Horse dropping head in transition into canter

[Ponymad1369]

I'm thinking of buying a horse I have plenty of time to go for several viewings with her and the owner has been completely honest and told me that she drops her head from the transition from trot to canter. She's perfectly fine until the transition when she drops her head and she's put me on the floor several times now. Everything else she is fine with. And when I hold my hands higher and tell her she's ok but should I take the risk and buy her? Do you think it is a behaviour I will be able to correct? Or should I look for something else? As soon as she realised I had lost my seat she stopped. I think she was testing me what do you think? I have previously had several other viewings and she has tried this but I haven't come off before

 

[be positive]

You say she drops her head, I guess she either puts in a small buck or pulls you out of the saddle so you lose balance and fall off, I suspect there is a reason she does it, also with her owner not just you, it may be simply lack of schooling, it could be lack of balance or it could be physical, pain somewhere or her saddle not fitting, teeth requiring attention.
I think you need an experienced person to give you advice once they see you ride her, your regular instructor ideally, if her current owner has not stopped it do you think you are going to be able to? do you want something that is possibly going to put you on the floor, possibly take away your confidence? if you do decide to go ahead please get her vetted, there may be a good reason why she does it and the last thing you want is a horse that you cannot enjoy because it is in pain.

I cannot suggest much else other than to say there are plenty of nice horses out there that you may fall off but most will canter without doing this and I would go out and try a few others to compare before buying one that you know may well have a serious problem that her current owner has been unable to correct.

 

[Ponymad1369]

She pulls me out but she hasn't been in work for a year and has only been ridden for about a week after her year of just being out in the field. The owner never rode her other people did. And she's at the owners friends for a while to lose a bit of weight and gain fitness to make her easier to sell. After I raised my hands and told her she didn't do it except for once where she didn't put me off. I've been to other viewings and she's the closest I've seen by far. The person who's talking care of her at the moment said she's going to work on that with her though and that she was testing me. Do you think that it's possible for her to get out of this habit

 

[Ponymad1369]

I took someone experiences with me for the first viewing where she was pretty much perfect and they said she was ok. I'm generally good with reading horses as well as I've been riding for about 12 years now but I don't know what to do about her

 

[Shay]

The fact she's been out of work for a year would ring huge alarm bells for me. (Actually so does the fact you feel the owner is candid with you - if they are open about some you are not likely to look for the rest!) You haven't given her age, type or history but no matter what reason was offered I would very strongly suspect she was turned away either to recover from an injury or because of behaviour problems. If you do go forward you need to get a 5* vetting and I would strongly suggest trying to research her history independently as well. Dropping her head to be able to initiate a canter transition indicates a pain related problem with bringing her hind legs under her for strike off. This isn't likely to be a habit you can school out of or arising solely from a lack of fitness - although that may well make it worse. You need to know how serious the issue is before taking her on. I know it is hard - but you need to buy with your head not your heart!

 

[be positive]

The fact she's been out of work for a year would ring huge alarm bells for me. (Actually so does the fact you feel the owner is candid with you - if they are open about some you are not likely to look for the rest!) You haven't given her age, type or history but no matter what reason was offered I would very strongly suspect she was turned away either to recover from an injury or because of behaviour problems. If you do go forward you need to get a 5* vetting and I would strongly suggest trying to research her history independently as well. Dropping her head to be able to initiate a canter transition indicates a pain related problem with bringing her hind legs under her for strike off. This isn't likely to be a habit you can school out of or arising solely from a lack of fitness - although that may well make it worse. You need to know how serious the issue is before taking her on. I know it is hard - but you need to buy with your head not your heart!

I would agree with all of this ^^^ often the owner being open about one issue does mean you tend not to look too closely at other things, the only other thing to add is that if she has been out of work for a year she will be very unfit, should still be walking to build up her muscles not yet cantering, so I would be concerned that she may get worse once she is properly built up, that is possibly why the most recent try has been the one where you ended up on the floor or it may be once she is fit she does improve but is it a risk worth taking.

 

[Ponymad1369]

She's 10 years old and the owner is away at the minute so the person who's been giving me the viewings has only been takin care of her for just over a week so she only knows as much about her vices as I do and this is the only thing she has found. She was out of work because the rider for the pony was the owners grandson and he's moved onto tractors and cars etc as many boys do but she hasn't been able to part with him because she loves her a lot but she's finally made the decision. Also she's won a lot of shows before and I've seen pics so she's gor to have been decent.

 

[Ponymad1369]

Do you think a daisy rein would help??

 

[be positive]

Do you think a daisy rein would help??

Seriously if you are considering using a daisy rein and have been pulled over this pony's head several times you do not sound as if you have the skill to get her out of what may just be a bad habit, it may be pain related, we have gone through most scenarios with you and you don't seem to have taken on board that this pony may have issues, physical or mental that are not going to be sorted by a novice owner or if they can be it may involve not just a lot of hard work but also a lot of money, why start with problems.

She may have won lots of shows, it is not that difficult to pick up rosettes on a regular basis but it does not guarantee she is decent just that she was better than the rest on the day, at a lot of local shows that can mean they were the only one that did not misbehave not that they are good.

If you are going ahead however cheap she is having her vetted and insured will be the best idea, once you get her home have her teeth looked at, even if the vet thinks they are ok, get a good saddler out to fit a saddle, even if she comes with a "fitted" one she may well have changed shape since.

 

[Ponymad1369]

She's not cheap at all. I've taken on your advice and I think I'm going to move on. I really appreciate you taking your time to help me thank you