Fuming - how would you tell the RI ?

Am I to understand that your complaint is that your horse clipped a pole that was on the ground? Is that really something to get so emotional over? I think you may be overreacting massively to be honest. All horses will occasionally knock a trotting pole but I have never known that to have an everlasting effect on the horse, they just may be a little more careful next time.;)
 
No-one is going to ride your horse or train it the way you do because they aren't you. As your RI is helping you out I'd worry about finding something important to get emotional over. Bottom line is if your that upset don't ask her to ride again, if you do ask her to ride again how about letting her have some space (being watched by over protective owner may not be her ideal) to do her job. You trust her or you don't, just make a decision.
 
pip6 said:
No-one is going to ride your horse or train it the way you do because they aren't you. As your RI is helping you out I'd worry about finding something important to get emotional over. Bottom line is if your that upset don't ask her to ride again, if you do ask her to ride again how about letting her have some space (being watched by over protective owner may not be her ideal) to do her job. You trust her or you don't, just make a decision.
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Agree with this. Personally I would not have an issue with it, horses have to learn where to put their feet, sometimes things move. What if you were walking over some branches out hacking?! Now if they had started jumping and frightened her... or were riding her poorly.. then I would totally melt down too but expecting her to step over 2 poles instead of one, well it's not the end of the world. Your little girlie will probably take more time to look next time which won't be a bad thing. She has to take responisibility for her own feet as not everything is always going to be perfect for her.
I wouldn't worry about it :).
 
I must be a terrible horse trainer because I regularly present mine with stuff left over from previous days, sometimes with meticulous forethought about what I want to achieve, but sometimes we just wing it because "it feels like the right time to try it". And normally, when I get that feeling, it works out fine, because it is the right time.

I entirely agree with not setting a horse up to fail, but I don't really see that stepping over two poles rolled together is a major ask.
 
I would expect my youngster to walk over what ever he was presented with pole wise. In schools before if poles have been left on the ground I will ask he walks over them as they should not be seen as a big deal. If he knocks them he needs to learn there's no need to panic. The horse is highly unlikely to injure itself walking over poles like this.
 
This time, yes, I think you are over reacting GW. A RI once set up a grid with bounces for my mare who was being ridden by a friend. The RI put the second to last bounce at three feet, and the last one only half that height. My poor girl was totally confused and tried to jump the last two as one, landing smack down on the last jump breaking the pole which pierced the inside of her thigh. Now THAT was stupid, to set up a grid where the horse's view of the last element was obscured and making it look like a single fence. Yes, I was annoyed, and upset. I didn't say anything at the time, but didn't have that RI here again as it was not the first time I had questioned her competence, and had been having doubts in any case. Thankfully my girl was okay.
 
Wagtail said:
This time, yes, I think you are over reacting GW. A RI once set up a grid with bounces for my mare who was being ridden by a friend. The RI put the second to last bounce at three feet, and the last one only half that height. My poor girl was totally confused and tried to jump the last two as one, landing smack down on the last jump breaking the pole which pierced the inside of her thigh. Now THAT was stupid, to set up a grid where the horse's view of the last element was obscured and making it look like a single fence. Yes, I was annoyed, and upset. I didn't say anything at the time, but didn't have that RI here again as it was not the first time I had questioned her competence, and had been having doubts in any case. Thankfully my girl was okay.
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Interestingly, Al's instructor used this a few times with them with great success, but she did build it up quite slowly, ending with a bounce of high sided x-poles, stride to a bounce spaced decent spread then smaller upright. It made him think a bit more rather than landing and getting his head up and going for a jolly!

But it was built from a pole on the ground up to the upright so he understood the question.
 
I agree with you JFTD. There actually is a time for winging it too. And how boring would life be if we didn't wing it now and again? And it's not like we're talking about winging it over a left out overnight puissance wall. They were 2 poles together.

I get where you're coming from GW but you have to realise this stems from you're current situation and frustration. You may have thought you but your tongue but actions and voice tone can speak louder than the actual words. Just chill for you and your horse.

Terri
 
You're fuming? I'm spitting with rage that I have just wasted three minutes of my life reading this thread.

But seriously, its a horse, it can cope with stuff like that. Don't wait up for the RI to call and say sorry because there is nothing to be sorry about. Maybe next time the horse will step over cleanly having learned to pick its feet up.
 
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People bring youngsters out hunting! Breaking a leg over 2 poles on the ground... Unlikely

If a horse is molly coddled too much and wrapped up in cotton wool how will it ever learn to look after itself? Get her to school the horse over a few big ditches to get it to find where it's feet are!
 
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