Is this the "terrible fives"? Worried I've ruined him?!

Lol! My horse is the smae age and doing exactly the same! I have had my other one from age 3 nd he's now nearly ten and so this terrible stage was forgotten as now he's a lovely well rounded person. I forgot how stressful 5 yrs can be and went and bought a4yr old. and now? its driving me mad, fresh as anything and can be really naughty, but kept busy he's turning in to something really special! Stick with him, just think in a year he will be twice the horse he was at 4!
 
Mine's a very green nearly 6 and is exaclty the same, I have broken ribs from being bucked off 2 weeks ago when he got spooked out on a hack. He's hacked out alone beautifully for 3 months since I got him, and is the quietest sanest little horse 99% of the time. But at the moment, if he is spooked (there's always a reason, he doesn't just spook for the sake of it) his reaction is to run away bucking - as they would do in the wild. I'm just starting him on Blue Chip Karma to see if I can just make his reactions to scary things a little less excessive. Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how you improve things, it always helps to talk to people in the same situation. For the moment, I'm schooling him and hacking him in company, and a friend (very good event rider) is hacking him out alone for me, while my ribs heal and my new back protector is on order.
 
well came off Archie last night after he spooked at something and reared then bronced all over the place. will be trying some of these suggestions as well.
 
Ouch! Hope your ribs are mending quickly! Must admit I no longer hack out without body protector; it's only a matter of time before I have a crashing fall off him. Rode him indoors last night and he was as good as gold, strong and forward in canter but listening to me and restoring my faith in him generally. Back lady checked him last night, nothing wrong with him, she said he's really built up and got lots stronger than last time she saw him. And she said his previous saddle hasn't done him any lasting harm as there's no sore points or anything on his back. That's put my mind at rest a bit.
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It is so good to hear that other people go through the same thing and that you've all come out the other side! I do think he's going to be a really special horse, especially now I can see how big he can leap! If I can harness that I'll be doing puissance
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Good luck getting your horse back on the straight and narrow too!
 
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