BSJA mare now frightened of pole work??

[Elsbells]

I have a lovely mare that came to me in a bit of a state, both in body and partically in mind. She has come on 100%, most of her issues are long forgotten and I can now do anything with her. She trusts me, I love her very much, she is great fun and I am very proud of her. But....the one thing I cannot get her to do any sense is pole work. Someone has suggested that she has had her legs wrapped at some time. She won't even step over a fallen branch on a path!? And when I ride her in the school and try to trot her over a few poles, she goes into jumper mode and seems to want to jump the whole load!! Very unerving for a fat 50 year old like me.
Have any of you guys heard of this wrapping and if so, what do you think would be the best way for me to help her? I am no competition rider, but I just don't like the thought that there is still some little piece of her past that still frightens her and causes her distress.
She had been on 8 dealer yards in 6 months before we found each other
Any ideas would be gratefully received

 

[FestiveBoomBoom]

Maybe walk her in hand over poles in the school first and keep everything nice and calm? Maybe then progress to lunging her over them? Do you jump her or just concentrate on flat work? If it's the latter then maybe just don't work over poles if it's fizzing her up and unnerving you

oh and sorry, not sure what leg wrapping is!!

 

[siennamum]

She could have been rapped, but there's no way of knowing what has happened in her past, how lucky she is to have found you.

Personally I would turn her out with lots of poles on the floor of the arena and leave her with them, then I would lunge her over poles on the floor and then walk her over them until she just settles & sees nothing scary/exciting about them.

Do be careful that she doesn't tread on a pole & twist her lower leg, although it's difficult unless you have flat poles. Apart from that it sounds like it's just a matter of time.

 

[Charlie007]

Poor girl, but it sounds as tho you have done a great job!! Have you tried putting the odd pole here and there ie on the way to the field, and just lead her over? Perhaps once she will walk led over random poles then try leading in the school. Perhaps it could be that she relates the poles in the school to wrapping? I used to know a dealer who did this, he also used hedgehog skins on top of the poles .

 

[Elsbells]

Great!! Thanks!!
I have tried 1 or 2 of the suggestions, which is ongoing and the pole on the way to the field is another great idea which I shall try. No, I don't jump her but if I was any good and asked, I'm sure she would. Then again, she'd give it miles I'm sure She just doesn't want to get anywhere near bless her.
Maybe it is another "just give it time" and I have plenty of that for her

 

[horsevideo]

Poor horse, but glad you are doing so well with her. I worked with a similar horse a while ago. Agree with leaving poles around in the school so she sees them when turned out, maybe put some hay around them to encourage her to approach them. Although she is going over them, I would suggest going back a bit to help her understand that she can approach them calmly without rushing.

Working with poles on the ground is a great idea, but use a lunge line, gloves and wear your hat, and don't position yourself directly in front of her in case she does a sudden jump into you! (Ask me how I know that hurts .. !)

A good start would be to ask her to walk between two poles (in a corridor), she may rush through to start with if she's really scared, so move the poles further apart until she can deal with them, do that till she's happy to walk slowly, halt and step back inside the corridor. Repeat until she is relaxed doing these movements, with the poles only a couple of feet apart. After that, ask her to exit the corridor by stepping over on of the poles obliquely. Continue until she can approach poles ar right angles and cross them calmly.

Also once she is going over poles, practise stopping with two hooves on one side of the pole and two on the other, and then stepping either back or forward - the thing that scares some horses is the pole being underneath them and they rush to get it overwith as quicky as possible! I would only consider her to be ok with poles once she can do this calmly and happily, at a slow walk, with the halt and steps back.

Hope that helps - lucky her to have found you. Good luck.

 

[Morgan123]

poor mare :-( in some sale rings, they get the horses to jump loose by using electric cattle prods (e.g. when you see youngsters jumping massive spreads loose at sales that is sometimes the method), though it's less common with older horses - but unsurprisingly many of them are absolutely phobic about poles and sticks - saw one a t amonty roberts demo. if they rapped her, must have been pretty nasty rapping to get her that terrified, though could be the case. agree the best thing is time, patience and no pressure - plan yourself a target of e.g. walking calmly over a pole on way to field wihtin like six weeks - just don't worry about it. i agree about walking near/between/around poles too for the practice. good luck wiht her, it's nice that she's ended up with someone caring enough to help her, good for you!!

 

[Birker2020]

Yes it used to be quite a common practice amongst show jumpers once upon a time and there are still one or two that continue this practice. Its basically when someone lifts up a pole on a fence at the moment the horse is suspended in the air to encourage the horse to lift its shoulders and thus is forelegs higher. Some people use the show jump pole where other people will use a metal squared sided thin pole balanced over the wings as the noise has more effect. Other 'solutions' have been to stick drawing pins inside boots of horses so if they hit the fence they will be in pain, or to tie hedgehog skins to the actual pole itself to hurt the horse to 'encourage' it to lift its legs up. All total madness and terrible to me, but to some people it makes economic sense I suppose.

 

[brighteyes]

Is it essential she 'does' poles? If it's just in case she meets one, then fair enough, but it could be as simple as overexcitement to jumping and horrid experiences that way.

I'd do the leading over a pole (are coloured poles scarier than rustics?) and going through pole tunnels, turning out in a school littered with them and one between her and food until she is blase about being led around them. Then repeat, with you on the ground and a volunteer perhaps on her back, once poles are absolutely no threat or hold no fear?

I wouldn't ask that last inch if she's never going to need it, TBH.

 

[BBP]

I second the poles in the field/on way to field idea. It may not necessarily be rapping. I groomed for a horse in Canada who had had a crashing fall at a fence, somehow managing to flip a pole straight up in the air so that it smacked him square in the face, almost knocking him out, he was out of it on the floor for minutes. He was terrified of poles or similar after that, very similar to your mare, would either panic and rush, or stop from miles out. It took over a year of very gentle work in hand and under saddle but eventually he was back in the ring and jumping beautifully, so don't give up!

 

[Elsbells]

Thanks to you all for the tips, advise and kind comments. I shall be using them all.

Is it essential she 'does' poles?

She doesn't really need to do pole work maybe that's true, but I am trying to get her to soften up and have also been advised to use pole work by her oesterpath. And of course it would also be nice to get her back to a level where she's confident and happy in any situation. We also think there's a possibility she may of had a bad crash whilst jumping and perhaps that is the reason, who knows? I have traced her owner of 5 years and have spoken to the girls father on the phone and although he was pleased to hear the mare was OK, he has been very gagey about the circumstances of her sale, only saying that Ellie was to careful and that she couldn't take his daughter further? Then he said that they would of liked to of kept her as a brood mare but couldn't afford to? Seeing as she had earned them £1500 in winnings in those few years, she must of been good. I'm left thinking something happened and he hasn't returned my calls even though I have only spoken to him once. It's all very strange and a complete mystery. Ellie will be 9 next month and I have owned her for a year, so she has had quite a life already.
It's good to know that there is a way back for her though.

I'm feeling a lot more positive now and can't wait to crack on with it, so thanks!