Hairy ride in the snow... did i make a mistake or was this to be expected..??

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montysmum1

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So.... i have a lovely ex-racer, had him about 3 months, and he's straight out of training, but has been a darling. A little reluctant and nappy out hacking on his own, and lacking basic schooling, but nothing extreme and all within the realms of what I have dealt with before and we're ticking along nicely, making small improvements every ride... until today...

I've never been able to ride out in the snow before as I've always been on a yard which involves road work to get anywhere, but now I can go straight out into woodland, so today I thought I'd give it a go - my slightly backwards Tb, who is normally very laid back and polite turned into a sideways bouncing, leaping monster who kept shooting off with no prompt from me, and being particularly hard to stop!! We were only aiming for a quiet wander in the snow. His ears were forwards, and he didn't actually buck/rear, just leap. I got off him to undo the gate out of the woods (which we narrowly avoided jumping :eek: ), and then got back on to ride him down the track back home, and he was transformed to his normal, slightly backwards self...

Is this normal in the snow?? Or could the extra feed I've been giving him each day to help keep his weight in this cold weather really have altered his behaviour that much?? He's turned out 24/7 with ad lib hay, and is usually ridden 2/3 times a week, but has had about 10 days off due to circumstances...

I apologise if this seems a really daft post, but it really was a complete personality change!
 
I would say that he was probably excited about the snow, being out on his own with the world looking a bit different and probably a bit off his head from no exercise and extra feed.
 
If we had offroad riding I would have probably given it a go :p

Saying that, I have an ottb too, and he was like a mad thing when I put him out in the arena in the snow!
 
Thank you guys!! That makes me feel a lot better :)

I've re-trained over a dozen OTTB's, and never run into any difficulties or serious unexpected moments before, but today really took me by surprise and I started to doubt myself... The older I get the more I question my sanity :cool:

I will take him out again tomorrow and look on this as a learning curve for us both...
 
Me and a friend went riding in the snow yesterday, hers is an extremely well behaved ex racer and mine is a generally well behaved id x tb both of them were the most excited they have ever been culminating in us going for a sedate canter that turned into an eye watering gallop with no breaks!! My horse enjoyed a bit of a leap and a buck which he has never done and some sideways jogging and cantering. Our feeds are the same and they are still getting a lot of turn out so guessing the snow must be exciting. I think they saved all the running for while we were on them though as they couldn't careless when they're turned out in it and just want to eat!!
 
Snow seems to completely blow some horses minds. I'm not even going to try and ride, as Alf is completely barmy at the moment. He jogs out to the field, waving his head around like a stallion, shovels snow with his nose, waits for a millisecond when I take his headcollar off - then clears off across the field like a loon. My office is at the yard, and throughout the day, I can hear him squealing and thundering around.

I wouldn't get on him if you paid me at the moment - I value my life too highly!
 
Mine was naughty in the snow. Thought I'd have a nice trot up the hill and he just bucked, went into a gallop and wasn't keen on stopping. Snow just excites some I guess :)
 
Isaachristmas said:
Me and a friend went riding in the snow yesterday, hers is an extremely well behaved ex racer and mine is a generally well behaved id x tb both of them were the most excited they have ever been culminating in us going for a sedate canter that turned into an eye watering gallop with no breaks!! My horse enjoyed a bit of a leap and a buck which he has never done and some sideways jogging and cantering. Our feeds are the same and they are still getting a lot of turn out so guessing the snow must be exciting. I think they saved all the running for while we were on them though as they couldn't careless when they're turned out in it and just want to eat!!
Click to expand...

Yep - he is not at all bothered in the field - just stands there eating his hay... obviously been saving up all his energy for our ride today :rolleyes:
 
Snow and I would say that little bit of extra feed, and my adopted polecat(he turned up out of the blue) was having lots of fun doing back flips and ski ing along on his belly in front of my terriers driving them mad.:D:D:D
 
We took the Shetland for a walk with the dog to see if it would be suitable for riding. 2 of us barely managed to hang on to her, even though wearing a bridle. Like yours, in the field she just eats hay.
 
Our arthritic mare and my lad were taken out in hand for a leg stretch, the mare thotoughly enjoyed her walk, my lad went into bloodhound mode, sniffing and tasting the snow on the drive, picked a spot to roll, then took off at speed, bucking as he went, 2 circuits later, his lead rope came off his neck, effectively ground tethering himself, when excited he squeals, snakes his head and tries to take off, normally controlable.
I'm dreading acually getting back on him as it will be a lively ride
 
Another vote for snow. I haven't been giving any extra feed other than hay because there's no grass, and they've been completely indifferent while turned out. But on Sunday OH rode and I led out the baby (who will be 2 in May). Walking across fresh snow without a rug was just too much fun and he rolled about 4 times. Then yesterday I rode out and the usually quiet and placid mare decided my request for canter was also too much fun and we ended up with some pretty impressive moves. All just high spirits though. Even the dog, who's recovering from an injury and has been lying around for days, managed a good gallop up and down the in the tyre tracks!
 
The snow and being in has turned my ex racer into a nutcase! Though I'd get on for a walk around the school, woops should have turned out before I rode! Ended up sat on a rodeo pony before landing on my bum in the snow! :p:o
 
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