Over excitable mare with no brakes, any suggestions?

[fatfurrycobs]

Hi everyone

I was wondering if anyone out there has any advice for a frustrated cob owner who could strangle her mare at times ??!!

I have a sec D mare, she's 8 now. She's a brilliant mare, she can be a difficult horse to ride & own at times as she's highly strung but she can turn her hoof to anything & is fab really. Anyway, last winter we discovered hunting. I think my mare has found her forte in life, she adores it more than anything else we do!

This however is becoming a slight problem, now we are into our 2nd season she is getting a tad ridiculous at times as she knows what it's all about. She gets over excited in the stable & travelling, but that's fine I just ignore that. At the meets generally she is ok but she gets very, very excited, to the point where she's spinning around & going backwards when the field are charging off in the opposite direction, bless her, he he. :grin:

I struggle with my breaks, in open spaces she can be absolutely fab, other times she is a nutter & will tank off at 100mph & keeps going even when everyone else stops! I have tried numerous bits, gags, pelhams, snaffles, myler, etc. ATM we are in a Waterford gag with flash, it's ok, not great, she can't lean on it like she used to with other bits but I still can't really stop her.

I have issues with her in confined spaces, like when we are in forestries, etc. She insists on bombing up tracks & would sit on the persons butt infront if I let her, that really annoys me. Everything else is ok, but this habit of hers really winds me up. She also really freaks out if we stop on a lane or a track, open spaces she's fine! Silly bugger! I think I need a different bit to be able to control her more, I can hold her back if everyone tanks off, it's just when she gets going, it's very hard to stop & she's kind of all or nothing, she only has 2 speeds on the hunting field - flat out or stop! I do keep her at the back of the field as she can get so silly she holds everyone else up and I want to teach her that she can't bugger off whenever it suits her!

Does anyone else out there have a horse like mine ??? I was wondering if anyone has any bit and calming suggestions for my girly????

Just to add, my horse is used for showing in the summer, she's very well schooled & goes in a snaffle normally, is exceptionally calm when we show, do endurance, etc. She can be a flighty neurotic thing at times (typical welshy!) but hunting unleashes the beast in her!

Help !

 

[Cliqmo]

I'd say get her up the front as experience has shown me that letting the rest of the field leave before you will always wind an exciteable horse up It will also mean you get to stop and start more often as you aren't constantly playing 'catch up'... This should mean your mare will have a minute to calm down and relax

I'm not sure changing bits will help I'm afraid, as it sounds like your control suffers when her blood is up, which you can't easily solve with a harsher bit. Good luck with her and be sure to apologise when charging around out of control- many people find it totally unacceptable on a regular basis :shocked:

 

[AmyMay]

I'd almost be tempted to say that your horse doesn't enjoy hunting - and that she's exhibiting really strong examples of stress related anxiety......

 

[SueEllen]

How often do you go out? My friend recently sold her hunter after one season, he was doing a lot of things that you mention in your post. She was only getting out on him (hunting) maybe once a week.
He's now used as a hireling. They initially cut back his feed, but the main differance has been that he's out a lot more between xc rides and hunting. This has resulted in a lovely well mannered and experianced hunter.

 

[fatfurrycobs]

I only hunt at weekends but she is ridden a few times per week. She lives out most of the time and is only really fed a token gesture after she has been ridden, she's a spritely girl but a good doer so she copes very well on what I do give her - which is a non-heating pasture mix.

With regards to her not enjoying it, I think it's the opposite, she gets very excited, she is a stress head but from owning her from a 2 year old & going to hell & back with her when she was young (she had a bad start in life) I know when she is stressed & unhappy & when she is over excited, I would definitely say she is excited rather than anxious.

I've probably made her sound worse than she is, she's a fab little mare really, just a bit O.T.T at times. I agree that she is inexperienced & to be fair she has improved from last year in many respects but the excitability is worse, maybe next year will be better :grin:

 

[spacefaer]

I'll probably get shot down for saying this and I don't know if it's possible but try working her harder in between times - a lot of hunters are civilised when hunted regularly and not allowed to get fresh. Most horses are never really used to their full capacity (thankfully compared to the 19th century) and have far more energy than we ever use.

My OH had a very strong, very opinionated horse who was virtually impossible to hold, never queued and was generally rude. However, when he lived at a yard run by a point to pointer, he worked as hard as the pointers , had a good blow out the day before he went hunting - and was a delight, with brakes and manners.

Not suggesting you gallop her to exhaustion, just get her tired enough to take the edge off

 

[Ladylina83]

I agree with Ali_M and try and get her up front you can always hang back after you have the initial excitement over. My mare is also very excitable when out but a sharp blast gets the worst out of her.
Is there an option to lay lines ? It's still really good fun but just 4 of you ahead of the field, might not have an excuse then to stress up as much

 

[Hannahlee]

My little cob was exactly like this to begin with. I found a happy medium with a dutch gag, grackle noseband, and running martingale. Also keeping him up front really helped. Instead of waiting for everything to go, you can push the horse when everything starts to move, thus you are telling the horse to go not waiting for it too over excite then the horse steaming off. I find with mine I am better off making him go, than waiting until he wants to go. The spinning will be in anticipation to move, but being unallowed to do so. I always work him as usual up to the day before we go, then he has a day off the day after. Although the dutch gag works best for me, cheltenham gags are often a good choice with cob/cob types. They raise the head, so if your horse sticks it's chin in its chest then these do help. However if you find the gag working, I wouldn't change! Somtimes if possible hacking to a meet can take the edge of just before you get there.
Is there any chance you could ride her a couple more times during the week? Or lunge.... hunting will fitten a horse very quick, so the workload needs to increase slightly to cope with this.
Good luck =]

 

[cptrayes]

There are a couple of people in our field who use a bit combination with a strap that pulls across the front of the nose as well as on the mouth. It seems to work really well, I have seen one of the horses it's on this season bolt away from the field through a steel gate, but this year he seems much better. I'm sorry I can't tell you what it is, but maybe someone else can.

Definitely agree this is classic hunting excitement, not fear.

 

[Cliqmo]

There are a couple of people in our field who use a bit combination with a strap that pulls across the front of the nose as well as on the mouth. It seems to work really well, I have seen one of the horses it's on this season bolt away from the field through a steel gate, but this year he seems much better. I'm sorry I can't tell you what it is, but maybe someone else can.

Definitely agree this is classic hunting excitement, not fear.

I think they mean the myler combination bit

 

[fatfurrycobs]

Thanks for the suggestions, I do need to ride her a bit more I think, she gets ridden every other night at the mo & I think I need to make a concious effort to ride the night before to take the edge off her. I'm lucky enough to have a beach on the doorstep so she has plenty of galloping in open spaces.

Re: kicking her on, I do that where possible & she will the usually stop with no problem at all, infact she doesn't want to pass anyone then & is quite happy going nicely along side, I have to boot her on!. Ironically my problems don't really occur when we are in an open field, she has pretty good manners then, it's when we are on a track she is at her worst, she tries to tank off & get infront. Now & again she will take off in a field & again she is happy to stay with the group at a fairly decent speed one she has caught up, she just doesn't stop when everyone else does! She hasn't quite mastered that yet, bless her

She is a typical chin to chest type, although I have seen a big improvement this year with the Waterford as I suppose she can't lean on it. I have been looking at cheltenhams, I think it would be worth a go.

Compared to last year she is a million times better & I am very lucky with her really, she wouldn't dream of doing some of the horrible things that other horses on the field do to thier riders, she just gets too excited, saying that, I do too so probably have an electric bum that spurs her on. She'll come, I think she just needs more hunting- what a fab excuse to get out & about even more!