bucking, rearing, naughtiness...HELP!!

[Hemirjtm]

hiya everyone...I'm looking fo a bit of advice

I've had Hemir over a year, he would buck a couple of times whilst out hacking but i just thought it was cos he was excited, so didn't do anything. We have had his back, teeth, saddle checked...etc. Nothng wrong there.....

Just recently he has started to buck and rear quite a lot...every ride, I can sit through it and he only does it once then we cary on as normal (he gets a smack on the bum if he bucks and on the shoulde if he rears - have always been tought to do it this way.... but if i smack him too hard on his bum i get a bigger buck and get unseated) I havn't fallen off him whilst he was being silly but i'm starting to loose my confidence with him and now put his silliness down to my bad riding. I have got the flu at teh moment and silly me decided i was well enough to ride, he bucked once, reared up 3 or 4 times, and tanked off with me. I ride him in a pelham and still and no brakes today or 2 weeks ago when he was spooked by a quad bike an quad bike... Everything was going really well he was listening, i could get him to do almost anything but in the last month he has become so much of a handful, i feel as though i can't ride.

He gets ridden twice a week, 3 times at most (school hours are longer in france so i don't get time to ride after school). No one else can ride Hemir, mum doesn't like him, and I don't know anyone else who rides round near me. All i can do at the moment is hack, don't have any riding facilities and don't have riding lessons (will be starting soon!). Mum said his 'silliness' could be down to having too much energy and because i don't have the time to ride everyday he has got to do something with his energy, i have had 2 good rides on him since christmas, and both these rides were about 2 hous long, he wasnt silly, no bucks, no rearing, nothing!!!

Could he have too much energy or do you thin that there is another reason for his silliness? I am really worried as keep thinking it is my fault, if it is, what can i do to make it better?

sorry for the long post. I have no confidence at the moment and everything is going wrong... I need some moral support and some explinations for his behaviour, we are going to get his back checked again, and probably his teeth.

When this is over i will be a very happy person!!

so, is it becausehe has got to much energy or is there something wong or is it something i am doing??

If you ahve got this far...thankyou for reading all of it
xox

ps: my mum noticed today when we were cantering that he doesn't canter straight... he canters off to the left (sorry cant explain it properly), she said it kind-of looks like shoulders in but in canter, coud this be my position? all these problems and i thought we had solved everything (or almost everthing!). Oh yer and this morning he wouldn't pick up his off hind...... PLEASE help me, i'm loosing control of my mind, i have things buzzing everywhere and all i can think off is the worst....

xox

confuzzled.com

 

[spike123]

I would think that the shoulders carried to the left would indicate either being ridden with a shorter left rein or from what you have said about him reluctant to pick up a leg as well as the bending to the inside would indicate some kind of discomfort which could well be down to soreness in his muscles somewhere.Can you get hold of a good equine physio to take a look as they often pick up what a vet will miss.
With regard to the amount of exercise he is getting it may be he needs more but you need to look at everything,ie does he live in or out,what is he fed?Do you have anywhere you could lunge him if you can't ride or could you lunge him before you ride to get rid of any excess energy first?

 

[Hemirjtm]

equine physio: um not sure how i would go around finding one of them but the vet is an osteopath(sp!), will have a look in the yellow pages...etc but it's a little difficult in france when you don't know anyone else with horses!! Will check out the riding stables and see if they can reccomend anyone.

exercice: thats what mum thinks (too much energy) but i have nowhere i can lunge him (if i did mum would do that during the day while i'm a t school). She has said she may hav a go at riding him once a week which will mean he will be ridden 4 times a week, and the sun is setting later so hopefully will be able to start riding more. Mum doesn't trust him, which is why she doesn't like riding him....

lives out but has no grass, and field a little small for 3 horses, gets hay morning, early afternoon, and evening...feed: 'fibergy' one scoop, a small handfull of sugar beet, something called 'luzerne' - grass based with vitamins it it, oil, garlic, biotin, carrots and apples.

 

[mrdarcy]

Poor you... try not to put yourself down. I'm sure it's not the fault of your riding - we all go through bad patches with our horses.

Everyone seems to be complaining of horses behaviour getting worse at the moment - including both mine! Maybe they can sense spring is coming and they're getting a bit giddy. Or maybe the spring grass is starting to grow (it's been so mild apart from last few days) so there's more sugar in the grass they're eating - hence more silly energy.

I'm sure his behaviour will improve again soon. In the meantime I would stop feeding sugar beet - some horses just can't tolerate it and sends them doolally. Also carrots and apples can have fizzy effects on some horses (again down to sugar content) so cut them out too. If he's not doing much work he'll manage perfectly well on what he's eating in the field and the hay you supplement it with.

Out hacking when you start to feel him tense up then put him in shoulder-in... and concentrate on riding him forwards in shoulder-in. This gives you control of his shoulders and feet which should take his mind off whatever is alarming him.

Re the pelham - are you riding with one rein and couplings? If you can ride with two reins then you'll have more chance of stopping him when he tanks off as you can have a proper feel down the curb rein. Or you could try a different bit - the Myler Combination seems to stop most horses in their tracks and you only need one rein so less fiddly than a pelham.

Once you start having riding lessons I'm sure you'll quickly regain your confidence. Try to remember to breath when you're out hacking - it'll help you stay relaxed... you could even sing to yourself. The more relaxed you stay the more he will stay relaxed too