laura_nash
Well-Known Member
I've had my horse five years, always kept at the same yard. The hacking there was fairly limited, mostly on quiet roads with just a bit of off-road riding, when we (occasionally) cantered off road had to be on the look out for stock, dog walkers etc. He's a HW traditional cob with a low-set neck, but has always had a surprisingly light mouth, ridden in a "revolver" lozenge snaffle with no martingale / noseband etc. On the odd occasion when he got strong (shooting forwards when frightened etc) a quick upwards tug on one rein always stopped him immediately. He's reasonably well-schooled but does still struggle sometimes with balance in canter in the school. He's usually very responsive to the voice (I loose school him and can stop him from canter on voice aids in the school, not canter to halt but via about 5 strides of trot).
I've just moved him to a new yard which is on a farm and we can ride anywhere (40 acres to play with, yay!). There is a lovely field, uphill with a smooth grass surface, where we have been going to have a proper blast. He is always well-behaved at the start, but at the other end I can't stop.
Twice now we have literally run into the fence / gate at the top, he was slowing down a lot at that point but there was definately contact between head and fence. I can't turn him as there is a steep slope to the right at the top (and another fence to the left). I'm not sure what to do, whether this is just over-excitement at finally getting "released" and allowed to go at full speed (he is certainly excited afterwards!) and will improve once he gets more used to it, or whether I need to look at his tack or doing some specific schooling exercises. The only time so far that he actually listened to me and pulled up when asked we were with a VERY laid-back Cleveland Bay (ex petting / city farm horse), when on our own or with more excitable horses he is apparently oblivious to the rein or voice commands. HELP!
I've just moved him to a new yard which is on a farm and we can ride anywhere (40 acres to play with, yay!). There is a lovely field, uphill with a smooth grass surface, where we have been going to have a proper blast. He is always well-behaved at the start, but at the other end I can't stop.
Twice now we have literally run into the fence / gate at the top, he was slowing down a lot at that point but there was definately contact between head and fence. I can't turn him as there is a steep slope to the right at the top (and another fence to the left). I'm not sure what to do, whether this is just over-excitement at finally getting "released" and allowed to go at full speed (he is certainly excited afterwards!) and will improve once he gets more used to it, or whether I need to look at his tack or doing some specific schooling exercises. The only time so far that he actually listened to me and pulled up when asked we were with a VERY laid-back Cleveland Bay (ex petting / city farm horse), when on our own or with more excitable horses he is apparently oblivious to the rein or voice commands. HELP!