Help really need to resolve a problem.

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showjump

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Hi my 4 year old is causing me a problem, an i dont know the best way to resolve it.

Last month a lady oon the yard was getting an instructor to come down, i decided to have a flat work lesson. (accredited instructor btw) So she was trying to get him to come on the bit more, as hes a big horse so making him more rideable. So she gets on, and he spits his dummy out. He was stopping and backing up, trying to bunny hop sort of thing. He has never done this before. I could she he was getting upset, and i wasnt very happy.
I get back on, and he was better, but then she decided draw reins were in next to try, well he obiously didnt like these much. When we tried to canter a circle he would stop, so i would send him forward into canter again, and he would stop abit before where he stopped the last time. (hope that makes sense?)
Now i am very annoyed with myself that i had this lesson, as i have now ruined my horse. If he doesnt want to do something, or has had enough, he will act in this way. (stopping dead, backing up ect)

Help, i just cannot believe i can of ruined him by having a lesson, wish i could turn back the clock.
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You haven't ruined him you've taught him rein back!
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Don't worry he'll get over it, don't feel bad you tried it and it didn't work so you stopped, there is nothing wrong with that it's how we all learn. He'll settle again I'm sure.
 
Have to say I would be forgetting about work in a school and getting him hacking about to have a bit of fun; he's only 4 so is there any rush for him to be perfect yet?

Sorry, that wasn't very helpful but he might forget his present problems if he can have some fun and come back in a better frame of mind. I'd also question anyone who wanted draw reins on a 4 year old, they need their head looking at. That instructor would be better down the road I feel or at least as far away from your horse as possible!
 
yeah, give him no schooling week then go back an school as per before the lesson. he's only 4 so he should hopefully forget the lesson by then
 
Should of said, he is very nearly 5. He is fine 80% of the time just when he decides hes had enough, or somethings hard.

The instructor isnt my usual one, my lorry was away and so hadnt be able to get for a lesson so thought id have one at home with this other instructor.
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What should i do when he does act in this way? I dont want him to get the habit of doing it all the time.
 
He'll get over it, it was only one lesson and you've learnt from the experience that it didn't work for you, so its ok. I agree with MFH, get him out and about, best way to send them forwards.

I keep my boy on competition yard where as soon as they have backed something they strap it down in draw reins, its not for me, but they are a popular method.

First time I asked for rein back my boy went vertical (never done it before), not scarey rear but the most fantastically balanced rear (lippizaner style), I was terrified he's start doing this as an evasion, but I changed my approach to asking for rein back and he's not done it since.
 
My boy did this at the same age
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you havnt ruined him at all,when he starts to run back try and pull him round onto a half circle and ride him off the other way,it should soon put a stop to this!!Draw reins....huge no no on a four yr old,he needs to learn to go forwards before you even attempt an outline with him!!Concentrate on his paces and getting him working off you leg before you even think about gathering him up,he needs to accept the contact and pull forward otherwise he will back off everytime you gather your reins and ask him to work!Hope this makes sense
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Yep totally! he is a sensitive lad, and so i am very quiet when i ride him. He is working well off your leg and was coming on great. He had been to my usual trainers yard for a month of schooling a month before 'this' lesson! He then had to wait to have his teeth done so hadnt dont anything but hack for a while, until this lesson, which i though might just help us get off as we left it. (before his teeth, how wrong was i?)

This instructor seems to have totally comfused and upset him. He has only done this behaviour twice since, both times i loosend contact and sent him forwards, and worked him until he stopped the behaviour.
 
you are doing everything fine
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sack the instructor,we all make mistakes hon,may have upset him a litle but you are doing everything right to correct it,if sending him forward on a loose contact works then stick with it
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,put it down to experience,it will make you wiser and it wont have harmed your boy,as you sound like you know what you are doing
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He is a big horse, and big horses take longer to mature and figure out their coordination, so don't be tempted to compare him to a smaller horse of the same age and experience.

You can always tell if a horse has been worked in draw reins. It is like a building with no foundation. If you go down that route it will all fall to pieces later on in his training because the foundations will not be there... or at best they will be incomplete.

Chuck away the draw reins and get him going on the long reins. You will do better later on if you have, quite literaly, done your ground work!

If you long rein him you will get his back end working and get him naturaly working forwards and eventualy he will come on to the bit. Difference between long reins and draw reins is that the long reins don't force, they encourage... and build the correct muscles for the work he will ultimately do. No horse can work comfortably on the bit unless it has muscled up in the correct way.

You have not ruined your horse, he is gently telling you that he has been asked a question to which, at the moment, he doesn't know the answer. He felt he couldn't go forwards, so went backwards or stopping because that is what he thought he was being told to do.

Start searching for a new instructor who takes a more long term aproach. As has been said , give him a week or so to chill out and all will be well.
 
well this is just my personal opinion so if you agree or not i dont know.

I do not feel that this could have ruined your horse in my experience the only thing that would ruin a horse is the rider causing sever pain/discomfort/injury to a horse or a very bad scare i.e jumping accident/rearing and falling over etc.
But then with time they do and can forget an revert back.
I just think your a very cautious mummy and care a great deal for your chap dotn worry he has not been ruined.
I would personally take him out of the schooling fram for a very short while take him for a blast down a feild in straight lines,hack etc dont even attempt circles as he obviously did not like working them with the draw reins on.

I must question the instructor for suggesting draw reins for a young horse especially if you want him to learn to accept coming onto the bit strapping his head down will not encourage him to do so.
Im a big beleiver that a horse will learn to go onto the bit for you when it is 100% comfortable with your riding and contact i dont think trying to force a horse onto the bit does you any favors as most tend to overbend when ridden in that manner.

but like i said that is just my personal preference of riding and how i was taught right or wrong to some its worked for me.Please dont worry you have not wrecked him by any length good luck with him and dont use the instructor again if you can help it.
 
I wouldn't even be thinking about trying to get a 4yo to work 'on the bit' until I was sure that horse was balanced it all his paces and more often than not at 4yo they will not be, especially if a larger horse. I would be working on transitions and general balancing/suppling exercises. Obviously I don't know how far on your horse is development wise but I can't believe someone resorted to draw reins on a horse this young that blatantly didn't have the first idea what they were and probably just started going backwards cos he couldn't understand how to go forwards! I would't let it concern you too much, just ride positively and encourage him to go forwards and yes, maybe just take him for a good old fun ride without pressursing him to work.
 
In reply to the people saying it's impossible to do permanent damage to a horse in one session ("ruined" is a completely subjective term), I wouldn't be so sure. Confidence and understanding can be fragile things and once broken are often difficult if not impossible to make completely whole again.

HOWEVER, this is not the case here! You haven't "ruined" the horse but he has learned something he didn't know before: schooling can be an unpleasant and even painful experience. Curses on the "instructor" for having taught your young horse this but what can you do, mistakes get made! At least you recognised this was not the path for you quickly and the concern you are showing for your horse makes you a GOOD trainer, not a bad one.

If you go quietly and carefully back to the way you have been schooling you should be fine. Perhaps you could have a word with your regular trainer and come clean about the situation, maybe even ask for a lesson to get you both back on track.

One thing you do want to just be aware of is the horse MIGHT be somewhat sore and a little bitter in the short term. Nothing requiring intervention but if he jumped around quite a bit it he quite possibly could have made himself a little muscle sore. Instead of panicking and thinking you have to "fix" everything right away back off a bit, give him a bit of time to settle and back up in your training, doing things you know he can do easily for a little while. He's young, you've got lots of time, don't make a minor blip a major issue by getting yourself in a state about it.

Training a horse is like filling a jar with marbles - good experiences are white marbles, bad experiences are black ones. When you ask a horse a question you are pulling a marble out of the jar and the more of one colour you have the more likely you are to get that response. Obviously you want to have as many white ones as possible! But black ones will sneak in - you can't control every variable, mistakes will happen etc etc. So you've got a few black ones in the jar now, oh well. Just keep filling it up with good experiences, being careful not to put too many more black ones in for the time being, and don't ask too many questions until you've got your white levels up again. No worries.

That fact that you're concerned is the best indicator you are doing a good job - it means you are really thinking about your horse's progress and trying to make good decisions for him. This is all any horse can ask!
 
Try not to worry. He probably reacted badly to the instructor because he's young and it's someone new. He probably just continued in this vein when you got back on him.

You haven't ruined him. All horses eventually realised that they have a certain amount of power over us, no matter how hard we try to hide it from them.

When my mare worked this out, it resulted in months of verticle bucks down the centre of the school with me narrowly missing the fence at the other end. You just have to ride them through some phases.

When you feel him slowing really get your leg on him, give with your hands, even lean forward slightly (works with my mare) and encourage with your voice.

Good luck x x
 
Thankyou for all your replies. I just wish i had never had this lesson with the other instructor, and rest assured i wont be having another off this person!

I have been working him back how he was used to before, and if he does it encouraging forwards with voice, leg and relaxing the hand.

Just a little update, he jumped round a 1m bsja busy county show yesterday and was very good.
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Hopefully i am erasing this bad experience from his mind slowly.
 
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