tobiano1984
Well-Known Member
Just wondering if anyone has found a supplement that helps particularly stupid horses to focus and engage the brain?! Or any other training gems that I may not have already tried...
A couple of years ago I went off my usual clever, sensible Heinz 57 piste and bought a very pretty warmblood 3yo - stunning, lovely German dressage & SJ breeding, sweet temperament. With the idea to bring on and sell. Nearly 2 years later I really need to get on with selling him, but I take issue with selling something I'm not 100% happy with, and we're about 95% there.
Today my trainer rode him for the first time in a while, and agreed that he lacks focus and brain. It doesn't help that I am used to super smart mongrels who have evolved some degree of self preservation and wit, and understand the concept of 'do it well and life is easier'. She suggested looking at calmer type supplements that would maybe give some focus and stop the distractability.
Said baby is not dangerous, or particularly sharp (but too sharp to be a novice/RC type horse unfortunately), there is just a loose connection, as my trainer described it. When it is connected, he produces lovely work and is responsive to aids, and then a few seconds later the connection has gone and the (small) brain is no longer with you, the most enthusiastic pony club kicks get no response, bending around the leg goes out the window, steering does too to some extent, and transitions become some sort of alien concept. Along with the emergence of definite monsters that weren't in the corner the last 10 times you've passed it.
I must stress that this horse is in no way under pressure - he hacks out a few times a week, schools maybe twice a week for 20-30 mins, lesson every fortnight, bit of polework here or there, it is not intensive by any means. He has plenty of time out in the field. Out hacking he is keen and forward, but again the brain can disappear into its own world, especially disconcerting when you have a vehicle passing you and you know full well that he is reciting Latin verbs to himself (I wish) and has no idea what is happening externally. He has been known to plod along the road perfectly happily and then suddenly realise that he's not in the same place he was 5 minutes ago and take fright at the flower that definitely wasn't next to him last time his brain and eyes registered. A couple of weeks ago he fell over on the road in a similar state of internal conversation (not a bad fall, kept his feet and his rider but only just). As you've probably guessed, jumping is particularly terrifying - he will pop a fence happily, come round again, lights on but no one is home any more, and crash - poles everywhere, horse and rider everywhere, just carries on pootling along like nothing happened. He is sure footed out hacking when he is concentrating, and over poles, so definitely not got any neuro deficits. His footwork is coordinated in the school, doesn't struggle with SI or LY when we're in the right mood.
Never bucks, never bolts, never spins - spooks tend to be slow drawn out affairs - i.e. spotting an invisible monster that wasn't there last time round, and drifting away from it with total loss of rider/horse connection.
It is driving me mad, I thought it might just be because I'm more of a fan of clever ponies but then after my trainer rode him, who is used to dealing with warmbloods, she said he is particularly thick and it's not just me! Has anyone else had one like this? Do they grow a brain eventually? Is there anything further I can do? It's so frustrating because he is 95% perfect, if only I could capture his concentration and engage the brain!
A couple of years ago I went off my usual clever, sensible Heinz 57 piste and bought a very pretty warmblood 3yo - stunning, lovely German dressage & SJ breeding, sweet temperament. With the idea to bring on and sell. Nearly 2 years later I really need to get on with selling him, but I take issue with selling something I'm not 100% happy with, and we're about 95% there.
Today my trainer rode him for the first time in a while, and agreed that he lacks focus and brain. It doesn't help that I am used to super smart mongrels who have evolved some degree of self preservation and wit, and understand the concept of 'do it well and life is easier'. She suggested looking at calmer type supplements that would maybe give some focus and stop the distractability.
Said baby is not dangerous, or particularly sharp (but too sharp to be a novice/RC type horse unfortunately), there is just a loose connection, as my trainer described it. When it is connected, he produces lovely work and is responsive to aids, and then a few seconds later the connection has gone and the (small) brain is no longer with you, the most enthusiastic pony club kicks get no response, bending around the leg goes out the window, steering does too to some extent, and transitions become some sort of alien concept. Along with the emergence of definite monsters that weren't in the corner the last 10 times you've passed it.
I must stress that this horse is in no way under pressure - he hacks out a few times a week, schools maybe twice a week for 20-30 mins, lesson every fortnight, bit of polework here or there, it is not intensive by any means. He has plenty of time out in the field. Out hacking he is keen and forward, but again the brain can disappear into its own world, especially disconcerting when you have a vehicle passing you and you know full well that he is reciting Latin verbs to himself (I wish) and has no idea what is happening externally. He has been known to plod along the road perfectly happily and then suddenly realise that he's not in the same place he was 5 minutes ago and take fright at the flower that definitely wasn't next to him last time his brain and eyes registered. A couple of weeks ago he fell over on the road in a similar state of internal conversation (not a bad fall, kept his feet and his rider but only just). As you've probably guessed, jumping is particularly terrifying - he will pop a fence happily, come round again, lights on but no one is home any more, and crash - poles everywhere, horse and rider everywhere, just carries on pootling along like nothing happened. He is sure footed out hacking when he is concentrating, and over poles, so definitely not got any neuro deficits. His footwork is coordinated in the school, doesn't struggle with SI or LY when we're in the right mood.
Never bucks, never bolts, never spins - spooks tend to be slow drawn out affairs - i.e. spotting an invisible monster that wasn't there last time round, and drifting away from it with total loss of rider/horse connection.
It is driving me mad, I thought it might just be because I'm more of a fan of clever ponies but then after my trainer rode him, who is used to dealing with warmbloods, she said he is particularly thick and it's not just me! Has anyone else had one like this? Do they grow a brain eventually? Is there anything further I can do? It's so frustrating because he is 95% perfect, if only I could capture his concentration and engage the brain!