Hi Everyone! Need some advice on a bolting ex-racehorse ...

[meredithrose]

Hi everyone. I have shared many horses and have ridden for 10 years. I have recently started sharing a 15.3hh, 11 year old mare. She is a thoroughbred and raced 8 times before becoming a broodmare and is now just being used for schooling and hacking by the owner. I ride her twice a week as well as another lady sharing who rides twice a week also and the owner will often ride her on days we don't.
In the school she often rushes her trot and goes straight into canter without me even asking. She seems to think that trotting is just an aid/sign to canter. However when we hack out alone I have usually just walked her and have tiny trots as i'm trying to get used to her still as i've only been sharing for just over a month. When we hack out in company she is a saint and doesn't try to push her luck and just follows on, if everyone is walking/trotting she will too.

I hacked her out alone yesterday and all was going rather well. I'd only walked her so far and on the way home there is a flat piece of ground the owner and other sharer usually has a steady canter up. When hacking in company, we usually trot this part and have an odd canter. However today, she completely bolted off with me after a few strides of canter. Luckily further down the trail, I slowed her enough to dismount and lead her back onto the trail where I mounted again and walked her home. What is also interesting is she didn't stop for the turning to the yard and instead carried on past. Normally if she stopped at the yard I would've just thought she had bad manners and wanted to rush home.

Up until yesterday she had been very respectful of me. The owner has had her for nearly a year and a few days ago they popped a small jump in the woods and straight after she bolted away from home this time with the owner on board. This is very out of her character and only this week has she starting behaving like this and taking advantage.
She is not in season. She wears a snaffle and we have recently tried her with a flash nose-band which had no problems and has had on for about four weeks. She also has a martingale. Her back doesn't seem sore either. She is turned out in the evenings every night and has hay when shes in and hard feed in the morning and late evening before turn out.

As i've said, the owner has had her for nearly a year and not once has she bolted this has only started happening this week. Any advice or information at all would be much appreciated, thank you.

 

[Sheik]

Have you had her teeth and saddle checked as it may be this is why she is misbehaving

 

[LadySam]

Ok. Yes, as Sheik said, get her checked out for pain. It could be that simple. Also make sure her feed hasn't changed and that she's not eating anything that will make her fizzy.

Assuming she comes back clear and she's just trying it on - it's not unheard of for horses to do this, even after a period of behaving well - there are a few things to try.

Ideally, before anything else, get together with the owner and the other loan rider and agree on a strategy so the horse gets the same, consistent message.

Schoolwork - work on your trot and transitions in and out of canter and walk. Lots. And then some more, until she gets it straight that trotting is not to be a gear change straight into a canter. Get your trot working at a steady pace. Don't let her speed it up. Pull her back to a more sedate pace until she gets it right. Reward her with a slight release of pressure when she gets it right. Pressure back on when she starts trotting fast. Don't let her canter at all until you ask for it, and certainly pull her back straight away when she goes into a canter of her own volition. Reward again with pressure and release when she gets it right.

Same deal for the canter transition. Don't let her go into a canter until she can do it from a properly paced trot, and you're asking her for it. Do it again and again. Reward when she gets it right. Always make sure your aids are crystal clear and not open to interpretation.

Keep this routine when you're out hacking.

The bolting thing - WARNING: this is only to be done if you are a sufficiently experienced rider and you have the space to safely do this. I've had horses I have done this with, and others I would not. Use your own judgement, provided it is honestly at a level where you can do so safely.

Ensure you're making an effort to anticipate when she's going to go and prevent it when possible by going right back down to a steady trot and walk. When she bolts, of course regain control asap. But do not stop if you can help it, and do not dismount. Dismounting is a sign to her that she's got the better of you. If she thinks taking off with you at speed is fun, make her. When she decides it's time to slow down, don't let her. She doesn't get to decide that. Keep her galloping until she tires and then make her keep doing it just a little more. It soon won't be fun for her anymore.

Be consistent. Be kind. Don't yell or hit. Stay calm. Be firm. Be consistent.

 

[Sheik]

Ok. Yes, as Sheik said, get her checked out for pain. It could be that simple. Also make sure her feed hasn't changed and that she's not eating anything that will make her fizzy.

Assuming she comes back clear and she's just trying it on - it's not unheard of for horses to do this, even after a period of behaving well - there are a few things to try.

Ideally, before anything else, get together with the owner and the other loan rider and agree on a strategy so the horse gets the same, consistent message.

Schoolwork - work on your trot and transitions in and out of canter and walk. Lots. And then some more, until she gets it straight that trotting is not to be a gear change straight into a canter. Get your trot working at a steady pace. Don't let her speed it up. Pull her back to a more sedate pace until she gets it right. Reward her with a slight release of pressure when she gets it right. Pressure back on when she starts trotting fast. Don't let her canter at all until you ask for it, and certainly pull her back straight away when she goes into a canter of her own volition. Reward again with pressure and release when she gets it right.

Same deal for the canter transition. Don't let her go into a canter until she can do it from a properly paced trot, and you're asking her for it. Do it again and again. Reward when she gets it right. Always make sure your aids are crystal clear and not open to interpretation.

Keep this routine when you're out hacking.

The bolting thing - WARNING: this is only to be done if you are a sufficiently experienced rider and you have the space to safely do this. I've had horses I have done this with, and others I would not. Use your own judgement, provided it is honestly at a level where you can do so safely.

Ensure you're making an effort to anticipate when she's going to go and prevent it when possible by going right back down to a steady trot and walk. When she bolts, of course regain control asap. But do not stop if you can help it, and do not dismount. Dismounting is a sign to her that she's got the better of you. If she thinks taking off with you at speed is fun, make her. When she decides it's time to slow down, don't let her. She doesn't get to decide that. Keep her galloping until she tires and then make her keep doing it just a little more. It soon won't be fun for her anymore.

Be consistent. Be kind. Don't yell or hit. Stay calm. Be firm. Be consistent.

Agree with all of this
Also you can do some groundwork with her so she understands your commands
You could start with asking her to go back and then coming fowards asking her to stay and moving away from her but she has to stay also going over to the side and so on, and reward her with some chopped up carrots that you can keep In Your pocket, you could make it interesting and add some poles for her to walk over, also if you can get a tarpaulin this is a great way of boomproofing them and it really gets them concentrating and it also builds trust if you can get them to follow you over it . Mine will happily follow me over the tarpaulin with no headcoller. Then when she knows where the treats are coming from she will listen to you , and look for the reward after good behaviour ( this is what I have done with my ex racehorse ) and it really does work. Then after you have done some ground work with her get on her then do the same and keep offering her treats while in the saddle then eventually when you say the word whoa, she should stop and look for the reward. Hope this helps and good luck and keep us updated.

 

[meredithrose]

Thank you all for your advice its much appreciated! I'll definitely be putting this into action and will begin to work her more in the school with lots of transitions and ground work. We had a lesson since our little bolting incident and it proved to be rather successful. We worked on walk to trot transitions without her anticipating a canter each time. In the beginning we have one small canter that was not asked but soon she began to understand we were only giving her an aid to trot and not to quicken the pace. Over the next few weeks when I go up to ride, I'll start adding canter transitions into the mix.

I'll speak with the owner about getting her checked out for any pain and whether or not she could be eating something that's not agreeing with her. Thank you both again!

 

[LadySam]

Sounds good! Sounds like she might be a quick study, too. I'm glad to hear you're not introducing canter transitions until she's got the trot down. Definitely the way to go.

The thing to bear in mind with ex-racers, I think, is to really think about and understand where they're coming from. It's not just about asking them to do a couple of new things (which people tend to think of as something rather straightforward), it's about asking them to be a completely different horse to what they've ever been before, and deal with a whole different set of expectations. That's a lot for them to take in and get their head around. Even though yours has been away from the track for some time, she's still only got her racing education to draw on - and boy, can they remember!

 

[FizzyBum]

Agree with all of this
Also you can do some groundwork with her so she understands your commands
You could start with asking her to go back and then coming fowards asking her to stay and moving away from her but she has to stay also going over to the side and so on, and reward her with some chopped up carrots that you can keep In Your pocket, you could make it interesting and add some poles for her to walk over, also if you can get a tarpaulin this is a great way of boomproofing them and it really gets them concentrating and it also builds trust if you can get them to follow you over it . Mine will happily follow me over the tarpaulin with no headcoller. Then when she knows where the treats are coming from she will listen to you , and look for the reward after good behaviour ( this is what I have done with my ex racehorse ) and it really does work. Then after you have done some ground work with her get on her then do the same and keep offering her treats while in the saddle then eventually when you say the word whoa, she should stop and look for the reward. Hope this helps and good luck and keep us updated.

Agree both and also try to break the same route, pace or routine...she might be bored and therefore naughty. Like a kid.