Help! uncontrollable horse when riding in the field

[Chloe_Dudley]

Hiya,

I am new to this but just wondered if anyone could give me any advice? I have a 10 year old cob x welshD 14.3hh, she isn't a typical cob at all! She can be very strong and very forward going. At our yard we have an outdoor, indoor and a jumping field and she reacts completely different in each scenario and I'm struggling to adapt.

In the indoor she gets VERY bored and will just take the mic unless I'm jumping her or doing something she finds interesting, she will stop reacting to my leg and become very lazy. In the outdoor she can be very forward going and i sometimes struggle to get her to listen to what I'm asking and in the field i can't do anything but walk!!

She is already on calmers and they are working for her mood swings but not really doing anything for my riding, she loves to jump so if she behaved herself she could have a great time but I'm just scared when i take her in the field she will run off with me as every time i ride in there i end up cantering on the spot.

Any ideas how to calm her down when she's on one in the outdoor arena or in the field?

Thank you x

 

[wkiwi]

Can you get an instructor to help? As she is ignoring the aids both when she is in the indoor school (i.e. not going forward) and outdoors then either she needs more schooling or perhpas you need a bit of help working out how to get her to listen to you.

If you can't get help and are stuck with doing it on your own, then when you ride in the outdoor arena or in the field start by circling right by the gate. Start at walk and make sure she is turning and going forward (use your legs alternately at walk to say long steps, rather than speed up). Don't be fooled into not using your legs at all because she is forward going - this is a mistake as you end up just pulling on the reins to stop and releasing the reins to go (which causes all sorts of probs).
So, ,when she is positively walking a circle on one rein then do lots of figures of eights and circles to each side. When you feel she is listening to you and not thinking about the big open space then ask her to trot but stay on a small circle near the gate. (Use your legs to give a proper trot aid, and use the circle to stop her rushing off). REpeat the circles and figures of eight until she is listening to you. Then do lots of transitions between walk and trot.
Don't head off to any other part of the arena/field until you have her listening to you and responsive. This isn't going to happen in one schooling session, so you will just have to test how far you can circle from teh gate and still have her listening. Any problems and just go back on your circle, using the circle to stop her rushing off.
Hope this helps but it is not always good to just get advice from a forum and better to have an instructor on the spot as the advice can change based on what the horse does at the time.

 

[Chloe_Dudley]

Thank you for the advice, i took her in the outdoor yesterday and she was perfect? You just never know what you're going to get with her!
I will try the circles in field the weekend(if it doesn't rain), fingers crossed!

 

[wkiwi]

Thank you for the advice, i took her in the outdoor yesterday and she was perfect? You just never know what you're going to get with her!
I will try the circles in field the weekend(if it doesn't rain), fingers crossed!

Glad to hear she went well anyway.
Mare's are very sensitive (which is why i think they are nicer to ride) so maybe you felt more confident yourself for some reason? Just keep thinking about how well you got her going yesterday and I am sure you will be fine.