I fell on my nose today. Literally.

[spookypony]

The spooky pony, who's back in business after a week off thanks to a n infected leg wound, spooked at a jump standard flapping in the wind, and spun so fast that I fell off and landed on my nose. Bloody hell, we were only walking! My nose is a bit red now and hurts a bit, and at least it's not a new helmet this time, but still...

I caught him and got back on, and started to walk through our exercise (some poles), and he was settling a bit, and then the jump flapped again, and he immediately did another tense little leap...at this point, I just walked around some more, and then called it a day.

We seem to have lost a lot of confidence in each other over the last while. I worry about his lightning spins, and he worries about me worrying...how do I break this cycle?

I think we need to take things slower...but honestly, getting dumped while walking on a loose rein? How much slower can we take it?

 

[catembi]

The late Catembi was a spooky spinner. I used to give him a good hard lunge before I got on, if I suspected that trouble was brewing. If he was likely to be a real pain in the a*se eg if it was windy, sometimes I just used to lunge. Then he'd still get exercise but wouldn't learn that he could dump me if he felt like it!

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

Keep more of a contact so you are more aware if he is going to spook, also it may give the pony more confidence!!!

Maybe use a neck strap, if it helps and lunge before you get on, so he may be less likely to spook!!

Good luck

 

[spookypony]

Hmm, it's true that when I have more of a contact, I don't get taken as unawares...the problem was that he was supposed to be doing his long-and-low warm-up bit...

What gets my goat is that he's been spooky the whole time I've had him (thence the screen moniker!), and until a few weeks ago, I could just sit it out and laugh at him, but since the falls, I've gotten a bit nervous.

 

[chestnut cob]

What do you feed him? I would think about putting him on a calmer if he isn't already. My Welshy can be a total spooky, sharp nightmare but Topspec Calmer really chilled him out. He was sensible on that

It made him much more reasonable about life in general but didn't take away the sparkle.

 

[Festive_Felicitations]

THINK POSITIVE!

Don't worry abut falling off at the walk we all do it! (or maybe it is just me...) I find shies at a trot/canter easier to sit as you have some momentum and therefore get carried along more rather than having a sack of potatoes moment = THUD (I'm not implying that you are anything like a sack of potatoes it is just a very bad analogy....sorry English is not my forte).

If he spins keeping shorter contact may help as you can use it for balance and may be slow him down a bit, I wouldn't worry about the long, low warm up too much (may be do it to cool down? ) untill you are feeling more confidant again

When you get on say:
I AM NOT FALLING OFF TODAY!
I AM NOT FALLING OFF TODAY!
And mean it! (possibly add a bit more forceful language if it helps inspire you!)
A few words in his ear about the knackers and glue factories may not go amiss =)

I hope your nose recovers...

 

[Shazzababs]

I used to have a spinning pony when I was 10\11 (infact I still have her now she's 35!).

Eventually I learned to sit the spins, hou kind of have to put all your weight into your seat and go with them, if that is comprehensible! We also had a breakthrough when we swapped her bit for a fulmer version (i.e. One with cheeks), it made me able to get the nose pointing the other way and 'reverse' the spin.

Something my instructor always said to me at the time was that when she span to always turn her back the opposite way rather than the way she span before going, so that hopefully she learnt that spinning didn't get her anywhere.

Anyway she did stop doing it most of the time (except when trying out new riders!), so there is hope.

 

[spookypony]

Thanks for all the support!

chestnut cob, he eats grass. At the moment, he's in the starvation paddock, with some hay. Nothing high-energy. I'll have a think about a calmer...

Felicity_09, I know what you mean! I think what's knocked me for a bit of a loop is that I'm normally a very sticky-bum'd individual (or is that sticky-bun'd??

). I think what happens is that he spooks, and if I stay balanced (which is most of the time), he calms down again very quickly. But if I get unseated, he simply panics, and that's when I get dumped. Both my instructors have commented on how incredibly fast he moves when that happens. Maybe I should just take comfort in the fact that he's not very tall??

Shazzababs, thanks for the pointer about spinning direction! I'll try to keep it in mind next time!