please, everyone with lovely 6yo's, tell me they were vile as 5yo's/!

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Prince33Sp4rkle

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we warmed up beautifully, wandered to the ring on a loose rein..........rodeo'd down the centre line and that pretty much set the tone for the day!

pony is 200% convinced he knows best and any half halt resulted in emergency stops, angry head shaking and/or spinning and any suggestion he may possibly want to bend round my leg = angry sideways kicking at my (soft,gentle,subtle, quiet as a mouse for fear of death) leg.deep joy.

he felt so on form in the warm up and im so bitterly disappointed it all went tits up in the ring.

please cheer me up with tales of vile 5yo's come good!!!!
 
Sounds like he has a lot of pent up energy! I'd try giving him a week or two off schooling, take him out and about for some nice hacks to help him chill, and if you are near some open fields/beach I'd take him for a jolly good gallop! :D
 
Yep, been there done that :D Mine last horse was generally a little git as a five year old and we nearly ended up selling him. He went to boot camp for a few days with my instructor (my mums words to instructor were 'do what you have to do but you dont have to tell us) and then we took him to PC camp which did him the world of good and the rest is history and he grew up into the most fantastic horse :)
You'll get through it with perserverance and alot of patience! It will all pay off in the end :)
 
I wouldn't say either of mine were 'vile' as five year olds, but they definitely concentrated less and I noticed a big difference in their attitude to work as six year olds. :)
 
Fleur was vile as a 4,5 and 6 yo and slowly then became sane! Granted she has barely been out so the process has taken far longer then it could (due to my lack of funding rather than anything else!) but I now have a horse who is sane (well sane enough ;) ) and who actually enjoys going out and competing. :D
 
Oh dear!!! Well when my grey was 5-6 he went through a TERRIBLE period... head shaking, refusing to more, general Mr Stroppy. We weren't even asking for anything besides real baby stuff. He would head shake even out hacking on a loose rein. The vet even thought he might have wobblers as he was just all over the place and generally a bit insane. Spent a fortune on tests at Liphook (which insurance refused to pay back grrr) and nothing was found, the vet mentioned it could be growing pains, or he was just being a bad pony lol. Resulted in him having several months of only light work and I was actually ready to give him away at his point.

A year on and he's MUCH better. After eliminating everything from bad back/teeth/dodgy eyesight etc we managed to work him though it. Your boy has probably just discovered all that extra power you've just added by your training. Hang on in there, once he grows up a bit I'm sure it will all click into place :)
 
oh dear :eek: i don't have a success story as such...but wanted to offer some condolences and to tell you that my 5 year old is a raging loon too after being an adorable 4 year old...so am hoping its a 5 year old thing :rolleyes: i have noticed slightly improved behaviour in the last week after doing a hunter trial last week... so there's your answer :D
 
Oskar was a HORRID, EVIL 5 yr old. Growing, finding his feet, having been prepared for auction, and then ending up with me! He grew devil horns under saddle in a big way. i remember riding around the school in tears as he chucked himself from side to side. Luckily he, like most horses, did outgrow it.

My friend has a world class young horse who has chucked her off badly on a number of occasions - like "I want to kill you" tantrums. Not stopping until the rider is on the floor. At least Star isn't doing that! :eek:
 
I have good and bad news..:-) my one horse started seriously misbehaving as a 5yo had me on the floor at least once a week and continued to be pretty vile until he was 8, he was always a very talented horse but decided most days he didnt want to show anyone his talents unless it was jumping. One of my more recent horses was fab as a 3 and 4 yo (really didnt put a foot wrong) then he hit 5 and started just generally started feeling his feet - started bolting when he found something a bit tricky - one day he actually just ran straight into arena fence and broke it. He also started bucking out on a hacks and being rather cheeky on the yard. He then had a quiet winter (last winter due to terrible weather). This spring however he seems to have gone back to the nice, normal horse he was as a 4yo (so far anyway). Also he has really strengthened up which I think has helped him as he is finding things easier. Your lad looks stunning and im sure it will all be worth it...good luck!
p.s any chance he hasnt just got the spring feeling :)
 
thank you all. am trying not to be too despondant, im sure its a combination of spring fever and growing up and pushing the boundaries a bit.

he doesnt feel bored/sour. he feels naughty and bossy! so im going to do what id tell a client to do and get him out as much as possible so he remembers that mum is in charge!
 
He's been working pretty hard recently, hasnt he? Could just be his way of telling you to slow it down and give him time off to relax (like a typical man) :)

Otherwise, I had a 5 year old pony that was the sweetest thing on earth, always tried to please! but then he was a special case i think ;)
My horse when he was 5 was a complete nutter ie. would buck everywhere and anywhere, complete and utter devil to bring out to a comp, he would kick/paw/shake the lorry and refuse to stand on his own, not behave when at a party, etc.

Now he behaves most of the time :p
 
Interestingly, when my horse was misbehaving the most, he was on a very low energy basic feed. I noticed he had lost some weight, upped his feed and started adding oats, and almost immediately he became much easier. He was getting tired, running out of steam, and his way of expressing it (being a naturally very forward going horse) was to act up. Once I got the right amount of fuel into him, the tantrums eased. Not something I'd ever thought of before, but it makes sense.
 
I have a Vile 7year old! Haha
Warmed up beautifully, then as soon as we went down the center line she though cantering on the spot was much more entertaining, and at C cue a mighty rear! Dont you just love horses! :P
 
Oh dear, I will sign the petition to bring back Captain Sensible.

My 5 yr old turns 6 on the 12th June, he has earned his nickname H bomb as a 5yr old, at times he feel s like he really could let rip and explode, but has got alot better over the last few months, until today that is when we had serious toys out of the pram and he told me in no uncertain terms that he had learnt to buck. (Daughter was in fits of laughter hanging off her horses neck while I sounded like Hugh Grant in Four Weddings F***it-e-duckety was let rip a number of times). I am hoping that we don't have a rerun of this behaviour he is far to agile for an old codger like me:) A few of the horses on the yard haven't been themselves this week perhaps there is more in the grass than we think.
 
I'm not sure whether I can help but I currently have 2 5yos. One is an absolute joy: on the floor, from the saddle, nothing is too much trouble. If you don't ask he won't do it. If you do he's happy to oblige. He will tie up to the trailer from now until next week if you so wish.

The other is an absolute git on the floor. He has been brayed (Yorkshire term! ;)) to within an inch of his life on several occasions but it seems to wash over him. He'll walk over the top of you, swing round when you're tacking him up and generally be horrible. In the saddle he's bolshy for 10mins then generally absolutely fine.

Guess which one got 83% for Novice 24 today??????
 
"He's been working pretty hard recently, hasnt he? Could just be his way of telling you to slow it down and give him time off to relax (like a typical man)"

i dunno? he had oct-march out of competing, trained at home, did some jumping, lots of hacking.lots of 3/4 day mini breaks in the field.
he generally goes to a show every 2nd or 3rd weekend, and in between hacks once a week, does a fun session of poles/jumping and then 2/3 schooling sessions but he's such a gem at home they are only half an hour usually,loads of walk breaks and pats and sweets.

he works with a smile on his face and is always happy to oblige.....until show time. up until that fateful show 4 weeks ago he was the most reliable and easy chap at shows too, but this sudden arrival of kevin the teenager seems to have coincided with spring grass, hence im thinking he seems too fresh rather than bored/sore/sour, but honest opinions please all-wahddya reckon????

his hacking has got much better-more relaxed and confident, and generally in his work he feels very confident. my gut feeling is that he feels like he knows best in the ring as the explosions today happened if i try to half halt/flex/direct him.but my gut could be wrong!

i do think im at the : back off and give him a break OR kick on and work his socks off, crossroads, and i need to get it right :panicking:

HS-he is on a decent amount of conditioning mix and linseed, plus top haylage and lovely dairy grass.until last week he had 2 mugs of oats a day too,but i dropped them after keysoe and intro'd a magnesium calmer.
TBH i think the calmer HAS helped as in the warm up he felt sharp but like he would jump/spook, then relax, where as pre-calmer he'd get more wound up with each jump/spook.

soooooo.to back off work, or up work, to back off the oats or up them?!
 
hmmm, thats a tricky one, I didnt realise he was off till march, so he shouldnt be wanting a break yet!

What about bringing to a show to do some unaff/clear round jumping, or maybe a working hunter class at a local show?

It could be that he knows he can do the stuff and finds it very easy so it making his own "fun" and has just become very confident (read - cocky :p) in himself?

Its a hard one to be sure!

and GB, well done :D what a score!
 
Mine is a bit of a saint - as a 4 year old calm and relatively compliant - as a 5 year old some silly behaviour but nothing really major apart from being a bit of a T*t to get on at shows. This coincided with his ancient rusty jockey feeling a little less confident:o. We just took it easy until things calmed down (me not him!!:D)

He's just turned 6 and feels so much stronger and is so adjustable and much more forwards. Yesterday did a comparison as there was a new 5 and 7 year old on the yard, just imported, and have to say he now has a lovely way of going and is a saint again! Pleased I persevered, my trainer kept him on the straight and narrow and he put up with some very ropey numpty riding from me.:D
 
Yes - they were (the TB anyway) absolute head-the-balls as 5yo's (airs above the ground in warmups mostly), however with mine she came out a little more sensible as a 6yo and positively laid back as a 7yo.

Good luck - he is sooo worth the effort.

Fiona
 
There is only one thing worse than a 5yo and that is a late backed 5yo!

My big mare was an opinionated nappy cow as a 5yo, and like yours today, the gentlest of half halts resulted in an abrupt halt from which only pony club like legs would get her to move, you could not carry a stick because she would act as if you beat her with it daily (I didn't btw much as I felt like it) and went into complete meltdown resulting in humungous bucks and once even falling over!

She has just turned 7 and the napping is gone and she is now showing some real potential, still gives the occasional buck but nothing like she was :)

Feel better?
 
Oh poor you, not one to talk to really about foul 5 years olds as he was also at 6 7 and in fact is now 17 and can still be as bad, but he got to the nationals several years running up to Medium, is a Grade A showjumper and now intermediate eventing however, somedays he can produce a 70+ test another you are very lucky if you get 50%. The worst ever was 36% as the little darling refused to go anywhere near C and when he did he sat on the poor judges car. Showjumping you would never ever believe he is going to jump a thing as he goes into the ring spooking and rearing at everything, the minute you point him to a fence to jump him though, he just changes his attitude and does the job.

I try to put it down to the reason he is so talented is his attitude, but I do really know I am kidding myself, but then his good days do seriously outway his really really naughty days, so have learnt to live with it.
 
Beau was very quiet and easy to break in (at late 4), as 5 -6 yr old he was at his 'worst' but has been lovely ever since.

He managed to dump me 3 times by randomly just deciding he had enough and that it was time I got off. Absolutely no warning one minute walking/trotting along happily next minute rodeo display. Never worked out the trigger, however I'm VERY glad he grew out of it!!

Have faith! As your problem seems to be at comps could you take him to some low key affairs, enter HC with the aim of trotting quietly through the test, no bend/collection desired and if he explodes making it very clear that its not acceptable ( if he respects your voice just yell / grumble at him (just keep it PC if your in public)). This works with Beau as he is a total wimp and knows when he has pushed things too far....
 
One of my daughters rides was like that in the spring. We just put him om hi-fi and spillers cubes which have magnesium in and restricted the spring grass until he settled down. Im sure some horses have a spring suger intolerance that just freaks them out and most diets that have haylage in are too high in energy.
 
Take him off the oats completely and look at feeing him something like simple systems feeds. All ''mixes'' have a high number of toxins which can block the lymphatic system and are not good for your horses liver as the ''chemicals'' can not be digested properly.

Feed a non molassed non sugar feed and a non molassed chaff such as TopChop Lite. As soon as i changed Bloss onto a feed system like this she was a different horse. I also put her on a liver tonic from Global Herbs to ''wash'' her system out. Once he has had a month on this sort of feed then think about introducing natural oats again, but i personally would change his feed first and let his body totally clean out first.
 
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