Horse has a death wish

G

gemski

Member
Joined
17 June 2007
Messages
12
Visit site
Quite a long post so sorry if I waffle on a bit

I have a 4 yr old gelding who's been broken in for just over 6 months now. He's going well and very good for a young horse out hacking but he does have a tendency to try and bolt off if something scares him when he a bit wound up/on his toes. It usually takes me 5-6 strides to pull him up or if i'm in a suitable place I turn him around and this stops him instantly.

This morning he very nearly killed himself (and me) when he tried to bolt through a blind junction onto a main road straight in front of a car. If the car had not been going quite slow and reacted so quick both me and the horse would have been on the bonnet.

He is very good in traffic on his own and in company and fantastic 99% of the time when hacking out the only thing I can think set him off was a child running up behind him down the hill just before the junction. He was a little wound up coming down the hill so I was half halting him ready for the junction (which we have been through lots of time both in company and on out own). Just glad that neither me, the horse or the driver were injured.

Anybody got any advise or tips for stopping this happening again?
I can only ride out in company at the weekend (which I do) but need to ride him during the week so he has to go out on his own and unfortunatly I have to do a lot of road work as not very good off road hacking around by me . As he's a baby I ride him in a full cheek snaffle with fuller loops and a flash noseband, he's a snaffle mouth 99% of the time except when he tries to bolt off when something spooks him when he's on his toes so to speak. I know that its only his instinct kicking in but its getting dangerous as you never know when he's going to do it. He's really only started doing it the past 2 months, for the first 4 months of being broken in he was an angel.

Sorry for the long post but it really scared me this morning so need a little advise (or is it just that my horse has a death wish).
 
Do you have access to a school that you could work him in during the week. Personally if he has a tendancy to do this I would much prefer to hack only at weekends if this is the only time you can hack in company. It sounds like he is a sweetie (99% of the time!!
grin.gif
) but is still just lacking a bit of confidence sometimes when he is out hacking.
Does he do this if you are long reining him? Maybe you could go back to do some long reining out on the roads (if he doesn't take off....) during the week, this should also help him to get his confidence up.
If this were me, my gut instinct would be to try not to hack on his own, as I would be worried that he would hurt himself, or me, or somebody else out on the road.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Anybody got any advise or tips for stopping this happening again?


[/ QUOTE ]
Avoid all children, and always be prepared for the worst!
crazy.gif
 
This post is interesting because Frankie did the same thing with me a few weeks back.....he wasn't scared though he was just having a party with the horses in the next field
mad.gif
mad.gif


It scared me to death
frown.gif
frown.gif
frown.gif
 

Unfortunatly I can only get to a school once a week (I hire it out for an hour in the week but can't afford to hire it for more and 1 day per week). We only have a stable and a turnout field at the yard i'm currently on. I am on the waiting list at another livery yard with a school but spaces don't come up that often.

The long reining may be an idea, but again I would be concerned that he may try and take off. I also think its a confidence issue he has and I'm hoping that my friend i ride with at the weekend will start riding during the week when the lighter nights come. I know he's not doing it through naughtiness its sear fright but really don't know what to do for the best.

I am thinking of turning him away for a month or two in april/may as perhaps he's telling me its too much too soon with the hacking out 5 times a week (2 days with company, 3 days without although only 30mins- 1hr max of quite walking/trotting, 1 day schooling in school for approx 30mins). He's developed enough physically for this amount of work but prehaps menatlly he's not.
 
At first I thought it was him being naughty but everytime he's done it its been in conjunction with something that would spook him, such as the child running, loud sudden bangs or somebody starting up the car as you go past.

It is really frightening as the car was way too close for comfort and I really couldn't have done anything to stop it.
 
By fuller loops do you mean fulmer loops? If so are you using them for a reason? unless very well fitted a fulmer with loops can nutcracker into the roof of the mouth horribly. If this is happening could explain him running blindly when you pull........ I never use them and generally use a fulmer/full cheek for probably the same reasons you do, it's a great bit for a young horse.
 
yep too much to soon id turn him away for a bit then bring him back into work start small hacks so you can have some good times , and if you can with others just to get his confidence up , or he will just pick up vibes from you and this will happpen more , good luck
grin.gif
 
The other thing you could do is go back to some walking in hand - this helped my mare no end just after I had broken her. She still was looking at the sights and gaining confidence - but with me by her side to help her along!
 
Turning him away won't help.

What he needs is more hands on experience. Why not take him away for two weeks somewhere where you can ride off read each day and give him some nice hacks where he can relax but also get used to all sorts of things that he is not familiar with but off the roads where you are both safe.
 
Certainly sounds like it's turn away time. We often do that at my yard. They get broken in, see a bit of the world and then turned away to digest it all.

Usually does them the world of good.
 
thanks for all the suggestions I think it has helped me make my mind up as to what is needed with my horse.

I think I would rather turn him away for a few months rather than make things worse by pushing him too far. It can't do him any harm as hopefully by the time he comes back in I will have a place at the livery yard with a school and slightly better hacking. I'll see if I can find somewhere with grass livery to turn him away for a bit as yard owner won't let us turn out for more than few hours a day until april/may.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top