ohdearme
Well-Known Member
Hi!
I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding a horse that I'm kind of loaning...one of my mom's friends has horses, and recently offered to let me ride out with her and possibly do some shows/fun rides in the future on her daughter's old horse - a black mare (not sure what breed, but not a cob), who is an absolute angel on the ground, but very forward to ride.
I've been hacking out with her once or twice a week for about 2 months now, and I like her and her horses. She rides a 4yr old TB, who is quite fizzy, and she asks me to stay behind her when cantering on hacks. Up until recently, I've managed this but on the last ride out, I really couldn't hold my horse back and she ended up bombing past the other horse and only stopping when we got to the end of the field. I did everything I could think of - I was sitting back & deep in my seat, pulling on one rein only, then alternate reins, then letting them drop but nothing worked - I think she had her head quite low and stretched out, like a racehorse, rather than into her chest or high.
I've read about this issue a lot, and I think a lot of suggestions may be difficult due to my situation - I don't own the horse and don't even pay anything towards it, so I don't want to push my luck by suggesting retraining/new bits/different tack etc. They also aren't on a yard with schooling paddocks or a menage, so I can't do any schooling. The owner is very experienced with horses, and laughed it off, but I don't want to be that out of control and start getting anxious over what might happen every time we go to have a canter. I've heard people say that you should kick on when horses tank off, but I'm worried about doing this - I just think we'd come to the end of the field faster and have even more trouble stopping!
I know the answer to this is probably to get someone more experienced to ride her, and ride something more steady myself, but there aren't other horses for me to ride with her, and no loan horses in my area currently. I had to give up a past loan horse & regular lessons due to cost, and I feel that I've hit jackpot with this situation - I had thought I wouldn't ride again until well after uni, but here I am getting free riding & essentially my own loan horse.
So, after that essay, I think my questions are:
Should I continue riding this horse? She is such a star on the ground, and 90% of the time on a hack; she just turns into a racehorse in open spaces and I don't want her to learn that she can tank off with me.
What can I do to prevent her tanking off? She is coming back into work after a bit of a break, and seems to have limitless energy, but maybe if I take her out more in the week will this burn off? Or will she just get fitter and stronger? She's not on any hard feed, just lives in the field. I only ever ride out with the owner, as I've never hacked by myself & am told the horse can be very spooky on her own (not sure if this means lots of little spooks, or possibly a bolt-down-the-middle-of-a-main-road-spook), so don't really want to risk it.
What can I do when she tanks off? I've tried circling her, but literally couldn't even get her head to turn - think she turns her jaw to iron when she goes! Same story with one rein stops. I've read about bridging the reins? Would this work in this situation?
I would really really love to take her to an ODE or a fun ride or a show one day, but I just can't imagine that at the moment, as she's so high strung & failing in brakes currently!
Any suggestions welcome!!
Tina
I'm looking for a bit of advice regarding a horse that I'm kind of loaning...one of my mom's friends has horses, and recently offered to let me ride out with her and possibly do some shows/fun rides in the future on her daughter's old horse - a black mare (not sure what breed, but not a cob), who is an absolute angel on the ground, but very forward to ride.
I've been hacking out with her once or twice a week for about 2 months now, and I like her and her horses. She rides a 4yr old TB, who is quite fizzy, and she asks me to stay behind her when cantering on hacks. Up until recently, I've managed this but on the last ride out, I really couldn't hold my horse back and she ended up bombing past the other horse and only stopping when we got to the end of the field. I did everything I could think of - I was sitting back & deep in my seat, pulling on one rein only, then alternate reins, then letting them drop but nothing worked - I think she had her head quite low and stretched out, like a racehorse, rather than into her chest or high.
I've read about this issue a lot, and I think a lot of suggestions may be difficult due to my situation - I don't own the horse and don't even pay anything towards it, so I don't want to push my luck by suggesting retraining/new bits/different tack etc. They also aren't on a yard with schooling paddocks or a menage, so I can't do any schooling. The owner is very experienced with horses, and laughed it off, but I don't want to be that out of control and start getting anxious over what might happen every time we go to have a canter. I've heard people say that you should kick on when horses tank off, but I'm worried about doing this - I just think we'd come to the end of the field faster and have even more trouble stopping!
I know the answer to this is probably to get someone more experienced to ride her, and ride something more steady myself, but there aren't other horses for me to ride with her, and no loan horses in my area currently. I had to give up a past loan horse & regular lessons due to cost, and I feel that I've hit jackpot with this situation - I had thought I wouldn't ride again until well after uni, but here I am getting free riding & essentially my own loan horse.
So, after that essay, I think my questions are:
Should I continue riding this horse? She is such a star on the ground, and 90% of the time on a hack; she just turns into a racehorse in open spaces and I don't want her to learn that she can tank off with me.
What can I do to prevent her tanking off? She is coming back into work after a bit of a break, and seems to have limitless energy, but maybe if I take her out more in the week will this burn off? Or will she just get fitter and stronger? She's not on any hard feed, just lives in the field. I only ever ride out with the owner, as I've never hacked by myself & am told the horse can be very spooky on her own (not sure if this means lots of little spooks, or possibly a bolt-down-the-middle-of-a-main-road-spook), so don't really want to risk it.
What can I do when she tanks off? I've tried circling her, but literally couldn't even get her head to turn - think she turns her jaw to iron when she goes! Same story with one rein stops. I've read about bridging the reins? Would this work in this situation?
I would really really love to take her to an ODE or a fun ride or a show one day, but I just can't imagine that at the moment, as she's so high strung & failing in brakes currently!
Any suggestions welcome!!
Tina
