Feel disheartened. Herbie.

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LauraWheeler

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After a sucessful few rides with the little fellow i was feeling prity happy about his progress. We had a great hack on Mon but on Tue i hurt my eye while gardening so was unable to ride him on Tue and Wed. Today i felt much better and as we still have Sunshine i thought i'd take him out.
I got him in and tacked him up without a problem. I got on him down on the road and he walked on. We went up the road and turned right. Last time we did this he had a huge paddy but today he was realy good. He did the smallest Nap but didn't stop. I was feeling prity proud of him at this point and was looking forward to a nice ride. We went passed a field of sheep and when we got to the end of the field he just stopped and routed to the spot. He would not move so i had to get off and lead him forwards :(. I got back on and we carried on up the road a short distance up there where some cows in the field and one rather unhelpful one desided to come over and have a look. Herbie walked passed it but once passed he stopped dead ran backwards and treaterned to leap :mad:. I was gutted and quite annoyed i got off and gave him a slap on the shoulder with the whip. (I feel realy guilty now this is the first time i have lost my temper with him and it realy upset him. I'm such a horrid mum :( :( :()
I got back on and we continued up to the bridleway. Once on the bridleway he tried to spin round a couple of times but i stopped him and said " No Herbie, Walk on" and he did.
On a good note we did have about 5 trots although we only managed about 2 strides of canter i was pleased as it's normaly an effort to get him out of walk. :) I also managed to ride him passed the KILLER pig without getting off. So i think he is realy starting to trust me at last. Although just after the KILLER pig we went out on to the road and i heard a tractor coming. I made myself visable to it and asked it to stop. It didn't stop and carried on twords me. Herbie started shaking and tried to spin round. The road he would run out on to is very fast so i got off re assured him and led him past while glairing at the driver and shaking my head. He didn't even stop after i had got off :mad: :mad: :mad:.
Anyway thats it Herbie has taken his three steps back. I knew it would prob happen all my years of doing problem horses/ponies has taught me its always one step forwards three steps back. I'll take him out tom and hope he has lurnt from today, he still can't get away with it. I hope he was just trying it on and will be good again tom.
Sorry this has turned into a bit of an epic but i feel better for having a vent. We'll get there soon. I'm shore thanks for reading if you got this far have a nice drink on me. I'm sorry i've gone on a bit i'll shut up now. :o
 
That's horses for you!! Personally I wouldn't be doing all the off again on again. I sit it out until I get what I'm asking for. Also I'm not a fan of getting off the horse and then using your whip. I know you didn't beat him up but still probably not the right thng to do.
You will get on him tomorrow and he'll be foot perfect. My wb was a nightmare to hack out alone when I first got him. He napped badly and I spent literally hours walking forwards 2 steps and back 3!! Now he never even thinks about it. Doesn't stop him having mad moments though!!
 
Aw, I'm sorry Laura :(

BUT think of the overall progress you two have made! I bet he's a lot better than when you first got him.

((hugs))
 
Mattilda I know what your saying about the getting off and on again. But i have tried everything else you can possibly do with this pony and that is what works. Another this my years of dealing with problem horses is every horse is diffrent. I feel bad for hitting him and i know it wasn't the right thing to do in 6 months i've never hit him once but today i don't know what happened. I'm just such a bad mummy for doing it. Thanks for the advice though :)

Thankyou thelwell_girl. I am trying to focas on how far we've come and todays hack was no where near as bad as he used to be. I just hope tom he's better and we can continu forwards from there. :)
 
Don't be too disheartened... even on a bad day he is showing signs of progress so he's headed in the right direction, even if it's tough getting where you want to go. Even the best horse/rider partnerships have their ups and downs so just keep your chin up and persevere, he really will be worth it all in the end. Don't beat yourself up about the smack, just remember it in the future and it will encourage you to seek other better methods. You're certainly not a bad mummy, in fact Herbie's a lucky boy to have found someone that is generally so patient with him.

On the bright side, it's lovely to hear that you had some successful trots and that he didn't think much of the killer piggy. Shame about the tosspot of a tractor driver but there are lots of unhelpful drivers about, my village is absolutely rammed full of them, no wonder Belle lacks confidence!

Anyway, keep up the good work and don't let a bad day get you down. :)
 
Thankyou hollywoozle. He'll get there in the end. I was just feeling so good about everything then in true horse style it's down to earth with a bump. Hopefuly he'll be better tom and we won't meet the tractor driver again. I've complained about him. The local farm is normaly very good about horses but that was a contractor. I just hope i meet him when i'm on Lucy. She's not scared of tractors so i can just ride streight at him that'll give him a fright. LOL
 
Gosh, I read that post and thought it was quite positive! You survived the Twerp with the Tractor and the Killer Pig!

I know it's not ideal to get on and off but sometimes you just have to take small steps at a time and perhaps soon you will have to do it less and less.

Well done both of you.
 
Dubsie said:
Laura I really don't think it's 3 steps back - your past 2 at least I can think of,maybe 3 posts have been good, positive posts about him = at least 2 or 3 steps forward of where you were last week.
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Thankyou Dubsie. The last few posts have been positive havn't they. :)
I do feel a little better now :D
 
RebelRebel said:
Gosh, I read that post and thought it was quite positive! You survived the Twerp with the Tractor and the Killer Pig!

I know it's not ideal to get on and off but sometimes you just have to take small steps at a time and perhaps soon you will have to do it less and less.

Well done both of you.
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Thankyou. The last few rides i havn't had to get off atall. Hence why i was a little dishartened tonight. But still atleast as you say we servived the other stuff which goes to show he is starting to trust me now. Which i think could be half the battle.
 
Sounds to me you are both doing really well and take each day as it comes,:):) pity about tractor driver, but sometimes they don't see or hear you, if it was a big one, the driver most probablt had his ipod on.:(
 
Thankyou johnrobert. most of the tractor drivers are very good round here but this one was a contractor He deff saw me and he was laughing at me :mad: So where his mates (one was his boss i think) who where in a landrover behind him.
 
Just think of how far you've come overall! There'll always be ups and downs, so think of it more as "3 steps forward, 1 step back" rather than the reverse!

About the getting-off thing, whatever works for you! I've done it myself, and at the beginning, when the pony would plant (or leap sideways or spin) at just about everything we saw on the way, I often found it the least confrontational way to get him past something that frightened him. He seemed to take much greater comfort in being led past something scary, and the next time, usually wouldn't have any problem. With time his confidence has grown enormously, and now, I tend to sit things out rather than dismount. While it's usually considered safer to stay mounted, I think that doesn't necessarily apply to all horses and situations!
 
If it works well for you then I think the dismounting thing is fine, as long as it doesn't happen forever. I'd give it a shot myself if I didn't have a 16.2! That's why I take someone else to do the leading. :D
 
Thanks spookypony and hollywoozle You realy are safer on the ground when it comes to Herbie. If you stand there for to long he just starts leaping, rearing and bucking. I know why people are saying you shouldn't get off but i just do whatever works for the horse i am riding, not what the book tells me to do. :p
 
Thanks. The storys i could tell about other problem horses i have delt with. I once hacket a young hackney round a whole village backwards as it was the only way to make him go. LOL.
I have also played the waiting game for 2hrs atleast. Horses are no fun to play eye spy with. LOL
Like i said it's whatever works for the horse.
Herbie just breaks all the rules :D :D :D :D But i love him that way sometimes I think :p ;) :D
 
Agree with what the others have said- the post doesn't sound as negative as I was expecting based on the title! He's obviously trying to keep you on your toes and isn't 100% ready to lose his "horid" title ;)

Stupid bloody tractor driver!!
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(not the most appropriate smiley to use but I saw it before whilst looking for a muffin one and have been dying to use it!)
 
Thankyou Queenbee87 (that smily made me laugh :D :D) After i posted i re read the post and can see all the positives Like the trotting, riding passed the KILLER pig and surviving the tractor. Afew weeks ago i think i would have died in that situation But bless him he tryed so hard not to panic. I find it hard not to focas on the negative though. I am a little hard on myself and was very upset that i smacked him. Although i don't think any harm was done, dosn't make it right though :(
 
People do a lot worse than give their horse a tap on their shoulder! I'm sure he doesn't think any worse of you for it..... as long as he still got his dinner tonight I don't think it will have scarred him for life :D

Remember, you know your horse better than anyone on this forum and are therefore most likely to know the best way to deal with him in any given situation. I would rather get off a horse and ensure his, and my own safety than stay on and risk ending up on a horse in a blind panic on a busy road!

(I also like this one....
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)
 
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Queenbee87 said:
People do a lot worse than give their horse a tap on their shoulder! I'm sure he doesn't think any worse of you for it..... as long as he still got his dinner tonight I don't think it will have scarred him for life :D
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Ofcourse he got his dinner He has to have his rigcalm especaly when he's naughty. LOL.
I understand why people say don't get off and as you say they don't know me or how expereanced i am. They are only trying to help.
As for the tap on the shoulder alot of people told me to just beat him through his naughtyness that would have scarred him for life i think you are right he will survive.

P.s that one made me laugh to. Wish i had fun smilys i just have the boring ones :p :( :(
 
Here's a link to them- click on the one you like and copy and paste the text (with the bits) It is currently on the "happy" page as that's what you should be (if it was a Friday I would put it on the "food page" as that contains wine but I don't advocate drinking on a school night ;))

[url]http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php?wahl=0&ziel=froehlich[/url]
 
How about this on a school night
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Had a look at the angry ones heres what i could do to the tractor driver
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Ohhh i like these smilys
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Thanks i'll have to remember these.
 
Hours of fun! You will find yourself using them inappropriately when you find one you like (obviously I've never done that.... :D) I've saved the website as one of my favourites *makes mental note to clear favourites from work laptop when it's time for it to be renewed next year*
 
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