Ever had an awkward one turn out good?

[georgiegirl]

I honestly feel like its going to be forever before we get twig eventing

the heartbreaking thing is she LOOKS like a class event horse and MOVES like one but unfortunately has the attitude of a bloody mule.

Shes only 5 so i realise we have all the time in the world yet but at the same time shes really stopping herself from developing into a very talented young horse.

Dressage is fine - shes going out winning prelim with 65% plus and is ready to go novice. We have done very little jumping but this is where she starts to show her 'mareish' stubborn side. Put simply if twig does not want to go - she wont. No amount of growling, kicking or smacking will make any difference. Did some sj at home last night. 3ft spread - no problem!, 2 ft cross pole, plant, put ears back and stand on back legs. I really cannot understand her. We have had the vet, dentist, saddle fitter, chiro - all ok. Although digging up her past it seems the reason she never made the racetrack is because she would get halfway up the gallops and throw the towel in.

My only idea is to take her hunting this winter - will either make or break her. Just so frustrating as I've never had such a talented but stubborn youngster!

 

[madhector]

Yes, well I have an awkward one, not sure he has turned out good yet though!

Seriously, J is probably the the trickiest horse I have produced and have gone through phases of thinking we would never get there, but things are slowly coming together, will be a couple of seasons before he starts getting the results I know he can, but I figure he may as well get out there competing in the mean time, and he has come on so much quicker as a result.

 

[Hattikins]

YUP! Hattie is a classic example of an awkward one *hopefully* turned good!

as a 4 turning 5 yr old we got her to do decent dressage, her SJing to discovery level was absolutely fine but her XC was diabolical! she would just plant and shut down 6 strides out from a fence and no amount of anything would get her to move at all! let alone get over a fence! and bear in mind im talking 2foot XC fences!! One evening it took us 3hours to get her into a water jump!she just stood 6inches from the waters edge and planted there in the same spot for 3hours, we tried lunge whips waved from behind trees behind her! i tried leading her in, Mum tried leading her in, my trainer got on her horse bareback and gave her a lead, she still wouldnt budge. Eventually (it was getting dark by now!) mum waded into the water in her deck shoes holding a hay net and i led her in in my boots and chaps!

she wandered straight in! and having led her through a few other water complexes since then (when she was still a just 5yr old) she's fine with water.

Last season she won 3intros with me on the trot! and after a couple of rider mishaps at Pre Novice, Hatts finished with a 2nd in the S of E PN. She went lame in Feb having pulled a muscle in her bottom XC schooling. Came back into ridden work at the end of June, didnt take her XC schooling before her first event (intro) two weeks ago - which she won! shock horror!

and then she went out this weekend and won the PN at Firle!! So yes so far i would say its very possible to turn an awkward good!!

Just keep persevering!

 

[carthorse]

Well ,we bred Penfold and never evented him because he would not go near a ditch. We went to loads of pros but they all gave up on him and my daughter evented a friend's horse so we didn't worry too much. Then her friend's horse got injured and we went to Nigel Taylor for help , he was great and we have never looked back .
Find the right pro and send your horse for some intensive training or ,like us , go on a two day course.

 

[georgiegirl]

she sounds so like my mare!!!!!

Its all well and good people saying kick, or give her a smack she wont bloody budge! Some days shes fine other days shes a complete nightmare. This also relates to her trailer loading which i think is an extension of her nappyness - some days straight in, but the worst occasion was having to stable overnight somewhere and go for her the next day.

anyone think hunting her might help?

 

[SAMgirl]

IME Sometimes with the mares the most severe napping can stem from a lack of confidence. Generally because a gelding will wibble all over, be spooky and generally a bit of a pillock if he's not confident - you throw him some slack and build up his confidence slowly. A mare can be the same way out mentally - but I think their mindset being slightly stronger (more independent?) if she isn't sure, she isn't going to tart about like the gelding, shes just not going to go. Mares can come across as very aggressive - rather than eyes on stalks and 'omg, omg, i'm going to die' expression on their face

etc hence it is put down to stubborness, mareish, nappiness etc. I think it's a case of her not wanting to show weakness. You need to spend your time convincing her to go - don't try and bully her into doing something (I'm not suggesting you would!!

) because either a) She won't go at all, because although she initally stopped - if you dive on her case too quickly the fright response which initiated the stop, becomes fight response - and her main concern becomes fighting with her rider. Then even if... b) If she folds, lets you bully her into doing something - you may have won the battle, you won't win the war - take her to it again and she will nap further out!!
My advice to you would be, that because your mare is young, and particularly because the issue is with jumping start by doing really small classes - that she can literally step over, gradually increasing with her confidence. She needs to be taking you to every fence... that way if you do encounter something particularly scary one day you have a full itinerary of aids at your dispense. If you having to ride her to the fences a little bit too much, you have less influence if she does have a wibble.
I do understand that horses can nap, and the planting of ones hooves is eternally frustrating - but IME if a horse is napping due to naughtiness - they do not plant themselves and do the "immovable object" routine - a naughty horse, for the most part will go if you really whollop it - granted it may then try and deposit you elsewhere in the arena, but a horse that lacks confidence will not go no matter what you do to it - I have one of each

Good luck with your mare!!

 

[SAMgirl]

Hattikins - that's really inspiring about your mare!!

 

[Gonetofrance]

Yes, I've a mare story too! I took on a young mare for a friend of mine. The mare had jumped BN and Discovery during the winter with a dealer, and my friend bought despite advice not to. (Overhorsed) She'd thought it funny to let her spook until suddenly it got worse and worse and she wouldn't hack out, just stood up and spun round with her. I sorted it at home, and then I went to support her at a nursery XC, and the mare wouldn't go past the lorry park with her (about a third of the way home).
She entered me in the open class on her to get her round, I got to the same fence and she tried to run past it and stop. I wouldn't let her run out, and kept riding her forward when she planted, so she threw herself on the ground..........

I was still on her, so I just kept riding (I knew it was temper on her part), she got up and went round the course and never looked back. I did another unaf XC on her in which she was third, and then three PNs, in the first she had a stop XC which was entirely my fault

, then two double clears. She then was sold on and wound up doing a 2*, but wasn't clean bred enough to do the time easily, so she retired to the hunting field.
Her rider hadn't been consistent enough or positive enough with her, so she'd lost a bit of confidence, so being a mare, she took control and said 'no'.
She was the bravest little horse I ever sat on, her first tiger trap XC was like flying!! I was really upset that I couldn't keep her.......