Difference between a naughty horse and a scared horse

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Parkranger

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Maddie has been a bit of a cow the last few days to hack out and hasn't done much work since the winter due to weather/work.

So we went out Mon/Tues and she was being quite silly and spinning etc. I tried a different tac today and everytime she went to spin I made her stop, chillout and then talked to her calmly and she moved on.

Spoke to the yard owner, who's known her for years, and apparently the little girl who owned her never went out on her own on her so I've been telling her off when she's genuinely got a lack of confidence.

Just goes to show that you can get them wrong sometimes - because she can be a bolshy mare on the ground you just assume she's being a trouble maker in the saddle!
 
Well done you. If only they could talk eh?
My big lad unfortunately is bolshy on the ground AND bolshy when I'm on board!!
 
Sounds like you are doing great with her - love and patience wins out in the end every time. Might be a good idea to try a calmer while she gets her confidence up ? otherwise, keep going and the girl'll come good. sm x.
 
well done you.
i reckon this is the most difficult thing with horses, and the key to good horsemanship - telling when a horse is saying "shan't" as opposed to "can't", because the symptoms can be almost identical.
i used to attempt to teach a guy years ago who got it wrong every single flipping time. when his horse was scared he'd yell at it and beat it, and when it was taking the pee he'd pet and cajole it. his instincts were wrong every single flipping time.
i've never tried to straighten out a more confused horse in my life.
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Thing is with Ty you have to coax him but because she's so bolshy on the ground I just assumed she was being naughty!

I've put her on Ostress as of today so the magnesium will hopefully help her a bit.

We're going out jumping next Sunday so hopefully some variation will help.....when she's jumping NOTHING scares her as the adrenaline kicks in!
 
Well done OP
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Everyone told me the Dizz was just being a twit, which is quite possible, but it didn't feel right. Physio and saddler both found issues. Now she may well be having a stroppy moment, but it feels different - it's just stroppy lol.
 
with my horse I can feel instantly whether he is genuinely frightened or just attempting to try it on. When he is scared he goes completely rigid and his neck goes tight,if he's trying it on then he plants but his neck muscles remain relaxed and he is not at all tense underneath me. My horse can also be a bolshy so and so on the ground but alot of it stems from his past and not just from a lack of manners. He is fine with me,its just a lack of confidence in people he doesn't know well enough that he is difficult to handle.
 
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If only they could talk eh?

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Yes, that would be ideal. I have had my mare for 18yrs this July and I can generally tell when she is being a twit and when she is actually scared. Most often she is being a twit, not that i have ridden her regularly for ages now for one reason or another, but I hope to get out on a few gentle hacks and I can sense she will be a twit until she gets her confidence back at hacking alone
 
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