Help. Confidence is yoyoing! :(

[sykokat]

I have had Tamar since April 2011. He is a 16.2 11yr Appy x ID. He is a sweetie and gorgeous with it. He has been well schooled, which we are continuing and has competed at BSJA and BE in the past. The thing is its me. I have ridden all my life since a young child. Done a bit of everything and never used to worry about what I rode. However, I am finding myself becoming more andmore edgey when it comes to hacking out. He does spook and his party trick is doing a 180 if something is 'very' scary. He always goes to the left when doing this. He came to me in a loose rink french link snaffle being described as a 'non' pulling horse. Let me put it this way, he's now in a pelham. He doesnt 'bog off ' but I cant pull him up when I want too. So decided to take slightly more drastic measures and try him in the pelham which has made life a lot easier. Seems a shame though. Today he had the 3rd clip of the season. He did not want us to go any further than half way up his neck, so we decided to put the twitch on to save a battle. Basically he lost the plot when we tried to apply the twitch and resulted in me being thrown to the floor like a rag doll! I am feeling somewhat fed up. Every time I feel I am getting to grips, something happens to dislodge any confidence I do have and I am finding it increasingly frustrating and disheartening. I know he is a lovely chap and I am lucky to have him. Just wish I could relax and enjoy him!! Any ideas??

 

[sykokat]

Anyone?
No one??

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Appies can be VERY self-opinionated. IME they need very firm, consistent handling. If they find a chink, they will exploit it. You could try sedalin to finish the clip. You might find that he is better the time after.
We had an Appaloosa mare who would walk off with you! She never broke stride but you just couldn't stop her! She could also be very nappy.
The best bit I've ever found for stopping horses turning is a PeeWee, even more effective than a Pelham.

 

[sykokat]

Thank you Pearlsacarolsinger. To look at him you would never believe his sire is a top winning Appy. This isthe first incident we have had where hes 'lost it'. Usually if he hears a raised voice he's a bag of nerves and has appeared to be a sensitive sort. Generally he's a good boy but can be spooky which is affecting my confidence. I know it sounds so silly but it is having quite a negative affect on me

 

[Izzwizz]

My gelding is good at spooking/spinning to the left. I get a warning when his ears prick forward and he seems to not concentrate too well. I find that riding positively forward helps, leg on and lots of voice. As for the bit, he had a french link snaffle which he hung on to a lot. He is now in a loose ring Waterford and has never gone better. I went along with my Trainers advice on this and he goes really well in it.

Tomorrow is another day, put the bad bits behind you and try and stay positive.

 

[Izzwizz]

Just to add the Waterford has nothing for the horse to hang on to so it may stop your horse taking a pull. My boy has it for schooling and hacking and does enjoy a good old gallop. He stops easily with this bit, I know before I had him he was quite strong when hacking out.

 

[sophiebailey]

I can sympathise with the appy related stress; I was flybucked off one today!

 

[sykokat]

Thank you Izzwizz.
Sophie bailey- he hasnt done anything like that. The only buck i have had from him was when he got stung 4 times on his sheath by a wasp!! :O Even then it wasnt what I would call a 'proper' buck. I'm pretty sure the problem is me. Just not sure how to overcome it

 

[sophiebailey]

I haven't really got any fantastic problem solving advice to give you i'm afraid

I can however say that you're not alone with this, my first horse arrived in March and we're still struggling with some things. All I will say is give it time and patience with the hacking. Sometimes it feels like you'll never get there and you just want to give up but horses are unpredictable - one day you'll have a great day and the next you'll have a rubbish day. Don't feel like you "HAVE" to hack him out regularly if you're nervous about doing it. Have a few weeks off hacking, potter around in the school, enjoy riding him, relax yourself and then set small milestones for hacking - a walk down the lane. Then when you can do that with no drama a walk around a field etc etc etc. This worked wonders with my confidence as once I removed the "pressure" from the situation (which was only really being applied by me!!!) i started to relax and just do what I felt I wanted to do when I got to the yard!!!

I will second the advice re the PeeWee - Bailey came to us in a pelham and would bog off with me across every bit of grass he could find. Brought a pee wee and now (6 times out of 10) he doesn't bog off. He will try the other 4 times out of 10 though. So although it's not a miracle cure, it may well work for you I got one on trial from the bit bank before I forked out for one so this might be a good idea for you. Also with Bailey I try to change his bit regularly, so he goes between his pelham, a sweet iron french link snaffle and his pee wee. Not every time I ride, but i just switch it up every now and then to stop him getting used to one bit

Talk to people (horsey friends) about your problems and let them comfort you, it's a big help. Good luck, I know it must feel like s**t now but this week you'll have a really good day with him I bet, and feel better about the whole situation! xxxxxx

 

[Moomin1]

I know how disheartening and scary it can be to have these problems when you get a new horse. I had an 11 year break from horses and then decided to buy my mare in 2010. I struggled with various issues including spinning, spookiness, trouble leading from field. It took a long time for me to get comfortable in handling and riding her but with time I have got confidence in dealing with her quirkiness. I'm not saying I don't get moments where I get a bit edgy with her -but it is much better now that I know all her little ways!

 

[Foxhunter49]

With the spooking, he will stop if, when he spins you turn him back against himself and then make him go up to whatever and stand there.

It is a matter of you not getting flustered and being very determined. As for the clipping, and many will disagree with this, if he had started to be a pillock then I would have got very cross, or even very, very cross and frightened the heck out of him by arm waving, growling and generally making him think he was going to die. No real hitting though a whack or two from the halter rope across the chest to make him go back would have ensued.

This makes them think that what I can do is far worse than being clipped and they accept it.

All is done without my heart rate changing, I do not loose my temper all is controlled. The horse realises that standing, being clipped is better than the alternative of me getting cross and scratches and patting for being good is far better.

 

[Mildred]

What do you feed him? My lovely, calm, laid-back-to-horizontal schoolmistress mare turned into the tasmanian devil when on Alfa-A; spooky, stressy, swinging about and snorting at imagined horrors when tied outside her box, 180 spins in front of cars, jogging, even spooking at random normal things like divots in the grass when turned out in her paddock. It took me a long (very long!) time to accept that perhaps it wasn't just my general crapness that had made her like it, so I looked into other possible causes, and having researched Alfa-A, discovered that it has a similar effect on some other horses too.

Quite likely that it's nothing to do with feeding (and you may already have mentioned you'd ruled it out, I cant remember, but worthy of a mention anyway!

 

[sykokat]

Hi everyone. Thanx for all your replies
Feed wise he is on spillers H and P cubes. Balancer and honey chop + speedibeet. He has been having top spec calmer to try and settle him. Apart from that he only gets hay. He is a fairly good doer and gets less than our 14.2 feed wise. On the whole he is a good boy and doesn't usually react badly to things when we are on the ground. I think I will play in the school a bit more and build my confidence that way. I know its me.

 

[Tilda]

My mare is spooky out hacking the worst she will do is jump sidewise but in the school where it is boring she used it as an evasion technique and was the queen of spin. My instructor was great about it he said continuously having to deal with that spin (and mine didn't run off after) would dent anyone's confidence so no wonder you are feeling wobbly.

How we have dealt with it is to open her shoulder and get her more responsive to my inside leg with loads of different schooling exercises. Also when I first started my lessons after she'd spun Ben used to literally lead me past the spooky area and that gave me the confidence that she could go past without doing it so could that be an option for you? Either go with someone on foot or another horse get them to lead past after the spook and then take him again on his own?

Also get a good sympathetic instructor and I'm sure they'll be able to help.

Good luck

 

[canteron]

My advice - back off the clipping!! Deal with the other issues first and then go back to clipping starting right at the beginning to regain her confidence. If you carry on you WILL get a horse you cannot clip.

She is telling you very clearly that she does not trust you enough to clip her. Deal with her confidence on other things before going back to that. Buy the Michael Pearce video or similar before progressing again with the clipping.

It does not matter if your horse has a moth eaten appearence for a month or two, what does matter is if You Make a horse you cannot clip without sedation!!

I learnt the hard way - and there are a hell of a lot of 'experts' out there who have never before had the challenge of clipping a clever appy! Don't let them 'learn' from your horse (ruining your horse in the process).