naughty pony out hunting, advice please!

[muddipony]

Hi all,

I need some advice on riding my horse!

I bought him about 3 months ago. He hadn't hunted previously, and I have now taken him about a few times, but his behaviour is starting to put me off.

The first time, he was an angel for the whole time we were stood still, had one bucking fit halfway through the day when we were walking, but soon settled once he'd had a good trot.

The second time he was very fidgetty when stood still and very strong (not very stoppable) when on the move (only in a french link loose ring snaffle). He also started rearing when others started to move from standing still, but he could not - i.e. others still stood still infront of him.

3rd time I rode in a hanging cheek snaffle, which though not massivly strong, has solved the stopping problem. But his fidgetting continued, and what was small rears has progressed to a couple of full blown vertical ones.

4th and 5th time same as above, and this weekend he just turned awful. Massive fly bucks on the road when walking, rearing as soon as another horse looks to walk when we're stood still and not really standing still at all - just jigging around looking to run off at any given opportunity.

I'm quite an experienced rider (hence new details as a bit embarrased at this mess) so I have dealt with rearing/bucking before, but never quite like him.
He's absolutely fine as long as he's moving forward in either trot/canter/gallop and is fine out hacking at home either on his own/in company. He has had his back/teeth and saddle checked and although his teeth were very bad before, they are now fine.

Tea and biscuits to all who made it this far - that's certainly what i need after hunting on him!!

 

[JenHunt]

have you tried keeping him moving (walking circles and serpentines etc) to keep his focus on you?

how far do you hack to the meet? try parking a bit further away (like a couple of miles) and giving him a good trot on the way there to take some of the edge off him.

tbh it just sounds like he's realised it's fun and exciting. try very hard (and I'm sure you do!) not to over feed him, and to make sure he's well worked the day before. Stay out for as long as possible and keep his focus on you. he'll soon learn that it's not so exciting - it can take some horses years, others settle instantly! it sounds like he's going to start improving in the next few outings to me. keep us updated!

 

[muddipony]

Thank you,

yes i do try to keep him moving, but not always possible, depending on where we're stood (hunting in wales so some quite tricky terrain in places).

I always hack to the meets, usually a good hour away with a lot of trotting and a few canters.

I think part of the problem is that he is almost too fit, as I have been riding him a lot, and although not feeding massive quantities, i will reduce it further.

I really don't want to give up as he is a super little horse, and although he's being silly and rude now, I think if I can get past this he will be lovely.

Thank you for being so positive - it's what I needed!!

 

[BigRed]

I had a friend who used to hunt and she bought a new horse every couple of years, she swore they all settled "in the end". She said they eventually get bored with larking around. Good luck.

 

[spacefaer]

You sound like you're doing everything right - he just needs to get it into his head that it's really not that exciting!

He needs to be more tired than he is - can you take him out more often? The best horse is a tired horse! My OH always says there are few problems with horses that can't be cured by them being tired (or problems being created by them not being tired!!)

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

I reckon he will settle in the next few meets too.. How often are you hunting him? Don't be embarrassed to wear a skull cap and body protector until he's not doing vertical rears!!

 

[muddipony]

Thank you everyone!!

He's only hunting once a week at the moment, and hacking out 3days, though i'm trying to arrange a couple of extra mid-week days as I totally agree that he should do more if possible, and i'd like to sort him out before the season ends.

I think i'll take longer routes to hack to the meets too. I can't really ride any more than I am in the week because of work, and I like him to have a Sunday off after hunting.

He isn't frightening me, i just want to fix the problem and not be making it worse. I've previously only hunted ex-racers and their main issue is the brakes, never had one quite this 'bouncy'

 

[JenHunt]

too fit might be part of the problem! keep trying to tire him out!

Ron hunts once or twice a week, gets hacked out once or twice (45 mins to an hour each time), and occasionally does an evening show jumping, so actually not a lot more than just hunting really. He's bouncy at the start of the season too, then calms down after 10 days hunting then gets silly again as the grass comes through!

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I totally agree with Spacefaer - tire him out!! I had an ex racehorse a couple of seasons ago who could not stand still for the first hour or so, would do leg yield backwards across fields, would be ridiculously strong and basically a total pain in the bum.

After he'd had a good gallop, popped a few jumps, found a friend and had the edge taken off him he was good as gold and would stand quietly. I think he just found it all too exciting to start with. I did have to persevere though and there were times to begin with where I felt we were never going to get anywhere. I used to keep him out until the bitter end and it did him the power of good. Shame he broke permanently when he finally settled to the job - I felt it was such a waste of all the time and effort we'd put in!!

 

[LaurenB]

Although not out hunting but in the show ring last year I rode my boy nearly every day before showing season started. It then came to a lot of classes and he was a different horse to the year before prancing, not walking, getting very strong and I do believe he was far too fit! I won't be making the same mistake again this year! Although I do understand they have to be fit for purpose

 

[Toffee44]

If it helps I have a pony who doesnt do standing still, gates etc likes to do what I call crow hopping (mini rears). I am very thankful that literally 2 min away from the yard is a 1/2mile steep hill, after a good trot up that she is putty in my hands Also half pass is great to teach like today we had our hack cut short due to ice and I had to turn round which wound her up we halfpassed most of the way home and 10min from home all she wanted to do was stretch her neck out in walk.

And if I were to take her hunting I would be tempted to hack to the meet rather than unload in all the excitement and goings on.

 

[spotty_pony]

He sounds just like my boy! The first time I hunted him (two seasons ago now) he was very well behaved - happy to be near the back, etc. The more times he went, the more excited he was. This season I had already got him too fit when we started cubbing and the first time out we had a couple of vertical rears. Both were when I tried to hold him back either to wait when jumping a fence or to wait for my friends - which I quickly realised was a mistake! He is genuinely fine when he is on the move and I always keep him as close to the front as possible now. When we are standing around, I walk him around to give him something to do and to stop him fidgeting. He is also a bit of a bucker, but I have learnt to control this (most of the time!) I make sure I sit well back, with my legs slightly forward to keep me secure. I also ride with hands slightly higher than I would usually to keep his head up. As the day goes on I can usually let him have a bit more rein once he has settled down. I've had people say when looking at photos of us jumping out hunting, 'why are you sitting up so much?' In reply I usually say, 'you would too if you were preparing for the buck of excitement which sometimes comes on landing!'

I think the best thing you can do is just get him out as much as possible. Being too fit isn't a bad thing - it just means you will have to make sure he has plenty of work now so he doesn't get too full of himself. I considered not hunting my boy when he was naughty out cubbing but he is so fantastic most of the time and he loves it so much that I didn't feel I could stop him going.

Good luck, I'm sure your pony will settle down soon.