Daughter's Pony Shooting off in the school

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mummblesmum

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Daughter who is 13 got new pony five weeks ago. He is 5 yr old reg connie imported from Ireland last year. He is a sharp type which she wanted as she wants to ultimately showjump him - daughter is relatively experienced and has had her own ponies from age 7 (some of which have not been the easiest!).

He has started this new avoidance technique this last week or so in the school where he will be schooling round nicely at trot and then he will fling his head up and shoot off. Now if daughter reacts quick enough she can either circle him or just pull him up and he will carry on as if nothing has happened. If she is not quick enough it escalates to a flat out shoot round the school with fast changes of direction. Up to this point daughter has managed to stay on when he has pit stopped at the school fence or changed direction and then she has managed to do an one rein stop and bring him back. She always carries on what she was doing with him and ends on a good note.

As you can imagine this is knocking her trust/confidence in him as she is expecting him to go at any moment. I really want to nip this in the bud before she ends up losing her confidence. Instructor has not witnessed behaviour yet and has only seen him when he is behaving himself!

He does not do anything (yet) out hacking he is very chilled. Walk, trot and canter. We took him out to a PC jumping rally the other day in an unfamiliar school and he was an angel.

His teeth have been done when we got him and he has had a new saddle fitted.

He is not on any hard feed at all at the moment only turnout all day and in at night with ad lib hay.

He is being ridden 5 days a week. 3 weeknights (when he will have to go in the school for a variety of schooling, jumping and pole work, as its now too dark to hack) and the weekend hacking.

We had a five stage vetting with bloods but I don't think it is anything medical I think he is just testing her because he was fine for the first couple of weeks.

He is ridden in a NS Universal with a flash with no martingale at the moment. If I use the curb strap on the universal he tries to run off but does not always achieve it - but have less control without it.

What would you suggest. He is the perfect pony when he is not shooting off! He is calm on the ground but is a tense sharp type to ride.

Should try a bit change/tack change or perhaps some sort of calmer?

Any suggestions gratefully received.
 
Does he shoot off in any particular direction - ie to the gate, towards the stables or towards other horses? Is he on his own in the school or are there others in there when he shoots off? Does he do it on both reins?
 
If it's the flinging up the head that's enabling him to run off then perhaps consider a market harborough - not to hold his head down but to stop him flinging it up.

Another thing to try, if he's not done it when the instructor's about is to stand in the school with her and get her to circle round you for a while to mimic instructing / lunging.
 
No particular direction. He is usually on his own in the school. He has done it on both reins! Daughter is quite lightweight for a 13 yr old she only weighs 6.5 stone - maybe he is testing her.
 
Thanks Jemima we have never used a market harborough. I have stood in the school that doesn't make any difference I think that is just a coincidence that it has not happened whilst she is watching as he has only started doing this in the last week or so and only had two lessons with her since he has been doing it.
 
My girl does this! Not as dramatically but she'll just decide to 'run away' three strides, then when asked to stop does so immediately and carries on as if nothing happened.

My girl does it purely and simply when she gets bored of schooling! I know when she's going to, and a quick 'no thank you madam' and change of pace or direction is enough to prevent it. When I first got her she was an angel for the first month then started testing me like this. I had no confidence from my old horse and I found it unnerving at first but felt fine as she would stop straightaway when asked. In the end I had to take charge and really ride her forward, and now she rarely bothers when I am riding but will thoroughly enjoy herself with my two more nervous friends. It's a testament to how safe she feels that they both love riding her!

I'd suggest a lesson with a good instructor and work on keeping this pony's mind active, bearing in mind the usual health check (tack, teeth etc) advice which is a given on here.
 
SadKen said:
My girl does this! Not as dramatically but she'll just decide to 'run away' three strides, then when asked to stop does so immediately and carries on as if nothing happened.

My girl does it purely and simply when she gets bored of schooling! I know when she's going to, and a quick 'no thank you madam' and change of pace or direction is enough to prevent it. When I first got her she was an angel for the first month then started testing me like this. I had no confidence from my old horse and I found it unnerving at first but felt fine as she would stop straightaway when asked. In the end I had to take charge and really ride her forward, and now she rarely bothers when I am riding but will thoroughly enjoy herself with my two more nervous friends. It's a testament to how safe she feels that they both love riding her!

I'd suggest a lesson with a good instructor and work on keeping this pony's mind active, bearing in mind the usual health check (tack, teeth etc) advice which is a given on here.
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I have advised daughter to ride him with more leg as he is a very sensitive pony anyway. She has been riding him more forward and trying not to hand on to his front end which is difficult when you are anticipating that he may run off. It would not bother her if she knew she could definitely stop him going into a full blown episode. When she manages to catch him before he takes actually flight she will usually ride him in a small circle and carry on. But sometimes she is not quick enough and he full on ******* off and it takes a lot more then to bring him back!
 
ozpoz said:
The words"new saddle fitted" are ringing alarm bells for me here.
Hope you find the cause op.
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He had the saddle fitted when we got him. He did not come with tack. I will bear this in mind but then why then does he not do it when out for an hour or two's hack and when he goes out somewhere else (i.e. lesson, or PC rally) when his mind is occupied?

We have tried not just purely schooling and putting up a small cross pole and some trotting poles etc to take his mind off "boring" schooling but this didn't help.
 
Really would have the saddle checked again. Any pinching etc from the saddle is far more likely to occur in the school because of all the twists and turns. Hacking is far more a straight line exercise.
 
I'd suggest he's testing the boundaries, maybe a tad bored in the school - you say he's not done it out and about, so I'd imagine out hacking or in a PC rally he's plenty of new stuff to look at/take in/occupy him while also listening to your daughter. In which case I'd get her to do loads of transitions as soon as she gets in the school, lots of those and changes of direction to keep him listening to her, as opposed to mind wandering and him debating about whether to try taking off with her/getting her off. (we've got a mare a bit like this, will spook at the plant that pokes through the fence if allowed the time/space to whereas if you keep her brain engaged with transitions to keep her attention she 'forgets' to spook. She also does it out hacking from time to time, but will 'forget' to spook at the most scary of things if she's got her brain focussed on something else, same with loading she refuses to go on if you do not have the lunge lines out/absentmindedly expect her to just walk on whereas if you wave the lunge lines about so she knows you have them out and ready she walks straight on as though she doesn't need you to have them there and ready at all!)

She might also consider kicking him on again and making him keep going at a canter once she's regained control - and then keeping that pace till long after he tires, so he learns that if he wants to wiz off he will have to keep going till she says he can rest. (my daughter had a pony found PC rallies too much fun and would take off - so he was sent off to canter round and round in the corner of the field and was kept going till he was pleading to stop. Stopped doing it pretty rapidly after that, as he discovered wizzing off = too much like hard work.)
 
I'd also say that he's still pretty young and green, and may not have done much in the way of schooling (if any) in Ireland. He's clearly a forward thinking pony, who needs to be occupied and busy. I'm no expert but I'd rule out saddle issue, introduce some groundwork particularly long reining, and take a step back from the schooling. It's all very new for him, and he's doing so well in other areas. Take the pressure off, encourage your daughter to relax and have a bit of fun getting to know him on the ground, hacking, popping a few jumps, maybe some fun desensitization stuff with ropes, bags, brollies etc, basically continuing his education while he settles in with you.
What I WOULDN'T do is start tying his head down, introducing stronger bits etc. He's a baby, he needs nurturing and educating, not forcing and fighting. IMO.
 
He sounds bored to me. You need to get this behavior under wraps before it turns into habbit. Could she maybe do less schooling? Does he absolutely have to be ridden 5 times a wk? I know its hard in winter to hack when time and light arnt on your side. I just give mine the winter off besides the odd hack to save them getting stale/sour jst being in the school all the time, alternatively could she make things more fun for him, play games rather than just boring straight schooling?
 
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Landcruiser said:
I'd also say that he's still pretty young and green, and may not have done much in the way of schooling (if any) in Ireland. He's clearly a forward thinking pony, who needs to be occupied and busy. I'm no expert but I'd rule out saddle issue, introduce some groundwork particularly long reining, and take a step back from the schooling. It's all very new for him, and he's doing so well in other areas. Take the pressure off, encourage your daughter to relax and have a bit of fun getting to know him on the ground, hacking, popping a few jumps, maybe some fun desensitization stuff with ropes, bags, brollies etc, basically continuing his education while he settles in with you.
What I WOULDN'T do is start tying his head down, introducing stronger bits etc. He's a baby, he needs nurturing and educating, not forcing and fighting. IMO.
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^^ this is very good advice
 
Landcruiser said:
I'd also say that he's still pretty young and green, and may not have done much in the way of schooling (if any) in Ireland. He's clearly a forward thinking pony, who needs to be occupied and busy. I'm no expert but I'd rule out saddle issue, introduce some groundwork particularly long reining, and take a step back from the schooling. It's all very new for him, and he's doing so well in other areas. Take the pressure off, encourage your daughter to relax and have a bit of fun getting to know him on the ground, hacking, popping a few jumps, maybe some fun desensitization stuff with ropes, bags, brollies etc, basically continuing his education while he settles in with you.
What I WOULDN'T do is start tying his head down, introducing stronger bits etc. He's a baby, he needs nurturing and educating, not forcing and fighting. IMO.
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This.

When I first got my horse, she had a habit of trying to drag me to the gate whenever we turned on a circle and it took me a fair while of kicking her quite hard with my outside leg and carrying my whip in this hand to give her a firm smack every time she did it, for her to learn that this was unacceptable behaviour. She is better now but she can still be a bit hard work to school at times; very much like your boy in the sense that she is a bit of a speed merchant and doesn't like schooling much anyway. I also found that plenty of lessons helped us too.
 
Landcruiser said:
I'd also say that he's still pretty young and green, and may not have done much in the way of schooling (if any) in Ireland. He's clearly a forward thinking pony, who needs to be occupied and busy. I'm no expert but I'd rule out saddle issue, introduce some groundwork particularly long reining, and take a step back from the schooling. It's all very new for him, and he's doing so well in other areas. Take the pressure off, encourage your daughter to relax and have a bit of fun getting to know him on the ground, hacking, popping a few jumps, maybe some fun desensitization stuff with ropes, bags, brollies etc, basically continuing his education while he settles in with you.
What I WOULDN'T do is start tying his head down, introducing stronger bits etc. He's a baby, he needs nurturing and educating, not forcing and fighting. IMO.
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I am in complete agreement with the above post!
Out of curiosity though, I rode a few Connemara's over here in Ireland by the same sire (different mares) that were all very similar to how your daughter's sounds. I wonder if it's the same stallion? If so, I might be able to help a bit more! Feel free to give me a message :)
 
I would check everything and if all is ok, try to vary his workload as much as possible. If it continues, as others have said, I'd keep him going long after he thinks his fun is over. Hopefully realising that it doesn't get him out of working will put a stop to it.
 
Thanks everyone. I agree he definitely doesn't like working in the school so will try to keep him out as much as possible but on the other hand I think DD needs to make sure she doesn't let him get away with it as he seems pretty smart! Also will get saddle checked and back just in case.
 
Have you also got his back looked at? One of ours would be fine for a while then he would stick his head up, charge off, and got worse until he ended up breaking my other halfs wrist (drives trucks - agency worker - time off - not good!) We had a lady out who did thermal imaging, his back showed up white hot, turns out he was a kissing spine case. Not saying this is the case at all with your pony, but our boy passed a thorough vetting - these issues don't always get picked up sadly!
 
I agree that I would keep arena riding to a minimum, do you have a field she can ride him in if it is too dark for hacking?

My best advice would be to invest in some lessons, an experienced eye on the ground will be able to give her coping strategies when he is pushing the boundaries. I expect he will turn out to be a gem, keep things interesting for him :)
 
Lots of good suggestions, but once pain and ill fitting tack are ruled out, I echo the recommendation for a Market Harborough. It's an old fashioned but very useful piece of kit, that prevents the horse from throwing its head up whilst in no way restricting or tying in the front end otherwise. (I'm not a 'gadget' person, as a rule).

If your daughter knows she can cut him off before he starts to tank, then she will gain in confidence and be able to ride him through it more easily.
 
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