Feeling battered and bruised - advice on spinning!

T

tiggybeans

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 November 2011
Messages
91
Location
Deepest, darkest Surrey
Visit site
So. yesterday I take my boy out for a simple pre-regionals outing and, not for the first time, he spun in the working in and had me off.

I then tried to get back on him, with the help of someone holding him, he caught sight of someone riding behind him, spooked again. I fell off, catching my foot in the stirrup, got dragged abit, which spooked him even more so the next thing I feel is his back legs in my stomach.

That was the end of that outing and I am now nursing a pulled muscle and lots of bruising.

So I now have time to think about what to do next. He is a nice sort - 15.2 ISH by a warmblood sire. He is a very laid back character, is easy to do and easy and polite to handle. He is doing very nicely at dressage, albeit at prelim/novice level and I am hoping to take him through the grades as I think he shows the ability.

BUT, every now and again he gets panicky and spins. Often in the warm up when another horse is coming towards us and we are next to the fenceu.

He has also done it at gates and doing gridwork (which i don't do now because of this extreme reaction). He is 8. I have had him for 18 months and have fallen off of him so many times due to this spinning, that I've lost count. It happens so fast, and so unexpectedly that I really stand no chance of staying on.

He is not a nasty horse. And I really don't think he has learnt to get rid of me by doing this. He just panics and his immediate response is to run and because I have no warning - he doesn't seem tense or agitated beforehand - it's difficult to predict when, or if, it will happen.

Has anyone else any experience of this and/or suggestions on how to deal with it.

Thank you for reading so far. I look forward to reading any comments - he has, by the way, had all the teeth, saddle, physio treatments I can think of. He is generally abit tight through his back and poll (l/h) but I'm not sure this is connected.
 
Have you practiced having horses coming towards him? I would do this at home first on the ground and then ridden. Once he is comfortable with that I would do it out somewhere controlled like at a clinic and then at a show. But good luck :) sounds quite frustrating!
 
Contact Jason Webb in Kent and do a session with him. Sounds such a lovely boy in all other aspects, worth spending a little time and money sorting it out once and for all.
 
Thank you both. Someone at my yard mentioned Jason Webb to me this morning, so I think I'll contact him but meanwhile do some practise with others in the school.

I guess this is a lack of confidence on his part but I'm not totally sure how to build his confidence in these situations.

It's annoying, as sometimes he's fine and he's a lovely horse but falling off hurts more when you get older and takes longer to recover from!
 
Mine would do this every time I rode, he hardly does it now I'm not sure you can un teach them something but get a neck strap!!! Mine will give a little warning, heads starts to come up then I know to try and get him very round quickly sit back and hold on!!!! I very rarely fall off now and I think he's realised because I don't fall off its not worth doing.
 
Abit of both really, he would spook, and whip round- he wouldn't gallop off or anything just spin at nothing, very fast people are always amazed how I sit to him, I'm still very friendly with his previous owner who had him 3 months and he had learnt to spin, she would fall off and he would not be asked to do anything scary- now I don't fall off he sees it as a waste of energy unless he's genuinely scared. Don't let it put you off I'm sure you'll come through the other end with a lovely horse !!
 
Wings used to do this with me, and I also rode a horse on work experience who would do the same. The only thing I found worked was to catch him as the spin began and turn him back before he could get completely around and run off the other way. He was so fast that people didn't understand I could stay on him, but it is something you get used to and can learn to anticipate. I found turning him back the way he spun round worked, and he would sometimes do it if properly scared, but it basically stopped after a while as was clearly too much effort when he didn't get away with it.

Hope I've helped, you will learn to anticipate it and should be stopped pretty quickly once you can stay on and stop it from happening :)
 
My mare was very good at spinning and getting me off. She still does it very very occasionally, but a lot less than she used to. The key with her was teaching her to be 100infront of the leg and almost be more scared of the leg than anything that would make her spin!! Also having her really taking the contact down BOTH reins is important, as I know if she goes light on one rein she isn't taking me forward properly and is more likely to do it. Good luck!
 
KatB said:
My mare was very good at spinning and getting me off. She still does it very very occasionally, but a lot less than she used to. The key with her was teaching her to be 100infront of the leg and almost be more scared of the leg than anything that would make her spin!! Also having her really taking the contact down BOTH reins is important, as I know if she goes light on one rein she isn't taking me forward properly and is more likely to do it. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Agree with all of this - it was my boy's favourite trick when he was a youngster (purely as a flight instinct no malice intended - me falling off was merely a by product!!). It happens v v rarely now & is much less severe if it does. Now he thinks 'forwards', backwards is not the first reaction.

Also to add, I found a balance strap really helped - personally found it easier to grab & hold than a neck strap, & if nothing else it helped my confidence knowing that I was more secure.

All the best of luck & hope you're feeling better soon!
 
The horse needs to really be kept between leg and hand, and use a waxy saddle and full seat breeches. Some ride with your mind lessons also really helped make my position more secure. :)
 
Great advice, thanks. It's good to know this is an issue others have worked through.

A balance strap is a great idea - I will try to find one.

I also think that making sure he is off my leg and taking an even contact is sound advice. Yesterday it happened when we were still walking round the warm-up, so I hadn't asked him to do anything and he was on a fairly loose rein. I think I need to cut down on this start to the warm-up, at least at competitions, and get him working and listening sooner.

It defo not a malicious thing - just pure panic when he thinks another horse is coming at him.

Arnica, nurofen and whisky mac are helping greatly! x
 
Lunge him for a while before you get on. Folk tend to vastly underestimate the strength and staying power of horses. You will not ruin his performance by giving him a good sesion before you get on to work him in further. You will however take the edge off his flight fight response. I always find my horses have "joined up"with me after lunging and are far more ameenable.At the moment I am somewhat broken ,and the only way I can safely ride Bob the "nota"cob, is after a good sesion of lunging in his passoa. It is not his fault and he is not being bad, he is just incredibly sharp with his responses..He sees ,reacts but then waits for me. The problem is that his instinctive reactions are so quick that at the moment I would be in trouble.After a lunging sesion ,he transfers his foccus to me , He is far more responsive to my voice and movements and he will start to "mouth" which is a sign of submission. He will always be a lively ride ,but after the lunging ,he is more inclined to follow my cue rather than react "off his own bat" as it were.The lunging is not about tiring him out, it is about advanced horse psychology. I hope some of this makes sense(if not ,just put it down to me falling on my head once too often):D
 
Mike007 said:
Lunge him for a while before you get on. Folk tend to vastly underestimate the strength and staying power of horses. You will not ruin his performance by giving him a good sesion before you get on to work him in further. You will however take the edge off his flight fight response. I always find my horses have "joined up"with me after lunging and are far more ameenable.At the moment I am somewhat broken ,and the only way I can safely ride Bob the "nota"cob, is after a good sesion of lunging in his passoa. It is not his fault and he is not being bad, he is just incredibly sharp with his responses..He sees ,reacts but then waits for me. The problem is that his instinctive reactions are so quick that at the moment I would be in trouble.After a lunging sesion ,he transfers his foccus to me , He is far more responsive to my voice and movements and he will start to "mouth" which is a sign of submission. He will always be a lively ride ,but after the lunging ,he is more inclined to follow my cue rather than react "off his own bat" as it were.The lunging is not about tiring him out, it is about advanced horse psychology. I hope some of this makes sense(if not ,just put it down to me falling on my head once too often):D
Click to expand...

That all makes sense - i will try this at home. His spinning tends to be at competitions though, where you can't usually lunge. The point about getting their focus is a good one though. I think I need to work on this so I get his attention quicker and ask more of him to get his attention.
Hope you mend soon x
 
I think you will find that you can do rather more than you think ,at a competition. One of my pet hates is the way people "warm up" It is as if they are following some set programme laid down by others ,rather than what the individual horse needs.Make it work for you. Get inside your horses head(and dont ever let other people get inside yours:cool:)
 
Oh, so very familiar with spinning! :mad: I get it accompanied by a dropped shoulder, and the result is having fallen off him more than twice as many times, as off all other horses I've ever ridden, combined. One thing that has helped a lot: he always spins in the same direction (to the right, and I come off over the left shoulder). See if yours does that, and it can help you anticipate. :)
 
The old mare span, but wasn't as common as others and fortunately I was normally on a loose rein not concentrating so managed to stay on through sheer fluke and ignorance :D

A balance strap needn't be specialist of expensive - just an old leather stirrup leather round the neck, or for something less obvious for comps is a leather rounding or flash strap attached to the front Dees on the saddle. I personally would be weary of the rstor, but only because I have seen several falls made worse by it but in fairness this is the same for anything!
 
Yes, always to the right - that's predictable. But it seems to have happened before my brain has registered that it is happening, if you know what I mean.

A couple of times I've stayed on and turned him back to the left, but usually the force of the momentum throws me off - particularly if he spins again.

I think I'll try a balance strap or this rs-tor to try to learn to sit to it, when it does happen. 99% of the time he's super, he seems to keep this trick in reserve for special occasions!
 
My balance strap was just a cheapy one from eBay that attached to the D rings (a bit like the air jacket straps do) - dead easy to grab and hold & he never knew I'd changed anything! :-)
 
My mare has a terrible habit of spinning very fast and turning for home, if she wants to go home or gets scared.

I have found by using a neck strap or balance strap clipped to your d rings that this helps a lot. I can anticipate it with my horse so try and be two steps ahead of her and I've had her two years, not always possible to know when she will do it, but usually I can tell. I did a lot of desensitising work with her I.e walking past horses coming towards her and away from her, walking her over tarpaulins and opening and shutting gates on the flat then on board, took a good 6 months worth of training but it really paid off. I also found using a hackamore for hacking works wonders she respects that more, maybe because as riders when we get scared we inadvertidly grip the reins which the horses feel through the mouth, the hackamore seems to work better for her though when hacking.

I think getting some professional help could be a good idea too, I don't doubt your abilities but maybe a professional could see something from the ground that starts the behaviour that you don't know or see.

I do help you recover soon, nothing worse than bad bruising, take it easy for a while and I hope your problem gets solved soon.
 
Try to keep your feet out slightly. It helps counter that initial spin/topple effect. This is far more effective than a ballance strap or neck strap as it widens your base rather than giving you somthing to clutch to up near your c of G . (that is never going to work when they spin)
 
Mike007 said:
Try to keep your feet out slightly. It helps counter that initial spin/topple effect. This is far more effective than a ballance strap or neck strap as it widens your base rather than giving you somthing to clutch to up near your c of G . (that is never going to work when they spin)
Click to expand...

I can second this! It also perhaps explains why my RI said, when I returned to flat-work lessons on other horses after months of riding only the Spooky Pony while going at speed, "You look like you've been out hunting for a few months!" :p :D
 
Mine always goes to the right too. She does a slow mo rear with it tho :rolleyes::o

If I bend her to the left, she doesn't do it. Possibility for the warm up ring with yours. I wouldn't have him on a loose rein ever.
 
Mine does this too. He spins and drops his shoulder. I haven't come off him but its been close and he gives me whiplash! I never work him on a long rein as I have to always have him between leg and hand. If he is being particularly bad I ride him very deep and forward until he shuts up. I also have him really in front of my leg. Mine has the art of waiting until you are in the up bit of rising trot!
 
Laura-Maybe-IV said:
....

I think getting some professional help could be a good idea too, I don't doubt your abilities but maybe a professional could see something from the ground that starts the behaviour that you don't know or see.

.
Click to expand...

Yes. I do wonder if something like this is going on, as it usually happens at competitions rather than at home or having a lesson. Never in the arena, just in the warm-up. It's perhaps at times that I am feeling abit stressed, although I don't feel nervous, maybe he's picking up on something in me when what he needs is reassurance.

I had a lesson in an indoor school a few weeks ago, with about 10 other horses in at the same time riding past and he was fine, so he isn't reallyscared of other horses.

A very experienced rider with good stickability has now offered to ride him for me in a warm up, to see what is going on, so am going to try that. I think your comments about keeping him between hand and leg, flexing to the left and getting straight on with it rather than walking around on a loose rein for a bit are probably the answer.

On friday it was freezing cold and the warm-up arena was frozen solid and I was worried about working him on this surface. I don't want to make excuses for his appalling behaviour, but it wasn't the best of situations!

Thank you all for your helpful comments :)
 
Lunging a horse makes them fitter and faster, so good luck with that.
You need professional help. You know he's going to spin and still come off.
Your overhorsed, he's too sharp for you, by light years.
Get help, get good or get rid.
Don't mean to be blunt but you've been incredibly lucky so far.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top