End of my tether with my baggage of a mare....

[arwenplusone]

Not impressed.

Went in the school and she was lovely. Nice trot, lovely forward canter - working really nicely and flexing well.
Until a small (horse-eating) pussy cat trotted down the drive… she shot one way. I went the other.
Not a problem in itself - once I'd established that my wrist wasn't actually broken

I jumped back on.

Would she move? Would she heck. Clearly I had got off so she'd finished.

Spent 20 minutes trying to cajole her into moving. Tried circles, reinback, a good wallop (cue some broncking). Eventually lost my patience and got off to lunge her. Got her going forward so got back on again. Same as. Really really resistant to move. So lunged again and then got back on.
After about an hour I managed to get her to do a lap of the school in a forward walk. Had to stop there though as I was late for work.

Honestly, it is SO frustrating. I am so close to losing my rag completely with it.
When she goes forward she is lovely but I just can't see why she stops like this. I can't get into her head to get her over it.

What's also frustrating is that I can't find a decent instructor at the moment to help me through it (my previous RI has said she's helped me all she can...

)

sorry... bit long. Needed a rant!

 

[georgiegirl2]

I swear our two are somehow in this together.....that sounds exactly like my day yesterday

 

[AmyMay]

Just remember, the more 'tricky' they are the more talented their supposed to be

 

[ischa]

may i ask is she fizzy when being ridden cause it might be that she is still green and hasnt got much convidence and needs more edication or it might be her playing up

 

[arwenplusone]

Lol - talent is no good to us if it's rooted to the spot!

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
Lol - talent is no good to us if it's rooted to the spot!

[/ QUOTE ]
You stand more chance of staying on her then though!!!

Take her hunting!

 

[jumpthemoon]

Sounds like a nightmare. I take it you've done all the usual checks and stuff and she hasn't put her back out or anything? Could she have twisted and hurt herself when she spooked at the cat? Mine spooks at the cats - they tend to run up the side of the arena just when I'm approaching

Horse then disappears at a rate of knots!

It's so frustrating - I can imagine you spend ages looking after her and tryng to sort her out - then someone else comes along who hasn't even touched their horse for a week - jumps straight on and off they go!

 

[pagancluf]

Like the reply Amy May - more tricker = more talented.

Given me hope if mine had a decent rider on him then! He is either a slug and pulls himself around the school or jogs for 80% of the time I want to go for a hack?!?

Arwen is she a TB? as I find that once they get spooked they can't seem to put it to one side and worry about things? Maybe this is it. Don't give up though as she looks gorgeous in your sig.

 

[Henny]

my horse is very similar, he will trot around all day, but if you try and do transitions or walk on a loose rein to give him a breather he thinks thats it. I also have a problem of put your leg on he backs off and use a whip he bucks. I am afriad I dont have a real answer but what I am trying to do is when i lunge I do it t he same as I want to school, so he knows schooling is not just walk then trot then canter then stop! His problem is also mental. At least you have stopped on a postive and got her walking

 

[Dogbetty141]

[ QUOTE ]
Like the reply Amy May - more tricker = more talented.

Given me hope if mine had a decent rider on him then! He is either a slug and pulls himself around the school or jogs for 80% of the time I want to go for a hack?!?

Arwen is she a TB? as I find that once they get spooked they can't seem to put it to one side and worry about things? Maybe this is it. Don't give up though as she looks gorgeous in your sig.

[/ QUOTE ]

My horse is a TB and once spooked he is very hard to settle down! He will do eventually but only after about half an hour. In the school on wednesday night i was riding round perfectly normally and had been doing for about 1/2 and hr and then all of a sudden monster came from one corner of the school where the gate is! He did one and then wouldnt go past it again without going really fast! So mines doesnt root to the spot like yours but it does take time to get them right again! I just take him to the spot were they he is scared of and make him stand still for a couple of minutes and that seems to chill him out! Try standing still for a few mins so she can have a look around and see if she does calm down if not try taking her around the yard on her back untill she calm enough! hope that helps

 

[arwenplusone]

[ QUOTE ]
Like the reply Amy May - more tricker = more talented.

Given me hope if mine had a decent rider on him then! He is either a slug and pulls himself around the school or jogs for 80% of the time I want to go for a hack?!?

Arwen is she a TB? as I find that once they get spooked they can't seem to put it to one side and worry about things? Maybe this is it. Don't give up though as she looks gorgeous in your sig.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks

She's not a tb though, she's kwpn. If she was spooky then it would be easier to deal with as I could reassure her. IMO she's just lazy and bl**dy minded!

 

[FigJam]

That sounds so frustrating.

Well done for having the patience (and understanding boss?!) to keep going until you could end on a good note though!

Is it maybe just a really mareish thing combined with being a youngster? I know my girl can wind herself up ridiculously after something happens. All can be well and then *bang*, one small thing happens to spook her and that's it, she's wound up and won't forget about it. (and she's more than old enough to know better!).

It's frustrating and a really viscious circle- the more she gets herself wound up, the more things become scary/spooky/hard to do, so the more she gets wound up and so on.

Sounds like something that would benefit from having a very good (and very patient) instructor help you on a regular basis, good luck finding someone. I'm sure there's someone local on here who could reccomend someone?

 

[ironhorse]

Mine does it too - also a mare, and often as a result of being spooked or asked to do something she's not sure about
(eg last summer - work in the field, as she's normally ridden on a surface of some sort)
Grinding to a halt may be acoompanied by lashing out with her hindlegs or threatening to rear when I try to get her to go.
I also ride her western and she did this in a competition in an arena that was freaking her out. They take no prisoners -altho the judge was sympathetic I got eliminated!
Will she move on if you release the contact as you use your legs - also check that you're not driving down with your seat or moving your legs back as you kick, mares hate this.
Sometimes I find that one good slap gets her going (accompanied by a buck or a big kick out) and then I keep the contact light until she's back in gear again. I have also had to rein back or turn her to the left or right in order to get going although this is not always effective.
If you're really not getting anywhere, an experienced friend with a lunge whip or a handful of arena sand to throw at her quarters can help, but they must be able to apply their 'aid' at the same time as you apply yours.
Once you get going, have a trot and a canter, but stop before she gets tired and make a huge fuss of her. You may need to do this several days in a row before she gets the idea that stopping is not an option.
My mare does it less and less these days and is really pretty brave - some of our shows are in hideously spooky venues. But I think you always have to be a bit prepared for this sort of thing with a mare - they can be very opinionated!

 

[Tia]

Yep that would frustrate me enormously too I'm afraid. I'm not really very tolerant of horses doing stuff like this, on and off, over a long period of time. How long have you had her? It's quite some time now isn't it?

 

[arwenplusone]

Tia - yes, I've had her for about a year now. I'm just getting SO angry with it at the moment because I KNOW she can do the job I want her to do.

She's so bl**dy unpredictable - came off her on Sunday too but got back on and then jumped a lovely 3'6 grid, absolutely foot perfect - I just don't get it.

I am going to have a word with my vet to check out her hormones as she has had problems in the past. But mostly I think I'm just going to have to persevere.

 

[Madam_max]

I would ask about Regumate, seriously. My life is so much easier. We used to argue about going in rivers etc etc. As soon as I put her on it she went straight in. She has had her ovaries checked etc, she's just a moo.

 

[arwenplusone]

[ QUOTE ]
I would ask about Regumate, seriously. My life is so much easier. We used to argue about going in rivers etc etc. As soon as I put her on it she went straight in. She has had her ovaries checked etc, she's just a moo.

[/ QUOTE ]

PMSL - Think my mare might be 'just a moo' as well. Will ask vet!

 

[cavalo branco]

Is she better through the winter? Has this warm weather got them cycling earlier then usual? I had a lovely mare for 6 years - but she was an opinionated baggage and so frustrating. For other reasons, I sold her and got a gelding - bliss!!! He's much easier. Mares are entire, as a trainer kept reminding me!