Has anyone else been persevering for what feels like forever??

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GeorgieD

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Long story short.. I bought my horse in 2011 as a 7yr old, he was lovely been competing up to 1.15 and seemed really cool. Then up until Jan 2015 myself and the poor horse seemed to just have had the universe against us every physical issue/bad luck had come our way, but until then I couldn't blame him for not being the horse I had hoped for. We were still jumping a bit in between all this and had been doing well at prelim/novice dressage so I was relatively happy considering our circumstances.
However, all of last year he's been totally happy and sound but we are still making hardly any progress. We'd struggled until July with him stopping (he was sound I'm very overprotective!!) Then from July - October he was flying we had finally started jumping nice courses at home and he was jumping 1.10 with my friend. Then I took him to a clinic (at home) and he was a nightmare and now we're set back again, the stopping has started again and I feel like we're back to where we were in January..
I cant believe I've had him for 5 years and have done so little, but on our good days he feels amazing and makes me feel amazing he is so talented, but bad luck and now tricky behaviour is just stopping us making any progress and getting me so down.. I feel like I bought this horse with great potential and he's just got stuck with me and is now a bit ruined..

That was a bit of a rant, but what I'd love to know has anyone else in the world had a horse for so long with no luck and eventually had a happy ending??
 
Not quite the same but I bought my horse 8 years ago as a beautiful unbroken 3 year old. When I got him home I realised he was way too difficult for me, he would panic at everything, would bronc like a rodeo bull, I messed up backing him, he was hot, hyper and super intelligent and if he'd been any bigger he would have scared the life out of me. I called him bonkers as nothing he did made sense to me or was like any other horse I'd known (and I groomed for years for four star eventers, Grand Prix sj and racehorses so it's not like I was only used to dobbins). He was a lunatic. But he was also the most fun, happy, sensitive, smartest horse who surprised me with the cool stuff he was capable of (learned Spanish walk in 3 sessions).

After 6 years we finally started to get the hang of life and then at year 7 it all went to hell. He started freaking out all the time, was dangerous to ride, was either explosive or had no movement at all and was like riding through glue. After a traumatic year with the odd near death experience, a head CT, bone scan, blood tests, muscle biopsy, gastric scope etc etc etc we found he had severe hay fever/headaches, a sacroiliac injury, glandular ulcers and a muscle disease (RER-which explained some of his extreme excitability). We changed saddles, bridles, treated his issues and this last 8 months, my 8th year with him, has been the best ever!!!!

He is a different horse, calmer, no panic attacks, forward, responsive, hacking on a long rein, leading the way, finally learning to stretch over his topline and step under himself, and has won or placed in a few trec competitions. Ok so it's not serious competition but the principles are the same. I will start jumping him again this spring and am progressing his flatwork. Most importantly I love every minute of riding him and am learning something every day.
 
Thanks for the reply so pleased to hear you got to a great place with your horse!! :) and such a relief to hear I'm not alone !! Really hope we get to that stage eventually must be such a great feeling for you to have that progress after all that time!
 
Yes feels like forever... Owned mine for nearly 6 years....first 2 were amazing for me... Hacking all over the place happily, going for lessons and clinics and doing a bit of dressage only intro and prelim but getting good results, I was living my horsey dream! However, from 2014 onwards seems like we have been plagued by injury and bad luck..... Sacroliliac injury, ulcers, and arthritis, all with long rehabs. I have managed 1 dressage comp in all that time but feels like just as I'm getting him right, something else goes wrong. It's hard sometimes but I just have to keep believing! Hopefully 2017 will be better.
 
I hope you have a better 2017. The only thing I will say is that all my struggles through 2015, when I was so close to retiring him, have made me appreciate everything so much more. For most people, an 11 year old horse cantering a 15m circle or hacking alone wouldn't be a big deal but it puts the biggest grin on my face because I know how tough those things were for him a year ago and I see everything as a small triumph. Plus we are much closer as a team, we spend a lot of time playing games and having fun instead of being grown ups, we play football, pretend to do garrocha bull herding, ride reinless, do trick training, all sorts, and use that stuff to make dressage and serious things fun. He still isn't perfect but neither am I, so that's just fine. I hope things get better for you!
 
KatPT said:
I hope you have a better 2017. The only thing I will say is that all my struggles through 2015, when I was so close to retiring him, have made me appreciate everything so much more. For most people, an 11 year old horse cantering a 15m circle or hacking alone wouldn't be a big deal but it puts the biggest grin on my face because I know how tough those things were for him a year ago and I see everything as a small triumph. Plus we are much closer as a team, we spend a lot of time playing games and having fun instead of being grown ups, we play football, pretend to do garrocha bull herding, ride reinless, do trick training, all sorts, and use that stuff to make dressage and serious things fun. He still isn't perfect but neither am I, so that's just fine. I hope things get better for you!
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Aw, if that was for me ...thank you. I will be happy if I can get him sound and relaxed this year, I no longer really dream of competing him...it's all the ups and downs that I find a bit wearing, when you think you've fixed the problem but then it all goes wrong again. Still hoping for a happy ending tho.
 
Just sounds like horses to me; sometimes it all goes great, sometimes it doesn't :-) Good luck for the future, oh, and remember this: the definition of madness is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result......
 
I know what you mean, I keep waiting for the next down, but so far I have had 8 great months in a row, having had so much bad that feels like a lifetime! My horse also had Sacroiliac and ulcer problems so yours sounds similar. Keep going!
 
Cortez said:
Just sounds like horses to me; sometimes it all goes great, sometimes it doesn't :-) Good luck for the future, oh, and remember this: the definition of madness is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result......
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I think this too .
One thing I would consider is a boot camp with a good trainer who has not seen you before .
Gill Watson would be perfect .
But there will be people near to you who will be good ask around .
 
Goldenstar said:
I think this too .
One thing I would consider is a boot camp with a good trainer who has not seen you before ..
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yes that's a good idea, and might be the kick start you need to get things going again.

I've spent the last 4 years taking one step forwards and about 30 backwards with Millie, but that's because she keeps getting up to mischief in the field and getting injured. I think we are approaching the point where we give up... having one last push at it this year before declaring her too old and doddery for this riding lark ;)

But yes, that's horses, you've got to learn the lessons you can and take the rough with the smooth.
 
yep agree with the others about trying a concentrated burst with a different trainer. Had two friends that had exactly the same issue as one, both had bought horses that were jumping comfortably above their level. Turns out one kept trying to fiddle and find the stride and the horse just hated being ridden like that, it had always been left alone and trusted to find the right stride. The jumped fine at home, but at shows the rider fiddled more and the jumps were higher so all the issues showed up there.

The other had the opposite issue and got a horse who could only jump when the rider put it on a perfect stride. It lost all faith jumping with my friend and would just stop dead if it didn't feel stride was right.

Both only solved the issue by going to really good, higher level trainers with a good eye who spotted the issues immediately and didn't write the horses off as bold or bad, just spotted what was upsetting the horses.
 
Ditto! Bought my horse and went from her never showing to the point where the meters (which I had never jumped before) were starting to look small. So one year in, boom, foot pain. Special shoes went on. Almost exactly a year later having finally worked up to 1.05/1.10, boom- navicular. Took the shoes off when the farrier copped an attitude with me, did 8 mos of rehab on her feet. Got to show twice- .80, then affiliated at the meter. Then she went into quarantine to move to the UK with me. Shipping fever, 4 months off. Comes back into work for two mos, gets kicked in the pasture and breaks a splint bone- 3 more months off. Just now doing flatwork again and dying a little on the inside because I keep having to retrain what was supposed to be my forever-to-the-1.20m's horse. Now she's no longer young and talented, she's 10 with a history of issues, and sometimes I wonder if she will even come back from all of this to do what we did so easily last year.
 
Oh this has been us this year! Everyone says that I've just been lucky to have such easy illness free horses, In 17 years of owning I've never had to have a vet out for anything other than routine vacs, until this year! I've had to deal with plenty of behavioural issues though...
I took a gamble and bought my lad as a just castrated 4-year-old, 3 1/2 years ago. We had a turbulent first year, but he has always had such a good attitude where work is concerned. He has been the easiest to train and ride that I've ever known. He's had next to no issues from day one. But this year we have been plagued with monthly up and downs (lameness) since April. Going into 2017 on a high though after positive prognosis from the vet!
We are aiming for our first county level outings towards the end of the season and finally getting out to some dressage too!- I'll probably cry going down the centre line...
 
Thanks to everyone for their responses so glad I'm not alone in this!!

I've found a great trainer that fills me with confidence so going to start having regular lessons with him.. and if funds allow a bootcamp type thing would be a great idea..!

I really thought I was the only mad one that has kept trying for so long - everyone else around me seems to just be flying! I really hope we get it together this year.. I have an aim of doing tiny 80cm classes in April.. fingers crossed smooth running until then!
 
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