Barn sour and very spooky

[welshpony216]

I can live with bucking, bolting, spooking, laziness, unbalencedness, extremely bouncy canters/trots, horses that think they are racehorses...

But I can apsalotly NOT live with barn sour horses.

My pony is quite barn sour, she was quite litterly trotting back to the barn, and I could not control it. At all. I tried the exercise where you circle whenever they get fast, but this made it way worse. So then I tried the exercise where you go back to the barn, and if the horse is out of control, then you go back out and repeat until you get a somewhat controlled round. (then get off and untack) Would this strategy work, or is their a better way?

Also, she is very unusually spooky in the arena. It litterly feels like I am riding a bomb. Her canter outside of the arena is a bit fast, but relaxed. Inside if the arena, it is like a literal gallop, that is impossible to control or even sit to. Outside of the arena, she is spooky, but only if there is a sudden movement or noise. If everything is calm and quiet, then she is very relaxed and happy. (She is even fine when the train comes by) Also, the land around the arena, is kind of odd. There is trees on one one side, that are all near a big huge trench thing. So there is a ton of odd wind noises. would ear plugs or a 'silent ear bonnet' help her focus? She wasn't like this when I tried her 2 years ago in another arena. Nothing 'bad' has ever happened in the arena, and she has been ridden in there 2-5 times a week for the last 2 years, and never settled, even the tiniest degree. Why is this? Anything I could do to get her to relax?

Sorry for all the spelling errors and grammar, and words-that-aren't-words. Double sorry for the confusingness. Feel free to ask questions or clarification. (as always? )

 

[Palindrome]

what do you do in the arena? Have you tried schooling exercices (circles, shoulder in, transitions...) to keep her mind occupied?

 

[ycbm]

Does she get any turnout?
.

 

[LEC]

What happens if you go in the arena in a headcollar and with a rope? Just walking round and standing around chilling giving the odd treat or scratch? Is she still on edge or very chilled. Is there a particular place she is more on edge? What is going on? If very chilled then the issue is under saddle. If on edge then it’s an issue about anxiety. You need to break down the detail more to work out what the issue is.

 

[SmallSteps]

If she’s been unsettled in the arena 2-5 times a week for 2 years, she’s not going to go in and expect to relax. She has a lot of experience reinforcing what a tense and dramatic place that is. Personally I would set the bar super low and show her the arena is unexciting - not staying long enough to get tense and not being boring long enough for her to need to provide her own entertainment.

What you’re trying to achieve in Step One is not a sensible canter around the arena, step one is she stops practising her bad habit.
Go in the arena in walk if that’s the limit of confident, walk around briefly, bit of a leg yield and leave.
Repeat. Repeat. The arena is boring.
Keep it super brief, don’t give her time to look around for the gremlins.
If you can trot sensibly without a spook great do that, if all you can do is get on and get off with no walk then that’s your safe place, do that.
The arena is a safe and super boring space.
Breathe lots, chat, get your heart rate low, work on your position or whatever keeps you mentally occupied but build up so slowly that you also feel bored and relaxed.
It’s not a waste of time even if she’s never misbehaved in walk, you’re not there to test her.
Spend a lot of time leg yielding & getting straight - walk on the quarter line straight, transition up straight, three strides of trot, transition down straight, now we’re walking with a few trot strides. By the time you’ve built back up to canter she‘ll have more balance and focus.

NB all just what I would try given what you wrote, not necessarily advice. I’d also say that any horse that tanks home may need to be a little more tired lol

 

[welshpony216]

sorry for responding so late... computer issues...

In the arena, we do a ton of different size circles, lateral work, and random stepping over poles (she isn't fit enough for real pole work yet) and all kinds of horse agility or whatever you want to call walking over tarps and through pole "mazes". the maximum of time she ever spent in the arena actually doing anything, not just being turned out in there was 20 minutes, the rest of the time is spent either is the field, or on in the woods. on some days, she will be explosive anywhere, and tune me out- especially in the arena. other days, she is focused and calm and 'trotting on a loose rein because I don't care and its sunny out and she finally put that gelding in the other pasture and I had my morning feed 10 minutes early'- but that's only once or twice every few weeks

She is turned out in a large dry lot during the day because she is prone to getting a little chucky (well, she is a pony...) and I cant find any way to keep a grazing muzzle on her. she goes in her stall at night, only in winter though. She is turned out in a pasture for a few hours a day (2-4 hours) but never all day, because one of our senior horses (who can not be ridden) has to be in there for his exercise.

I don't canter now-she is still getting her fittenss back, but the trot is 120 times worse than the canter (should of mentioned that before...) if I ask her to trot a single stride than come back to walk, she will do it, but then the last few moments in the arena, all of a sudden, the aids for asking her for more bend on a circle mean trot, spook, and canter with her head in the air, until i get off- which i don't do, until we can go few meters on a loose rein with out going bananas.

sorry if this is very confusing sounding-watching the news and typing is way harder than it seems!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

She sounds to be a very unhappy horse. I would want to have all the tack and health checks done. I would want her to have much more turnout with a companion/s and overhaul her diet, making sure that she has access to some sort of forage so that she can trickle feed as horses are meant to, no standing around hungry for hours.

 

[welshpony216]

unfortunately, she can not be turned out with anyone, as the others don't like her. She is a very cheerful little girl that goes close to other horses, follows them around and likes to graze next to them, but all the others hate that and kick her and chase her away, but it never stops because she just goes right up next to them again. She seems quite happy in her dry lot though, and continues to be an energetic little pony. I spend as much time with her as possible, and she shares a fence with a percharon gelding who likes her. She gets her hay 5 times a day, and when she is out in her dry lot, it is spread around in 2 piles so she has to walk around a bit.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Is this the pony that was scoped a few months ago, or have I got you/her mixed up with someone else? If so I apologise but if she was, I would think that her behaviour is linked to ulcers. If none were found, maybe consider hindgut ulcers, if ulcers were treated, maybe ask the vet about a repeat treatment.

 

[welshpony216]

she was scoped for ulcers, they found there was a small healing one, and we treated that. I can ask the vet about a repeat treatment, she is coming on Friday to do my senior horses teeth.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

she was scoped for ulcers, they found there was a small healing one, and we treated that. I can ask the vet about a repeat treatment, she is coming on Friday to do my senior horses teeth.

I would also ask about hindgut ulcers/acidosis. She sounds unhappy and there is no obvious management reason for it, except that she doesn't have a companion in her field - could she not go in with the Percheron?

 

[welshpony216]

the pony she runs through fences-so does the percharon

the pony will run through electric/wire fences, but the draft ran through a poorly built wood fence when she was young and now tries it every time she is in a pasture with that kind of fencing. The only kind of fencing she wont run through is electric fencing. I would consider adopting a goat for a companion as she had a bond with a goat, but sadly the goat passed away over the summer.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

the pony she runs through fences-so does the percharon

the pony will run through electric/wire fences, but the draft ran through a poorly built wood fence when she was young and now tries it every time she is in a pasture with that kind of fencing. The only kind of fencing she wont run through is electric fencing. I would consider adopting a goat for a companion as she had a bond with a goat, but sadly the goat passed away over the summer.

So put electric fencing inside a p&r fence and keep the 2 together. A goat is not suitable as the sole companion for a pony. We used to have a mare who shared her stable with a sheep but she went out in the field every day with other horses.

 

[welshpony216]

I'll text BO...