Loading is progressing, not an issue at home but more coming home. The plant and shut down has gone but we have a bit of dancing around the ramp before a step up, but I am very happy the brain connection is so much better.
so recent issue is that he decided the grass on the lawn was much tastier than the grass in the field and that the ( fragile tbf) post and rail was no barrier to said grass. So after finding him on lawn x3 in quick succession he is now on 24/7 lockdown.
Which I could have taken very badly (desperate call to dealer to see if he could take him asap ) no joy.
Actually I am looking at it as a blessing because now I have to ride him daily and it turns out the consistency is what he and I both need and progress is happening.

 

[BenvardenRach2]

@Ample Prosecco What a lovely update, the reality of the journey with a youngster, so glad you're so happy with her
Really interesting Connie update @McGrools.

I moved Ru, my over height connie, to a new yard this weekend, our old place was amazing and i am sad to leave behind such amazing facilities but it really was so far away so when a space came up here, 5 minutes from home, i had to take it.
The move has timed really well as he will now be having some well deserved time off to process what we have learnt and grow(even more!!)
Really looking forward to just bonding with him and having lots of cuddles and pamper sessions, rather than getting soaked out riding in this hideous weather!

Photo of him in his new stable + our ride last weekend where he went so sweetly, lovely to start his time off after such a positive final (for now) ride

Looking forward to keeping an eye on this thread to see what everyone else is doing with their youngsters over winter

 

[Boulty]

The list of crimes keeps growing… as you may have noticed he’s at that age where everything must go in his mouth. As those who’ve seen my post on another thread may have seen this has included swinging a plastic sledge around however on speaking to my yard owner other casualties stolen from the quad include an equidry type coat that was dropped in the mud, several water bottles, a yard broom and a goddamn hammer that he was merrily swinging around by the handle (note to self keep all sharp objects well away from him!)
What he has not at any point attempted to do is work out how to poo pick after himself!




Will admit I’ve not done super loads with him recently as Xmas stuff has rather gotten in the way.

Playing with tiny bits of being able to move different bits of his body around and slowly starting to get the idea… it’s typically about as straight as a donkey’s hind leg and he’s not quite twigged doing literally just one step at a time but hopefully that will come as he becomes more open to suggestions / stops telling me to shove them where the sun don’t shine!


(Photo nothing to do with training but is cute)

We’ve been out a few more times on our own and things are slowly improving re bus related reactions as long as gob is filled with treats. (He’s still not exactly HAPPY about them but is learning to coexist without losing his mind)

Also went out for our longest walk so far with 3 friends (& think it’s the first time I’ve had him out with a ridden friend).

Relatively well behaved (doesn’t quite understand going up hills atm much prefers coming down them!) and led about half the way around. (Including becoming emergency lead horse when a few of the others went “HELL NO” at an giant inflatable Xmas decoration… before we praise him too much for this I genuinely don’t think he’d actually noticed it as was too busy enquiring about treat possibilities)




Also decided to climb a bank to investigate snacking possibilities… yes he is stood on his line… yes he sorted it out eventually (he does it so often I swear it’s on purpose to stop me being able to interrupt his snacking!)

 

[Noble]

Nothing much has changed as he is just 3 years 8 months old. So a 20 minute hack, one long reining and one in hand session a week for the big Irish one, weather dependant.



He has been pretty amazing, bold and curious. Such a jolly, happy bouncy boy, with the occasional baby tantrum. I couldn't ask for more at the moment.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Brief round up of an eventful year. I got Myka toward the end of 2024 as a 3 yo, and rapidly decided she would not be one for me to back myself! Joe Midgley comes to my yard once a month so I did the groundwork and preparation with his guidance.



She then went to him for 8 weeks March/April. She was far from straightforward but Joe worked his magic and she came round. Progress was neccesarily slow because each new step was a big deal to her, but she was pretty solid at walk and trot. For her, getting her head around having tack strapped to her was by far the biggest issue and that remained a problem throughout her time with Joe. But as long as we followed a slow tacking routine and did pre-flight checks before riding, she coped.




I rode her twice down there and then brought her home. May and June were fab. I was just consolidating what she had learnt with Joe and getting her trot more forward. Introduced her to poles and had her with me at 3 camps - as demo horse for one and just along for the ride at the other 2. Had begun hacking her out too, and she seemed to have turned a significant corner.



I was also having weekly dressage lessons and in June I went on holiday and dropped her off for a week with my dressage trainer. (A PSG rider, List 1 judge and has horses in for schooling regularly). On day 2 Myka erupted and launched her. She felt the saddle looked too wide and it was checked. Not only was it too wide, but the tree had failed and it had bruised her back.

She came home, and once her back had healed we began the slow progress of more or less re-backing her. For a horse who already distrusted saddles, pain from a saddle was the lst thing she needed and so getting her tolerating tack again was a painstaking process.



It took till August for her to feel ready to ride again. Once she was ok in walk and trot I sent her to Joe's protegee Alisha in Sept/Oct for another 8 weeks to progress the ridden work and get her cantering. Once again Myka did things to hger own time-table. She just coudn't be pushed that quickly so came home just beginning to canter, But pleasingly everything else felt super solid. Initially saddles were still viewed with suspicion, but by th time she came back she showed zero concerns about tack. Hurrah!



While there she did an Intro Test and scored 60% with scores from 7.5-4 and lovely comments calling her a 'quality horse with lovely movement'.

I took her from there to Somerford which is close enough for me to be on livery there. We have been there exactly 3 weeks and she has been MEGA. Has not put a foot wrong. I kept her in the tacking up routine for a while but slowly began to skip stpes and she was fine. So hopefully we have finally put that to bed. She is being ridden 5-6 days a week by a both me and a pro who does the firsts and then I repeat those. So we started on the farm ride, just walking. Then introduced trot and canter. The first time I hacked her and the first time I cantered her I literally cried. It's been a jouney! And at times I never thought I'd ride her 'properly'. But that first canter she just popped up into it so sweetly and came back so easily. It was wonderful.





And she has just started JUMPING.

Pics and video on next post as I am limited to 10...

 

[Ample Prosecco]

She popped a small log on the farm ride but said a pretty decisive no to anything bigger, so we took her onto the Tech arena where the jumps are much more graduated in size.

She was super green obviously but willing enough once she understood and began to co-ordinate herself a bit better. This was deffo one for the pro who needed to stay out of her way and let her figure it out!






She has had 2 sessions - started green but finished sweetly on both. I don't want her to have any bad experiences as she is learning, so I am not jumping her myself yet. But I don't think it will be too long.

Video clips of the 2 sessions.

She has had routine physio throughout the year and at our most recent session (this week) the feedback was that she looks and feels fantastic. Muscling well and correctly, back soft and supple, moving well and nothing of concern anywhere. Considering how much the work has ramped in the last 3 months, that is reassuring.

So we have finished the year on a high. It really feels like she has mentally grown up and is now pretty accepting of new experiences. She will always be sharp but my trust in her and in our partnership is growing with every ride. I really hope 2026 is the year we become a team and I feel up to the task of continuing the education of such a special young horse. She's gorgeous inside and out.