Difficult Horse - HELP

L

Lotty123456

New User
Joined
10 January 2007
Messages
8
Visit site
I have a 14 yr old gelding 14hh appolosa/welsh ponyof cob type. Hes brilliant on the road but when it comes to going in the field hes gone! he bucks, rears and takes off until i fall off. Now when i do eventually come off you would expect him to run but he doesnt he just stand there eating grass! He does this each time i go in the field! Has anyone else had any problems like this if so any suggestions PLEASE!! thankyou!
 
I have seen similar things before, have you had him long, Children on a yard I was on used to go out ang gallop and race and nothing else so whe finally decided to go for a quiet hack the ponies would be out of control, of course it was the ponies fault or so they thought.
 
Maybe you could lunge him in the field first? Then maybe get someone to lunge you on him?!
I'm not sure as have never had to deal with this. Good luck though xx
 
have you tryed lunging him before you get on?? Maybe he thinks of a field as fun playtime and wants be silly a lot of them do play in the feild if i ride my horse in a field he tries to take off but once he realises hes not allowed he calms down! does he do it just even if you are just in work??
 
dont take him in the field!! make sure you always hack out with a safe friend whos horse dosent tank off and flip out as soon as it sees a blade of grass.

do you often gallop/canter through fields? as with some horses this is the worst thing you can do as then whenever they see a field/open space they want to hoon off. I never canter mine in the same place more than once a month.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Don't go in the field??

[/ QUOTE ]

That was my first thought!!

I have a feeling you (the OP) may be getting tense maybe and therefore the horse reacts this way? How many times have you come off? Can you have an instructor ride him in there?
 
great minds
wink.gif
grin.gif
 
had him nearly 2 years but he was in a field for 17 months before due to a downsyndrome rider who couldnt handle him as he was too head strong for her. Hes good as gold on the road and hacking out but when it comes to grass - hes gone!
 
Hmmm, difficult one!!

I have a problem like this before. What you really need to do is:
Lunge him before you take him out so he is a little bit more tired before you take him anywhere.
Then, have appropraite tack on ie martingale to give you something to hold onto - and a body protector.
Take him to the field and `when he wants to go, make him go in very large circles and keep him going for a good while after he wants to stop - he will not appreciate it!! I had to do this day after day after day cos my horse used to do it in the UK in large fields too.

One question though - does he do the same thing when you get back on ??
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have seen similar things before, have you had him long, Children on a yard I was on used to go out ang gallop and race and nothing else so whe finally decided to go for a quiet hack the ponies would be out of control, of course it was the ponies fault or so they thought.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I've seen this before too. Some people on my yard used to gallop and race every single time they touched grass and in the end the ponies became uncontrollable!

Maybe you should just keep him in walk all the time until he has learned that grass doesn't equal bombing about. Although I assumed that you had already tried that from the first post
smile.gif
 
he has to be reconditioned into grass hacking. If you can't walk an entire field then have someone lead yo a few times and forget the cantering.
We have had problem with horses doing silly things in fields or tracks, they know were the cantering spots are, so we reconditioned them by walking only where they would normally have canter. Shouldn't take too long, just switch his brain off, then introduce a slow canter towards the end where he can't tank off, then introdue short canters in different spots.
Maybe.?
 
yes ive had an instructor ride him and the same thing happend unfourtunatly. no i dont gallop though the first field i see, weve managed to walk thorugh a field although that was with alot of difficulty. Yes have ridden with a friend whos pony was brilliant, mine was alrite until he saw the end!
 
When this started to happen to my daughter last year we partitioned off a small section of the field from the gate, using electric fencing. This meant once on grass the pony was more contained and easier to control, once schooled every day in this 'school' area we increased the size of it until half the field. It gave my daughter confidence and that she was in control until both were more settled to venue out further.
 
I had this problem with my very first pony, who had been ridden by a PC boy before I had her so every stretch of grass was a racetrack. At first I fell off every time because I was trying too hard to control her, in the end I just went with it, once she had got it out of her system she was fine for the rest of the ride.

Do it on your terms though, find a safe uphill canter which is long enought to take the wind out of its sails a bit. Don't be afraid to let the pony make the pace, it is probably really sure footed and will be completely safe.
 
Why did in the Indians ride Appolosas - so by the time they were in battle they were thoroughly pissed off.

Appolosas are horrendous - bred for centuries for color. Any horse bred for color is generally shitty! The police don't use them, you see very few compete at a high level, etc -

But to your problem - I would try and long rein him.
 
17 months before due to a downsyndrome rider who couldnt handle him as he was too head strong for her. Hes g

I thought that you meant the horse had downsyndrome?

I am in complete agreement with Weezy and the Watcher. If it was me I, or I would ask a more experienced person, would push the horse forward and make him canter/gallop until he wants to stop. When he wants to stop I would make him canter some more.

He sounds really, really excited – and if you hold him back he is going to get worse. I would make sure that you push him forward and then stop when you are ready too. I would then school him/do whatever in a controlled manner.

My pony was a little bugger in the field – he used to drop his shoulder and screw buck…then bugger off.!!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Any horse bred for color is generally shitty!

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never understood why a colour should affetc a horses temperament? Palominos are evil, chestnut mares are mean etc etc. Don't get it.
confused.gif
It's just a colour..... very
confused.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
My pony was a little bugger in the field – he used to drop his shoulder and screw buck…then bugger off.!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ohh - mine too - I thought I would never stay on her, was 6 months before I learned to stay on (naughty little welsh PB with wayyy too much Valentino in her breeding)
 
Louis can also be a little exuberant out on a hack, if he tanks off with me and it's an open space I turn him onto a big circle and let him go and go until he wants to slow down and then I push him on more and make him continue going until he's v tired! It honestly makes him think twice! Now when he bolts I simple turn him onto a circle and quite instantly he come back to me!
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Any horse bred for color is generally shitty!

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never understood why a colour should affetc a horses temperament? Palominos are evil, chestnut mares are mean etc etc. Don't get it.
confused.gif
It's just a colour..... very
confused.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

If you breed solely for colour it is is easy to breed in faults that if you were breeding for a quality horse, you wouldn't use..if that makes sense.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Any horse bred for color is generally shitty!

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never understood why a colour should affetc a horses temperament? Palominos are evil, chestnut mares are mean etc etc. Don't get it.
confused.gif
It's just a colour..... very
confused.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

If you breed solely for colour it is is easy to breed in faults that if you were breeding for a quality horse, you wouldn't use..if that makes sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly the point - they breed horses to be pretty, rather than on other more important traits.

I personally am not a fan of people who say get a more experienced rider to kick on - the horse obviously wants to have fun, and this will only reinforce the running, and make him fitter. Really do not see the point.
 
I used to have the same problem with my pony, it took a very long time for her to be calm enough to even go into a field, we walk and trot mostly in fields these days but I can canter and gallop, it has to be in the right situation though and we both have to be in the right frame of mind.
Hack out with a quiet horse, have lessons so that you feel more in control, only walk and trot through fields to start off with and only start that when you feel ready, then do short canters, but never in the same place on every ride, it takes a lot of time and effort to break a learned behaviour but it can be done.
 
[ QUOTE ]
chestnut mares are mean etc etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

shocked.gif

Chestnut mares are the BEST!!!!!!
(and not bred for their colour!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top