Opinionated, nappy, stuborn, lazy horse... raahh!

Amy567

Amy567

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So, you might remember I bought an ex racer in April and we've had all sorts of issues with lameness so we took his front shoes off. Well, so far so good, no lameness recently yay!

However, it seems we have managed to get an oppinionated, stubborn, nappy, lazy, a**ehole of a horse (that hasn't won yet!). When he decides to do it, he works BEAUTIFULLY jumps amazingly, so much potential there! I just need to make him do it. Now he's unfit with minimal muscle so I understand everything is that bit harder for him anyway, so I'm drawing up an exercise schedule to get him fit and muscled over winter ready for spring to make life that little bit easier.

With SJ and XC sometime he stops because he is genuinely scared of something and to date I have always got him over it, some how , mainly using his gf as bait! But today I forgot my spurs, I'm not used to pony club kicks anymore! Haha, he still did everything on his own in the end, I didn't let him get away with any of it.

At least we now know why he's an EX racehorse! Haha!

Jist a bit of a moam about another horse that isn't as good as my little mare - but we'll get there!
 
I can't offer any advice but I can offer sympathy! My girl isn't the most forward going horse but recently had become REALLY nappy and lazy, she is even lazy walking in from the field. Today on a hack my friend said she looked half asleep! I am blaming the change if weather and the fact she is growing a massive wooly mammoth coat at the mo!
 
If he was mine, I would take the pressure off for a bit re jumping and just focus on forwards!! Make him go really forward in the school and out on hacks, NEVER let him dawdle, if he doesn't respond to a gentle leg aid, use a stick! (I don't mean smack him, just a tickle to remind him) Maybe a fun ride or something would encourage him to be more enthusiastic about work in general?

Also I would be a bit worried that he had sore front feet.
 
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I think if he is unfit with minimal muscle having recently had soundness issues and newly barefoot I would certainly not be expecting him to be jumping anything yet, he needs to build up muscle and strength from lots of slow steady work before starting jumping, no wonder he is not enjoying it, you are also risking further injury.
 
I agree with be positive. Do you feel like you have formed some sort of bond on the ground yet? It sounds like you don't really like him, and they definitely can pick up on that. Mine knows if I'm annoyed at him (or not even necessarily at him, just in a bad mood in general) and gets quite anxious, even if I've done literally nothing to convey it. Perhaps this isn't helping with his confidence?

I seriously would just take the pressure off and get to know him more, spend some time grooming and fussing over him, maybe do some ground work or loose schooling, and definitely go for some nice, easy, zero pressure hacks. Maybe go with a friend and chat to them, and just let him pootle along on a loose rein? It took about a year for mine to feel like he trusted me, and that's the stage at which you can ask more of them.

Also what about hoof boots for his front feet? Did you ever find out what was causing the lameness?
 
He has hoof boots, never ride without them. And his shoes were the culprit, just didn't get on with them it seems. It was just a moan after a bad day XC schooling - we've been before and he decided to test me today. I love him to bits, he's wonderful on the ground and we already have a bond, we've done a lot of ground work through his lameness and splint healing time - 3 months worth before I even managed to ride him properly. He's been back in action for 6 weeks straight now and we've been doing all sorts, hacking, lots of pole work to build as much muscle as possible, and we're rarely in the school at the moment to make his life a little more interesting. I figured I could let him do a bit of jumping seen as he loves it at home and gets so excited whenever the wings come out. Last time we went XC he also loved it and did so well, so I didn't see a problem in taking him again. I wear spurs so that he can't be lazy,and if he is he gets a tap with the whip behind the leg - so far in the school we're concentrating on transitions to get them really sharp and get him marching straight away.
 
Sometimes they just have off days!! I'd be tempted to give him the day off tomorrow just in case he's feeling a bit achey or something.
 
I always give them a day off after they do something a bit more stressful or harder than usual. And yes I did, he only doesn't wear them in the paddock or if they fall off and I don't realise for a bit
 
To be honest you have completely different ideas from me about fittening a horse. If he's had 3 months off (especially due to lameness) and only 6 weeks back in work I would have been hacking him in walk, slowly building up a bit of trot and I would just about be introducing some canter work at this stage. I wouldn't have done any formal schooling so far, but would just be starting and certainly no SJ or XC.
 
Booboos said:
To be honest you have completely different ideas from me about fittening a horse. If he's had 3 months off (especially due to lameness) and only 6 weeks back in work I would have been hacking him in walk, slowly building up a bit of trot and I would just about be introducing some canter work at this stage. I wouldn't have done any formal schooling so far, but would just be starting and certainly no SJ or XC.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
Hi OP-I will echo some of the others in saying just five him some more time.
He's coming back to fitness (I too would still be on the trot-cantering stages)
That's without also transitioning him to no shoes. Can totally understand your frustration but I think it's your mounts way of saying its a little too much, too soon. No big shakes, just drop him back a bit :)
 
I agree with the others re fitness but also wanted to say about the boots, they would have to be exceptionally well fitting for me to want to jump in them. If he needs boots even on grass then I would re look at diet and general foot conditioning, xc in hoof boots scares me....
 
I'd be more tempted to work on his schooling with a small jump at the end of the session, and school him when you are out on hacks...forget the xc jumping for the minute. 6 weeks is not long enough to build up muscle and it sounds like you need more time in the saddle/on the ground and schooling to build fitness, trust and understanding on both sides...then maybe you wont have a need for spurs and a tap on the leg...one or the other!!! Just a squeeze and a word from you would be progression!
 
hi,

i agree with the other more time needed on the fitting work especially if your expecting him to do hours cross country training half decent!

Agree with the hoof boots aswell you should not need to wear then on gras....my TB who always has shoes all round went this past week with out shoes because farrier wasnt well so i had another farrier take them off due to them being loose..... and my TB who doesn thave the best feet in the world was completly sound on grass, schooling and jumping... so maybe look at his diet he should be sound on soft ground?!

But on another note i think most TBs are the same especially retired race horses.... my gelding cant be a right monster he can plant him self if he doesnt want to come in from the feild and vise versa if he doesnt want to be out at night he WILL NOT come out of his stable... he transfers this into the school some times to and also while hacking he just stops when he decides somthing SCARY when its not....... its usually just a confidence and trsut thing with them i have had mine 3 years now and just recently this past year i have got him to do everything thing with out any type of argument.... you have to get that bond with them as a rider..... :) they are sensitive souls
 
It wasn't three months all together, he's kept his fitness because I've been doing A LOT of ground work, walking and trotting him in hand etc. He can be ridden perfectly fine without shoes on grass and on a surface, I just don't like the thought of him landing on gravel without any protection.

When we first got him he was competition fit, he had a week off to settle in and then a month of walk and trot only on a surface due to his splint. Splint cleared up and I rode him for a week before his shoes were changed, these were too tight, making him lame for 1 week, I then rode him again for two weeks where he got a bruised sole, off for another two weeks, rode for a week when his shoe came of 4 times in 4 weeks - obviously he was foot sore, but I kept walking him out in hand, over poles etc to keep him at some sort of fitness, rode for another few days when his shoe came off again and we decided to take his shoes off because he had no hoof to attach them to. That was two months ago, he was completely sound from the word go, even on gravel minus a rider - he goes footy if he does step on a large or sharp stone under saddle, which is why I like riding him in his boots now. His muscle has not diminished completely, nor has his fitness - I meant 'minimal' as minimal for this type of work.

His boots fit him really well, no twisting or flopping, the buckle broke so one came off - this did not affect him at all which is why I didn't realise to begin with.
 
I wouldn't class walking and trotting in hand towards any kind of real fitness plan. Horses probably do more walking and trotting in the field on a daily basis than anyone could give them in hand and that doesn't make them fit either.
 
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