Horses that get over-excited when they see other horses on hacks

sparklypickle

sparklypickle

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Hello, I am after a bit of advice here. Yesterday I rode my friend's pony instead of my usual old gelding (she is more forward going and quite definitely an alpha mare), she was perfectly behaved (the normal amount of spooks) until she spied some horses up ahead of us on the way home- when she started jogging..so I circled her, got her back in a walk and halted for a moment, then walked on - sadly the horses ahead started trotting - this was apparently madam's cue to trot also and by this time we were on a narrow strip of gravel between two ditches. Despite half-halts, she stuck her head up and kept breaking into canter, and I struggled to keep her going back to trot, she even stepped to the edge of the ditch at one point, trying to avoid contact which frightened the life out of me. I could see a patch of grass in front where I thought it would be safe to turn her off, but instead asked the riders in front to walk so that I could calm the pony down. (All she wanted was to catch up and say hi!). Thankfully they heard me and blockaded our progress, and checked we were ok but due to the lack of control I had had I decided to dismount until they were out of sight. Of course I got back on we rode the rest of the way home in a walk. The problem is that I know I should have handled the situation better but i don't know how (other than the obvious - don't ride a horse or pony that's so excitable) please don't make harsh comments about how I shouldn't be riding this horse, I have ridden her a few times before and was only riding her because her owner was sick. (She was walking alongside us until we went chasing those other horses..) I just feel very disappointed in my riding, I mean, it was a similar situation with another pony who bolted in VERY muddy conditions and I didn't feel safe turning him as I figured we'd fall over...and so, not knowing the best route to stopping, I somehow just fell off :(. So what do you do in situations where you are not in control but it is not safe to turn (due to sliding over / going into ditch) but the horse does not respond to the normal halt cues? I am also aware that dismounting was a bad thing to do as it was a reward for her ignoring my aids but I put both of our safety first.

I am considering taking a lesson to focus specifically on techniques for slowing a rushing horse as this really seems to be my riding downfall - and that can be a deadly downfall to have.

SP
 
sparklypickle said:
I am also aware that dismounting was a bad thing to do as it was a reward for her ignoring my aids but I put both of our safety first. SP
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I didn't know this myth was still doing the rounds! Look at it positively - you were in enough control to dismount safely.
 
I think in a one off like this there is little you can do, it is a long process to reschool a horse out of such behaviour, the best thing would have probably been to have trotted on to join them and avoid the arguments, turned round and gone the opposite way until they were out of sight or got the owner to hold her as she was there to help and make her wait until she had quietened down.
Some horses are very competitive and really want to be with others, as this is not your horse I do not think it is something to be down on yourself about.
 
dont be too hard on yourself, IMO theres a minimal amout of training you can do to correct this-some horses are fairly chilled about being *left behind* and others are hysterical and sometimes if you try and train them to accept it/get used to it, it just makes them worse.

my own horse would have ended up on his head in the ditch, he's an absolute nobber to hack anyway so doesnt do it much, but if those horses had left HIM behind, OMG there would have been rearing, leaping, spinning, broncing on the spot etc. Schooling wise he's very well schooled (competing PSG about to move up to Inter 1) but its just how he's wired.

i would concentrate on building your bond with the horse in question so she trusts in you a bit more. Schooling wise practice turns on the forehand,shoulder in and leg yield so you can control her body and stop her swinging sideways in to the ditch. If she starts getting buzzy on a hack try and encourage her to walk in a fairly rounded outline and keep doing transitions,shoulder in etc to keep her concentrating on YOU.

and its never failure to get off, if it keeps you safe.
 
Hi Webble, so at least I'm not the only one! I knew as soon as I got off she would put her head down, start eating grass (double reward for ignoring her rider..) and chill out. She is very good in hand even when excitable being ridden.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with regumate. Have you tried using a martingale? apparently when their heads shoot up it causes production of adrenalin? (that may not be right, someone correct me if wrong)
 
Some horses are just like that and there's nothing you can do. My mum's old lad is 19 and still gets excited by other horses on hacks, done it all his life and we've learnt just to keep calm and let him do it. Reacting in any way just winds him up more. Heck, sometimes if he's that way out he'll explode going past fields of sheep or cows, he's a little bit simple :rolleyes3:
 
Hi [FONT=Open Sans, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Prince33Sp4rkle (awesome name) thanks for your reassurance, I know it largely just herd instinct - it probably doesn't help that we usually hack in company (two of us) and her friend (the horse I normally ride) was waiting for her in the field not far beyond where the hacking horses were heading! Good Idea with keeping her attention on me - we were doing shallow serpentines up this gravel track away from her friend because unless I kept her attention she just called and called and called!

I know she is still a bit wary of me even though I've known her for three or so years! if her owner zips up her coat - no problem, if I do then "ohmygodohmygod there's an monster on my back" happens!

Hi bepositive (also a great name) you are probably right - this i what the owner thought I was going to do...but I was afraid that if I turned her away from the other horses she might spin and bolt back towards them..not that I have any evidence that she would behave like this. I should have stopped the argument, but didn't know how the other horses ahead would react if she caught up with them.

Hi Smogul - yes indeed. I'm glad I wasn't too freaked not to get back on either. I guess I think of it as a bit of a cop-out because i'm sure her owner (or most competent riders) wouldn't have had to dismount! but we all lived to tell the tale.[/FONT]
 
sparklypickle said:
Hi Webble, so at least I'm not the only one! I knew as soon as I got off she would put her head down, start eating grass (double reward for ignoring her rider..) and chill out. She is very good in hand even when excitable being ridden.

I'll be interested to hear how you get on with regumate. Have you tried using a martingale? apparently when their heads shoot up it causes production of adrenalin? (that may not be right, someone correct me if wrong)
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Lucky you I wish mine would. Yes I tried a martingale, grackle, lots of different bits etc none really worked so we are back in a snaffle and convertible headcollar. I have heard that too re production of adrenalin. People will say schooling is the answer and it could well be for you but my mare is almost constantly in season and she looks almost stallion like when she sees others.

Its only been a week on the regumate so far and she is still a bit silly but she is a bit less tense and is calming down from and 'moment' quicker so fingers crossed
 
My old mare used to react to ridden horses like this but was fine if we passed any in a field even if they were galloping around. I just used to sit very still with a very gentle contact and she would jog usually sideways but never took off. If I tried to make a stronger contact she would just pull against me and do small bucks as well. It took a while to learn that the more relaxed I was and just sat there the better she was. Don't have the same problem with my gelding, he takes no notice other than picking his ears up as we get nearer other horses. I am sure the more you ride her and have these experiences she will get better and you will be more relaxed about it.
 
My ex racer would be exactly the same, if you go out with someone else you will probably find she wouldn't worry. I try to manage it if I see someone running off in the distance I will just take a de tour and then come back that way when I know they are gone!
 
I think it sounds as though you did everything you could in difficult circumstances. I'm glad the riders in front stopped and made sure you were ok.

It sounds a bit as though this mare knows you're a bit nervous and is not taking confidence from you (the zipper thing shows that). Could you have some general lessons on her perhaps, get yourself feeling braver, and yes working on general slowing down/coping techniques?
 
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