How can i make my horse need less work?!

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lcharles

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I have a horse which goes spooky if he isn't rode 6 days a week! x This is all very well in the summer but now the nights are drawing in i can only guarentee to be able to ride 3 or 4 days a week x

Is there any way i can get my horse to need less work!!? x I left him two days, Saturday and Sunday as he was clipped on those days then rode him Monday night and everything was spooky!! x I've only just got past the rodeo bucking, spinning around stage with him and he does need working as much as possible but what if i physically cant ride every day?! x

I also have another horse who can be out in a field for a week, then drag her in and she'll win showjumping! x This isn't ideal but if for some reason i can't go to the stables....if i'm on holiday she's fine, but he'd turn into a nutjob!! x

I can't share him cuz he's too nuts and wouldn't trust someone else to ride him :O/ x

Is it possible to get a horse used to being ridden less without turning spooky and act like everything wants to eat him?!
 
The problem with such horses is that they get too fit. Once you are riding them six times a week they will be very fit and any drop in riding them will mean an increase in exciteable energy. What do you feed him? If I were you, I would drop his work load down but lunge him first before you get on. Sometimes you may need to lunge for 20 minutes. Try to use all of the arena when you lunge, especially his spooky corners. Then get on and ride him. Drop his work load down to the number of days you want to ride, but remember not to work him so hard when you do ride him as he will have lost some fitness. In a nutshell, you need him to be less fit in order to be able to ride him less, and feed him accordingly. Good luck.
 
When you ride a recently clipped horse you have to expect a bit of spooking. The wind feels pretty different to them the first time out.

You might find it settles down.

Also: turnout and hard feeding... As much of one and as little of the other as possible usually help.

If you don't want a sharer could you pay someone from your livery yard to exercise?
 
Lol nothing wrong with a few kisses in the morning x :D

He has no hard feed at the moment, just turnout and hay! x

He is always like it even before he was clipped! x I can try lunging but with nights drawing in the school is bound to be rammed!! x He's not massively fit, he's been team chasing and had alot of fitness training for that but he's not as pleasant to ride when you canter across a field and a piece of cloth on the floor sends all four legs flying in the air lol x This wouldn't phase him if he'd been ridden the day before! x
 
Can your horse be on 24/7 turnout? What is he being fed? Any work post clip will always be a bit bouncy though!

When you ride him in the school I would really pack your time with lots of movements. Don't do a circle or a long side without a movement. Keeping his brain on you not everything else should help. Poles, transitions, walk Ps, lots of lateral work (zigzags are good), shoulder in etc. Out hacking just think forwards! If my mare is being a monkey then I find lots of shoulder in, changing the bend every few steps really gets her working and paying attention to me.

You won't get him to chill by working him harder if he is just a bit mega enthusiastic anyway! You need to work him with his mind on you - that will wear him out much quicker and get his attention span improving. You can concentrate for longer than he can, I doubt you can ride long enough to wear him out though - he will always 'win' on that score!
 
P.S. have you considered adding magnesium to his feed to see if his behaviour is agravated by a magnesium deficiency? Magox is cheap and hard to od so a harmless way of trying for an improvement. Naturalhorsesupplies and Equimins do it cheaply so worth a go?
 
I think lunging him before you ride him would help with or without a saddle also when you ride start quietly at a walk do that for a while as it might help calm or relax him he probally just needs to get used to things so playing games with him before you ride might help aswell but the main thing is just be paitient.;):D
 
Patience, calmness, relatively strict routine (even down to grooming etc!), high fibre diet. My tb was a nightmare at first, but with a lot of patience, bonding and routine, he's calmed down no end! He's an exracer too, so was all work, work, work!! I had a baby last year and he's had a long time off work, he's totally chilled!! I think it's all down to trust and patience and he knows where he's at with things (routine!). You could try lunging first, although it never worked with mine, made him worse! I think he used to see it as his warm up!!
 
Awww thanks everyone! x I'll give it a whirl - lunging i mean, if i can get some school time! x

He gets a long walk before doing anything too exciting as i hack him up and around the fields and wood etc so have to walk down a long path first......he's only young - 5, but is usually ok, its only when he isn't rode for two days in a row he turns into a nutter! x

What does the magnesium do then? x

He's a TB X ISH and is amazing when he's on the ball but if i want to compete on sunday i have to ride him every day from Wednesday so he's in the right frame of mind!! x
 
Do you do any work with him just in hand? You can try and tire him out mentally! My old little pony who cant be worked too hard because of breathing issues gets irritable if he does nothing so once or twice a week I just go in the school with him in just a headcollar and have him responding to voice and touch commands. He will walk backwards, turn on the forehand, trot to me if I stand at the opposite end of the school, knows to stand by my side and how to say please with his front legs! If your horse is spooky just locate random things round the school. We have barrels, poles, blocks and the other week he had a sheet of tarpaulin over him and he didn't bat an eyelid!:rolleyes: Work isn't just physical it's also about mental stimulation:)
 
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