Daughter rode new horse today....

[anniedoherty]

....and did really well until he put in one of his dead stops from canter. If anyone has any ideas on how to prevent this we would be really grateful. It is a bit annoying to keep ending up on his neck every time we canter. He doesn't give any warning that he is going to stop i.e. by slowing down, he just stops dead.

 

[amzy]

Have you asked the previous owners about this? Perhaps they could shed some light on the matter.

 

[anniedoherty]

Hi, yes I wondered about doing that. It was a dealer though so not sure if they will be able to shed any light on it. Will drop them an e mail now to see what they say! Thanks.

 

[spike123]

could he possibly have a slightly sore back.Some dealers yards put any old saddle on their horses so he may be reacting to a bit of discomfort by stopping suddenly to avoid the pain.

 

[anniedoherty]

I am not sure spike123. I am using one of my own saddles on him because I told the dealer to keep the saddle that he had on when I tried him out since it clearly didn't fit him (or probably any other horse for that matter) so you could be right. I am getting the saddler out in a week's time to get a leather saddle - am using a synthetic one at moment which fits ok but I want a proper leather one.

 

[burtondog]

Does he do these stops when cantering on the lunge as well ?

 

[anniedoherty]

butondog, no, he's fine on the lunge so I suppose that probably does indicate a problem with the saddle. I will see if the saddler can come out at the start of next week instead of the end. I do hope that I haven't accidentally caused him pain because it's the last thing I want to do. I feel guilty now. He seems perfectly happy in walk and trot and I hadn't cantered him on the lunge until yesterday so hadn't put two and two together.

He's not bothered about having his saddle put on but he doesn't like you to get on and he also tenses up when you get off. I thought it was probably because his last saddle didn't fit properly and/or someone in his past had got on and off him roughly.

 

[burtondog]

Hopefully having the saddle checked will solve this problem. If your horse continues to stop in this manner I'd recommend getting your daughter's instructor to canter your horse and see if it still stops - it could possibly be just a communication problem???

 

[JoBo]

Does sound as if it could be pain related, might be worth getting his backed checked as well?

The only other thing I can think of is if someone has given him a treat after cantering and so he thinks he is stands he may get a treat? Long shot but Bodey did this when I first started cantering as I was so happy I was cantering he got a treat every time I stopped, hence him wanting to stop to get a treat.

 

[anniedoherty]

Burtondog - I will definitely ask instructor on Wednesday to canter horse to check if it is "communication" error on mine and daughter's part.

JoBo - I am getting saddler out this week and, if he says current saddle is fine, I will get back person out a.s.a.p. I have spoken to dealer (who obviously only has limited knowledge of horse) and she says she didn't realise that he did this but you never know, he could be doing it because he has been encouraged/allowed to stop after cantering in the past.