Firewell
Well-Known Member
I took my 5yr old ex-racer to do our first Novice BD today and his 4th ever dressage test.
We got to the venue and he was a little on his toes, however once I got on and started trotting him around he settled really quickly. He went sweetly in the warm-up and I was pleased. We did a canter on each rein which he was a bit tense and a bit behind my leg but OK.
Went in to the arena to do a prelim test first. It was a spooky arena with the back of the buger van right next to the arena fence. It also had big box like markers and a nice scary brown judges box
. He was a bit spooky and tense trotting round but he was a good boy and we started the test well.
It was going good (we were getting 7's) untill our first canter, canter right. He struck off on the wrong leg and then when I corrected him, he did a huge cat leap and buck. Managed to get him back together but the rest of the test was a bit tense for 5's and 6's, I also forgot the test and in left canter pulled up at B instead of E - Doh!
. One of the judges comments was ' 4 - Bucked between K and E lol).
I went back in to the warm up and warmed up for the novice. I thought i'd practice right canter before the next test. He was going really well untill while going around in right canter his neck started to go really stiff and he didnt want to bend to the inside (the right), I tried to get him to bend and he launched himself into the air again in another bucky, leapy fit thing. Again I pulled him up, gave him a telling off and carried on. He cantered fine then on both reins but he felt like he was only just holding it together. His trot work was gorgeous though and he was happy to mooch around on a long rein so it wasn't as if he was in a naughty mood.
I started to think something wasnt right so decided just to play it safe in the novice and not ask him to be so connected, especially in canter. The test went fine, we didn't do the mediums as hes not ready for medium trot yet and I didnt want another 'episode' in the canter. However right canter was very crab like and in left canter I couldnt give and re-take properly because I knew he wanted to leap. He did a beautiful rein back though! Apart from the canter he felt really sweet and wasnt spooky at being inside or anything.
I got my marks back and we got 59% for the first test which I thought more than fair considering what had happened! The judge in her comments had noticed that I couldnt put my leg on to control him as much as I would like because of him being tense, she said he was very attractive though
In the Novice we got 57% which again is to be expected considered we missed out quite a few of the movements and how crab like his right canter was. I was pleased though because he felt mentally calm and capable and its a big ask for a young ex-racer like him so soon in his training.
I've got a video of the warm up but I dont know if I'm allowed to post it because it has other people warming up on it.
Im just a little concerned how he can be so calm and willing and try so hard and then do these random explosions in canter. He doesnt do them to get me off but it is definitly a big over-reaction to something! In my lesson the other day we were practicing 10 metre circles and he really was struggling to bend on the right, we got tough with him and he exploded then as well and that was in trot. He was also swishing his tail a lot more than usual. However the day after he went beautifully?!
Im going with my instinct here and I think somethings wrong. Hes a lovely horse, yes he can have the occasional spin or buck but he is so sweet and laidback and trys so hard. He finds things easy and is so straightforward, it just doesnt make sense for him to be doing this. Its been steadily getting worse over the past couple of months.
Ive also noticed that his saddles are slipping to the right... only very slightly but it got to the point where I thought my stirrup leathers were odd and brought a new pair. His jump saddle sits slightly to the right and so does the dressage saddle. Both saddles are fitted properly. I looked at him the other day and from behind I thought it looked like his pelvis/backend was tipped to the right and that was just with him standing on the yard.
He goes so beautifully though most of the time, really into the contact and soft over his back that its hard to know for definite theres something wrong!
Im taking him to see our osteopath tomorrow, he hasn't seen him for a about 3/4 months. Hopefully he will pick up on something. If not it will have to be the vet. Im also getting the saddler out and the dentist but both of those things have been checked within the last 5 months. If its not those then its young horse tantrums but why would he be SO good and then have a fit and then be OK again??
Hope my golden monkey is ok
We got to the venue and he was a little on his toes, however once I got on and started trotting him around he settled really quickly. He went sweetly in the warm-up and I was pleased. We did a canter on each rein which he was a bit tense and a bit behind my leg but OK.
Went in to the arena to do a prelim test first. It was a spooky arena with the back of the buger van right next to the arena fence. It also had big box like markers and a nice scary brown judges box
. He was a bit spooky and tense trotting round but he was a good boy and we started the test well.It was going good (we were getting 7's) untill our first canter, canter right. He struck off on the wrong leg and then when I corrected him, he did a huge cat leap and buck. Managed to get him back together but the rest of the test was a bit tense for 5's and 6's, I also forgot the test and in left canter pulled up at B instead of E - Doh!
. One of the judges comments was ' 4 - Bucked between K and E lol).I went back in to the warm up and warmed up for the novice. I thought i'd practice right canter before the next test. He was going really well untill while going around in right canter his neck started to go really stiff and he didnt want to bend to the inside (the right), I tried to get him to bend and he launched himself into the air again in another bucky, leapy fit thing. Again I pulled him up, gave him a telling off and carried on. He cantered fine then on both reins but he felt like he was only just holding it together. His trot work was gorgeous though and he was happy to mooch around on a long rein so it wasn't as if he was in a naughty mood.
I started to think something wasnt right so decided just to play it safe in the novice and not ask him to be so connected, especially in canter. The test went fine, we didn't do the mediums as hes not ready for medium trot yet and I didnt want another 'episode' in the canter. However right canter was very crab like and in left canter I couldnt give and re-take properly because I knew he wanted to leap. He did a beautiful rein back though! Apart from the canter he felt really sweet and wasnt spooky at being inside or anything.
I got my marks back and we got 59% for the first test which I thought more than fair considering what had happened! The judge in her comments had noticed that I couldnt put my leg on to control him as much as I would like because of him being tense, she said he was very attractive though
In the Novice we got 57% which again is to be expected considered we missed out quite a few of the movements and how crab like his right canter was. I was pleased though because he felt mentally calm and capable and its a big ask for a young ex-racer like him so soon in his training.
I've got a video of the warm up but I dont know if I'm allowed to post it because it has other people warming up on it.
Im just a little concerned how he can be so calm and willing and try so hard and then do these random explosions in canter. He doesnt do them to get me off but it is definitly a big over-reaction to something! In my lesson the other day we were practicing 10 metre circles and he really was struggling to bend on the right, we got tough with him and he exploded then as well and that was in trot. He was also swishing his tail a lot more than usual. However the day after he went beautifully?!
Im going with my instinct here and I think somethings wrong
. Hes a lovely horse, yes he can have the occasional spin or buck but he is so sweet and laidback and trys so hard. He finds things easy and is so straightforward, it just doesnt make sense for him to be doing this. Its been steadily getting worse over the past couple of months.Ive also noticed that his saddles are slipping to the right... only very slightly but it got to the point where I thought my stirrup leathers were odd and brought a new pair. His jump saddle sits slightly to the right and so does the dressage saddle. Both saddles are fitted properly. I looked at him the other day and from behind I thought it looked like his pelvis/backend was tipped to the right and that was just with him standing on the yard.
He goes so beautifully though most of the time, really into the contact and soft over his back that its hard to know for definite theres something wrong!
Im taking him to see our osteopath tomorrow, he hasn't seen him for a about 3/4 months. Hopefully he will pick up on something. If not it will have to be the vet
. Im also getting the saddler out and the dentist but both of those things have been checked within the last 5 months. If its not those then its young horse tantrums but why would he be SO good and then have a fit and then be OK again??Hope my golden monkey is ok
