Haflinger taught the wrong things?

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SarabiTheHedgehog

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My stable recently purchased a new Haflinger horse. He is okay in stable but there is a problem... In his previous home, he was taught to do the wrong thing. Bless his heart, he is trying.

In the school, his stubbornness is extreme. I have reasonably strong legs and even I need to give him a tap on the shoulder. (It's not unlikely that he will give a buck - he does not appreciate being told what to do.) This is just to get him to trot in the warm up. After that, transitions to walk to trot, trot to halt so on, are all perfectly good! Cantering... Not so much... Ombre (The horse.) Jumps into his canter, I think he must get confused or something? He is always on the wrong lead and therefore immediately brings himself back to trot, he knows he does it wrong. On occasion, you are lucky to get a 4 stride canter on the correct lead, on a very rare day.. He will also pull his muzzle down. We are trying to tap him on the shoulder for that but he only bucks, any different techniques?

He is only 7 years old and already been ruined! I have agreed to loan him so me and Ombre can try and sort things out. We already have a very strong bond and we do a lot of horsemanship. He trusts me a lot and so doesn't buck anymore because he listens to me. But I'm still stuck on his canter leads, nose to the floor, jumping into his canter? He has done one jump with me over a couple weeks of me loaning him. (I know, if his flatwork isn't great, I shouldn't be jumping him but it was just to see what he jump was like.) He has great potential and very scopey. He is stabled in a riding school so It would be best to do things quickly, but I am willing to be working on him for years, he's only young. Only few people and instructors are able to ride him because they get so frustrated - it's not his fault. Also, I have been told that he is much better on hacks but he gets too excited when he sees grass, bucking excited, any ways to solve that?

Thanks, any help is appreciated!
 
Was he recently imported? I know a few people who had trouble with haffys and in every case the pony had been used for driving, imported to the UK and then was quickly backed before selling as a riding horse. Due to this they were much greener under saddle than their age would suggest and all had issues with cantering to begin with. They did come right with correct schooling.
 
Cantering on the wrong lead can be a sign of immaturity and imbalance in a young horse or a sign of pain and problems. Was he vetted? I would get the vet out to give him the all clear before doing anything else.

What is he like of the lunge? Can he pick up and maintain the right lead? If yes, then you also need to think about your position and how to help him balance.

Can I ask why do you tap him on the shoulder? Gentle leg aid, strong leg aid, tap behind saddle is the usual approach to get a horse more responsive.
 
Faracat said:
Was he recently imported? I know a few people who had trouble with haffys and in every case the pony had been used for driving, imported to the UK and then was quickly backed before selling as a riding horse. Due to this they were much greener under saddle than their age would suggest and all had issues with cantering to begin with. They did come right with correct schooling.
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No, he has never been used for driving before and hasn't travelled a large distance to arrive at our stable. It could be though, I don't think he was properly broken either, he is a little cold backed.
 
Booboos said:
Cantering on the wrong lead can be a sign of immaturity and imbalance in a young horse or a sign of pain and problems. Was he vetted? I would get the vet out to give him the all clear before doing anything else.

What is he like of the lunge? Can he pick up and maintain the right lead? If yes, then you also need to think about your position and how to help him balance.

Can I ask why do you tap him on the shoulder? Gentle leg aid, strong leg aid, tap behind saddle is the usual approach to get a horse more responsive.
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He was vetted when he arrived. We're not allowed to use them under saddle if they're not, the vet said he was in perfect condition for a haffy.

He's never been lunged before, currently we're trying to get him more comfortable on it and he can walk and trot very nicely. When we ask him to canter he just wont, out schools are quite large so he goes into the first stage of gallop rather than canter.

I've always been told to, when I was learning to ride all the horses hated being tapped behind the saddle, one of them galloped in a circle every time I did. Just a habit I got into, but I will try it. I can't be gentle with him except with my hands or you just will not trot. He's not in a bit in the moment either, if that helps? His mouth is quite sensitive.
 
SarabiTheHedgehog said:
I don't think he was properly broken either, he is a little cold backed.
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Cold backed is nothing to do with being broken properly or not. It means that the horse has an issue somewhere, possibly pain, maybe a saddle the doesn't fit properly or something else. I wonder if his reluctance to work forwards and his issues cantering are related to the 'cold back'?
 
I have to agree with this - cold backed means his back hurts for some reason. I would look into his back a bit more (I mean get the vet out again).

I would tap a horse on the shoulder if it was falling out from that shoulder and not listening to other aids. I would use the whip behind the saddle to get the horse moving forwards. If he runs off as a result, I would allow with the hands, give him a pat for going forward and stop him gently after a circuit or two of the school.

It does sound like he doesn't know much. Perhaps it's worth going back to complete basics. Can he long rein?
 
Sounds like he might lack the strength and co-ordination to strike off correctly - which is why he jumps into canter. Not necessarily that he has been ruined. Haffies are big boned and he's only 7. (And notoriously stubborn but that is another story!) If you watch him in the field can he canter there? I presume he can. If he can't then you have a medical problem of some form. As other posters have said - back to basics and build the musculature he needs to strike off correctly. If he bucks in response to the correct application of a whip then that too needs to be addressed. But if he bucks in protest to misuse of the whip then fair enough!
 
I am a Haffy owner and I have found they are VERY sensitive little horses.

If you haven't already, I'd have the back and saddle checked before riding again. I'd then go right back to basics and start from scratch very slowly. Haffies are slow to mature mentally as well as physically and mine only becomes stubborn if his saddle doesn't feel quite right. Mine is 13 and still struggles with his balance sometimes. You have to appreciate they are basically big strong, heavy horses on little pony legs! Please listen to what he is trying to tell you and you don't want a Haffy with a grudge!
 
It is worth remembering once you have done all the back checks etc and are back working on canter transitions that there are 14 different ways of asking for canter. I have found with my young ISH who had no idea of how to canter let alone get the right leg that I have had to try lots of different aids to help him to understand. We can now say he is 98% trustworthy on the correct lead but it took alot of playing about with the aids until I found a combination he understood and was happy with.
 
He's probably just having you on, he is a Haflinger after all (Only joking I love them used to have one myself)

Only bit of advice I can give you - my lad always did a bit of a 'jumping into it' canter transition - it never changed, it's more there action if it's what I imagine your describing. As for picking up the right lead, it really helped asking over a pole in the corner of the school and being very very clear. Sunny used to buck too if smacked on the bum/shoulder/anywhere in fact, though a pigeon once sat on his bum in his stable for a good 20 mins so I don't really think he was that sensitive, they are stubborn little so and so's :) lol
 
Its quite possible that he has not been taught much at all rather than not been taught the right things. hafflingers are generally very tolerant and happy to go along with whats wanted so a lot of people will find that they are ok when they are first saddled and bridled and that they then accept a rider without any fuss and learn to hack out without arguing so think that they have done a good enough job of starting them. then when someone comes along and buys them like in the case of yours the big gaps in the education are found and they simply do not understand what the rider wants them to do as they have never been taught and the only way they can let you know is by doing what the one you are riding is doing. if you take him back to basics and teach him as if he was just backed he will be clever enough to learn pretty quickly what you want
 
I didn't mean it like that Faracat, I mean that I think he was broken with a saddle that was too small. He has done back checks but I will inform them and ask if they can be taken again. I know 9 different ways to ask for canter and I will be sure to use all of them and learn the different ways I do not yet know. Although, I had a quick ride on him today and he did canter on the correct lead, so very happy with him for that It was unbelievable, but I will try him with other techniques too. Aha this Is my first haffy I have had to work on, they are very stubborn lol. I am going out to ride him again today so I'll definitely try that as many other people I have read have had successes with that! I do agree that could be very possible. I haven't really backed a horse before or taken them to basics, so that is going to be quite interesting. Thank you everyone by the way, you're all very helpful!
 
As all the others really, make sure his back is ok, and that his saddle fits.

I can appreciate that you are only loaning him, and I'm guessing you are not very old, and it may be hard to persuade his owners/your parents that there may be something wrong with him or his saddle, but they really should be checked. Make sure his back is done by a professional with qualifications, I'd say in this case a physio. It would probably also be beneficial for him to have his teeth done as well.

When you know there is nothing wrong with him, and the saddle fits, you will be able to start working him again. He sounds green, and would probably benifit from going back to basics, as others have suggested. Guessing he's kept at a riding school, so as he belongs to them, get some input from one of the instructors.
 
Thank you very much! I'm currently 17 but I do instruct beginners/intermediate levels. He was checked today again for possible health issues, all good, which is great! I'm starting going back to basics tomorrow or the day after, depends if I'm free, and see how he goes. I have ridden many green horses before so It should be all okay! Yeah I will be talking to my jumping instructor In the next few days as she is experienced in all aspects and she has literally done all there is to do. It might take a while but ah well, what can you do!
 
Haflingers! who'd have 'em?!?!?!? [she says, looking mournfully towards her stable of 6. ]
What's he like on the lunge?

fairly heavily involved with the haf.soc of GB so drop me a pm and we can chat about all this more indepth if you want x
 
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