I didn't know what to do - Dangerous in traffic.

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shmoo

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Hi,

So backache is now better. We've had the all clear and I could bring her back to work slowly. I was planning on walking out for half and hour or so first week - building up over 12 weeks until we were fit.

It didn't work. Went out with my daughter for a stroll around the block. Great going away from home. Walking out on loose reins, very calm, over grass and still great. The second we turned from the tracks onto the road she realised we'd reached the halfway point. And it all went wrong.

Her stride became longer and longer and longer. Half halts just bring her down on the bit, which I'm trying to avoid. I wanted a long low outline to stretch her back. Anyhow, she collected and began to jog, slowly more and more sideways. I tried voice commands, half halts, just pulling, dropping my reins to almost the buckle (this was nearly suicidal) we were dancing on the spot, cantering on the spot, head tossing and completely at right angles to the verge on just about a two track lane with cars and a lorry going past. I tried leg yeilds, with the tiniest bit of contact acting like spurs and urging her forward. Nothing worked.

It was horrible, really horrible. I wasn't scared but I was really angry with her for being so blinking naughty. She didn't try to tank, but if she got her head for even a second she sped up again. I ended up parking her nose in a hedge to make her wait for my daughter whose pony was getting dancey in sympathy, scaring my daughter who is a novice.

All in I tried everything I know and nothing worked. What on earth do you do in these situations? She's ridden in a snaffle, caveson and running martingale. We don't need the martingale really but if she doesn't have one on she's an up and down head shaker. The snaffle is quit thin and she's a bit chomper. I know point blank its nothing to do with tack or health. These last few weeks she's had more work done on her than Kate Price in a year...

I have my suspicons its the food she's been on, the good grass coming in and the fact she's had 5 weeks off will have contibuted. This is more of a what else could I have done post really.

Totally at a loss. :(
 
Maybe start walking her out in hand until she starts to settle. Work on voice commands whilst out walking and just start off slow.

Not what you want to be doing but it's better to go back to basics and build yourselves up again over the course of a few weeks than jump on again and the same thing happens until one of you gets injured.
 
Hi, We've been out in hand, she's as good as gold, just wants to eat :D.

She always has had a go faster on the way home thing going on, occasionally she's really good but more often than not she's jiggy joggy and sideways, sticking her bum in the road.

I've always considered her to be totally traffic proof she never bats an eye. We have tankers and lorries using our backroads as a shortcut and she's brilliant with them - but I can't now say she's traffic proof as she was abysmal on the road :(

I've never long reined before, walked at the head many times but never done it myself ? I could try that, but I already know she won't do anything wrong in hand...

What do you do when a horse just stops listening, no rearing bolting, plunging or bucking, just stops listening and starts acting like a pillock? Should I have got off and lead her?

:(
 
You say it started when she knew it was half way - is it a circular hack? Could you go the other way round or would she still know? Or is there another route you could go that she won't recognise?
 
I would try a circular route, new places she has not been so she does not know where the half waypoint is, and also walking walking walking until she settles. No matter how long it takes.

On some horses it may help to work them hard every time they pull, until they are tired, and eventually walk in a relaxed manner when you ask? But for this approach one needs need lots of time, suitable hacking and also would not be suitable for novice on pony coming along on hack.
 
I'd probably make the ride even longer, so get to midway point, horse starts dancing anticipating going home and she is suddenly encountered with even more hacking and no hometime.
 
I don't let them rush on the way home. Ever. Your issue seems to be that she often rushes home under the best of circumstances and now she's had five weeks off and new spring grass to boot. If they start rushing or jogging and have blown off half-halts, I turn them in small circles, or turn them 180 degrees. When I get back to the barn, I make them go back out on the trail, in a different direction. Sometimes I do that when they are perfectly well-behaved. Keeps them guessing and never anticipating the pile of hay waiting for them in the stable.
 
Does she need the food? I would stop all hard feed, given her a week then try again. We have had a few who got ott when fed stuff they couldn't cope with
 
I might have got it wrong, but it sounds like you were off-road on the way out, and on the road on the way back. Could you do it the other way round so that if she's silly once you turn for home, at least there won't be any traffic. My mare, before she retired, was quite similar to this, as often once she'd turn for home she'd start jogging, prancing and bouncing about and generally getting very silly. Half halts just made her bounce higher, too much contact with her mouth and she'd start tossing her head about, and dropping the contact was seen as a sign that she could charge for home! I found that certain circular routes were best done a particular way, so that we were on the busier roads on the way out and the quieter roads on the way back, as traffic just wound her up if she was already being silly. The rest of the time I would try to sit fairly quietly, as any pressure from my seat or legs would just increase the amount of impulsion and result in her leaping about even more. Rein contact would have to be just enough to stop her speeding up, but not enough to cause her to start fighting. This usually resulted in a sort of "controlled jog", that I was just about in control of! I never found a way to actually stop the jogging, as too much messing about just made things worse and we'd end up with her hind quarters in the middle of the road or something like that.
I wouldn't advise getting off though, as if the horse gets loose you are really screwed! My friend did this while riding someone else's horse and he got loose and bolted back to the yard. She was very lucky he didn't hit a car!
 
Hi, I did think about the just going straight past the gate method, but to be honest I was so glad we made it with all hocks still attached and not dangling off a passing car mirror - so I gave in. I have done that before but she's a bloody goldfish. Oh look theres home, slows right down and walks nicely, reahces halfway and speeds up tenfold.. oh look, theres home.

I did go into the paddock (summer grass school) and walk her around for half an hour when we got back. Circles, serpentines, long reins, collected. After a few minutes she was fine, well good actually. I expected something explosive but nothing.

We always do a circlular route, only once have I ever done an about turn when we met the hunt - a complete disaster that was. It never seems to make a blind bit of difference if she's been there or not. Some highly tuned compass lives in her brain. She just knows.

She was better one day when tucked in behind two others from the yard. She was good as gold, so it might be the being in front thing?

She's an ex-racer, ex-hunter if that makes a difference?

So much so slowly coming back to work... I'll cut her feed out, well down to a handful so she can have her supplements and see if that helps? :(

Do you think this is the sort of thing external schooling could help with?
 
HashRouge said:
I might have got it wrong, but it sounds like you were off-road on the way out, and on the road on the way back. Could you do it the other way round so that if she's silly once you turn for home, at least there won't be any traffic. My mare, before she retired, was quite similar to this, as often once she'd turn for home she'd start jogging, prancing and bouncing about and generally getting very silly. Half halts just made her bounce higher, too much contact with her mouth and she'd start tossing her head about, and dropping the contact was seen as a sign that she could charge for home! I found that certain circular routes were best done a particular way, so that we were on the busier roads on the way out and the quieter roads on the way back, as traffic just wound her up if she was already being silly. The rest of the time I would try to sit fairly quietly, as any pressure from my seat or legs would just increase the amount of impulsion and result in her leaping about even more. Rein contact would have to be just enough to stop her speeding up, but not enough to cause her to start fighting. This usually resulted in a sort of "controlled jog", that I was just about in control of! I never found a way to actually stop the jogging, as too much messing about just made things worse and we'd end up with her hind quarters in the middle of the road or something like that.
I wouldn't advise getting off though, as if the horse gets loose you are really screwed! My friend did this while riding someone else's horse and he got loose and bolted back to the yard. She was very lucky he didn't hit a car!
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This is her - and me. Thank you for knowing exactly what I mean.. :)
 
HashRouge said:
I might have got it wrong, but it sounds like you were off-road on the way out, and on the road on the way back. Could you do it the other way round so that if she's silly once you turn for home, at least there won't be any traffic. My mare, before she retired, was quite similar to this, as often once she'd turn for home she'd start jogging, prancing and bouncing about and generally getting very silly. Half halts just made her bounce higher, too much contact with her mouth and she'd start tossing her head about, and dropping the contact was seen as a sign that she could charge for home! I found that certain circular routes were best done a particular way, so that we were on the busier roads on the way out and the quieter roads on the way back, as traffic just wound her up if she was already being silly. The rest of the time I would try to sit fairly quietly, as any pressure from my seat or legs would just increase the amount of impulsion and result in her leaping about even more. Rein contact would have to be just enough to stop her speeding up, but not enough to cause her to start fighting. This usually resulted in a sort of "controlled jog", that I was just about in control of! I never found a way to actually stop the jogging, as too much messing about just made things worse and we'd end up with her hind quarters in the middle of the road or something like that.
I wouldn't advise getting off though, as if the horse gets loose you are really screwed! My friend did this while riding someone else's horse and he got loose and bolted back to the yard. She was very lucky he didn't hit a car!
Click to expand...

Mine can be prone to this too...I know exactly the coiled spring you mean.
I use a quick tug on the neck strap and wrap my legs around and try to stretch him out.....half-halts as you say just coil them up more when they get like this...in fact sometimes mine has no contact at all and just piaffes his way home:rolleyes:
 
Let her walk on at her pace without breaking into a trot or jog, the more you tighten the reins and make her walk slower the more she is going to prat about, its the same when leading a horse walk at its pace within reason but making it walk slower will only make it pull more and get excited. This will teach her she doesnt have to get upset going home because she will get there reasonably quickly but at a decent pace.
 
Flame would often do this. We mostly just went sideways, I found that traffic respects you more and it isn't really a problem tbh. If you really do need to straighten up 'cause the road's really narrow or something, ride forward in trot, or canter if needs be, long enough not to get squashed. :D Longer hacks tend to help reduce the "turning for home" effect too.
 
What are you feeding your horse, if its not in work i.e. just hacking for an hour should be ok on grass. Although dont forget the grass is growing. No work no corn as we say. Sounds a very well horse to me. If she has only been off work for 5 weeks she wont have lost a lot of fitness although I appreciate she has had a bad back.
 
putasocinit said:
Let her walk on at her pace without breaking into a trot or jog, the more you tighten the reins and make her walk slower the more she is going to prat about, its the same when leading a horse walk at its pace within reason but making it walk slower will only make it pull more and get excited. This will teach her she doesnt have to get upset going home because she will get there reasonably quickly but at a decent pace.
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I did want to try this, as until you ask her to collect she's usually chilled, but... my famous but :D... I had two cyclists heading toward me and a car coming up behind. I had to move her onto the verge (nice and wide) and she was already walking her hundred MPH pace by then. I didn't really get her back after that. Sit calm and keep quiet was what we settled on after all the fights.

I just think i'm crap now. She boosts my confidence - I stayed on and didn't get run over. I've had huge self doubt confidence issues earlier in the year, despite the fact I used to be quite a good rider once upon a time, and it all came back :) - But then destroys it - I couldn't stop her doing essentially what she wanted.

:(
 
shmoo said:
I just think i'm crap now. She boosts my confidence - I stayed on and didn't get run over. I've had huge self doubt confidence issues earlier in the year, despite the fact I used to be quite a good rider once upon a time, and it all came back :) - But then destroys it - I couldn't stop her doing essentially what she wanted.

:(
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You did stop her doing what she wanted, jogging is what you get when you stop a horse from going home at its chosen (fast!) speed. Its the lesser evil than being exploded or pi$$ed off with. You can't "stop it", energy and heat just present themselves when horses think faster than they're allowed to go. Don't worry about it, like you say, you didn't get run over or come off. Its an annoying habit that you can work on reducing by trying to increase how relaxed she is, reducing feed, increasing work, etc, but it isn't dangerous, the opposite IME.
 
Flame_ said:
Flame would often do this. We mostly just went sideways, I found that traffic respects you more and it isn't really a problem tbh. If you really do need to straighten up 'cause the road's really narrow or something, ride forward in trot, or canter if needs be, long enough not to get squashed. :D Longer hacks tend to help reduce the "turning for home" effect too.
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I did wonder about this, just trotting through it. She has a hell of a trot on her, something I find really hard to regulate by rising, but I didn't do it...

She is meant to be recuperating after her 'loan ordeal'. We've done the in-hand bit, and I'm only meant to be walking for half an hour a couple of times a week gradually building up for at least a month to strengthen her muscles.

She's been in sporadic work for 18 months, although is not unfit - hardly blowing after a hoon round the field with her friends she has very little muscle. :)
 
Have you tried turning around? I.e. once at the half way point keep heading for home but each and every time she start to get het up turn around and walk back the way you came, no fighting just a calm about-turn. Once the pace is settled and relaxed turn around and head for home again, repeat until she gets the message that only when she walks calmly does she get to go the way she wants to.
 
Have you tried doing some groundwork with her? It should help to reinforce which of you is calling the shots.
It might seem like a little thing to get a horse to walk -stop- turn and back up without pressure but it'll help establish the pecking order and who is controlling who. Also make sure that she has to move around you and not the other way around.
From what you wrote it seems that right now it's her and when you object she plays up.

I was given what I think was very good advice by my trainer last year and that is never let the horse think that they are in charge and that no matter how placid or reliable any horse is, their thinking that they control you, puts you in a dangerous position.

I've just taken on a new share, also ex racer and I made sure that I did the basics with him straight away. So far so good but I've noticed a speeding up once we are homewards bound too so your post and the replies have also been very helpful to me. Better nip it in the bud I suppose. :)
 
So all was fine until she started lengthening her stride (which is great), and you started half halting.

Why not just let her walk out as she wanted?
 
It was when we moved out of the way of the cyclists/car onto the verge. Also theres two T junctions we needed to stop at, the first touch of the reins that did it, that began the jog that spiralled. I tried everything else after to get her back.

I wanted to keep her walking out long, to help her back but she tucked her head in and jogged - it's taking her back from that to a walk that went wrong.

I have managed it before, but not last night. :(
 
My mare is prone to this too and it can turn from a healthy eagerness to get home with a faster walk, to dangerous messing and overreacting to noises, traffic etc. the closer we get to home. I find she's at her worst as I turn into the lane which heads back up to our place. She does it more if she hasn't been out for a while which makes me think its down to some anxiety being away from home making her rush back, plus too much energy from doing less work. As other posters have said I find longer hacks help as she's burnt off some fizz before we turn for home or sometimes I work her at home first then take her for a short hack. I know it might be too soon to do this with your mare but I also find lots of trotting on the way out helps both to calm her down and burn up some energy early. Do you have any hills near you so you can tire her out more in walk on the way out? Or maybe get someone to cycle with you and go in front if she starts thinking she can dictate the pace, doing this helped me when I first bought my mare.
 
5 weeks of field rest with her physio and McTimoney sessions. Before that around 18 months sporadic light work.

Half the time, during that time she's an absolute delight, the other like this - but never as bad. It seems theres no rhyme or reason to it. I honestly never know what she's going to be like - unless it's something obvious like blowing a gale and she spooky in the yard (which is really rare as she's amazingly non-spooky).

When she's OTT I feel I'm doing something wrong, but I don't think I'm doing anything different? If that makes sense.
 
My advice would be to hack her out every day for a full month. She'll soon learn this behaviour is not getting her anywhere!

I have found that 3 hacks with manners enforced stops this non-sense. she just sounds full of herself and that will wear off in a few days.

Try and canter/ trot her on the hacks. I understand this may be difficult with a back problem, but even schooling sessions at walk will wear her body and brain down to something more controllable.

What about the good old fashioned method of removing the shoes? Messing around will hurt her and stop her from doing it.
 
Take your mare off all hard feed and supliments.

Create a very small paddock for her to graze in.

Now we have long daylight hours hack her out at 4.00 a.m. for at least 2 hours each and every day when there is little traffic about. Then ride her again for 2 hours each evening.

You should get her back to normal after about 6 weeks of this routine.
 
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