naughty pony cross counrty

[wicklow_rider]

I have a 9 year old cob gelding who is forward thinking but calm. We mostly jump but i have been focusing more on dressage recently. I was away for two weeks and when i got back there were jumps out in the field for everyone to use. The first time I tried him i was with a friend and she wanted to do a lot of cantering. I did do a lot of walking and trotting but did a few fast canters. The last two time I rode him in the field he took ages to settle. He trots but he is running and will either walk very fast or trot as fast as he can and keeps breaking into canter. In the first 20 minutes he ends up very hot and sweaty. I have been jumping from a trot and then halting doing canters uphill and then walking around. This does work after about an hour and I can get a wonderful slow canter but if anyone has any ideas about how to calm him down a little faster I would love to hear them.

 

[wkiwi]

You need to forget jumping and cantering fast for a while and teach him to respond to basic aids first. A horse should not take an hour to settle and respond to you, but should be obedient and sensible from the moment you get on (I have retrained racehorses, so i am not just talking about plodders here). Get a good trainer to help you through the early stages.

Once he is calm and sensible on the flat, then reintroduce poles and the trot jumps and you will soon have a horse that settles as soon as you ask and will trot and canter in a balanced manner, even after having time off or if others are galloping around you.

 

[Shay]

You did have a rather hard ask for him - you'd been away two weeks, presumably he hadn't been ridden all that time and then the first thing you do is take him somewhere exciting with someone who wants to run. Poor lad - no wonder he got wound up!

But Wkiwi is right about going back to basics. He's 9. You really don't need him to learn any more bad habits than he already has - especially if you want to do dressage with him. See if you can get a good instructor to help you. He should be on the aids and listening from the moment you mount. A bit of excitement is fine. But you need control.