Pony getting over excited doing fast work

H

HenrytheCat

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 July 2007
Messages
256
Visit site
I am a novice rider and have noticed that my pony seems to get very excited when we do fast work in the school. This leads her go on her forehand and to take off with me. I am not sure what I should be doing to counteract this? Pulling back doesn't help, for obvious reasons but I am not experienced enough to know what I should actually do and can't afford lessons at the moment due to not working currently.
 
Are there any precursors to her taking off? Is it in response to a spook? Is she generally a bit 'sharp'? Is her brain fully occupied when you work her? By fast work what do you mean? To me, this would be doing half seat canter work - usually out in the fields or on tracks.

Mine is very sharp, and did used to take off, with no reason whatsoever. I just had to pull up (usually by burying her in a corner) then go back to working. Matters were made much worse by hanging on constantly, trying to predict her.

Its hard to fully answer without knowing a little more.
 
Sorry, I will try to explain a bit better. I am quite new to riding and am not sure of all the technical terms so please excuse me if I get things wrong! What is happening is, when I canter for a while, my pony sort of puts her head down and I can't slow her down or stop her until she decides to slow down or stop. Steering isn't very good either at this time. She will stop eventually but it is more down to her decision than to mine. I am not a very good rider, as you have probably guessed, and I do plan to have lessons once I have found a job and have some money again.

She isn't sharp at all normally and she will take off down the school if something spooks her, but I am not worried by that because I think it's only natural. I am not sure if this issue is happening because I am doing something wrong and making her want to run away. I don't think I am, of course, but maybe I am?

I've had her for nearly a year now but I have been learning the basics for a large part of that time. I could afford lessons for the first six months, until I had to stop work.
 
Don't know if this will help, but I have been having similar issues. My horse is very easy to pop up into canter and I found she just got faster and faster, sometimes ending up galloping. This was happening in the school, not particularly dangerous as she wasn't going anywhere, I had to circle her to slow her down. I totally lost my confidence going in to canter though.

Anyway, I have been lucky because there is an instructor at our yard who has been working with me. She was there during one of my 'incidents' :) Apparently, I was gripping with my knees and leaning forwards (due to nerves - well, we were going rather fast), so pulling on the reins did nothing as my legs and forward position were telling her to go faster - which she kindly did - bless her :)

So, first off I have been lunged so that I could learn to sit more securely in canter and not grip on - but stay relaxed. Next we have been working on both upward and downward transitions - not quite there yet, but definitely improving. We have been working around poles in a circle so that the horse knows where we are going - the steering is also coming, the more relaxed I am cantering, the easier it is becoming.

But, it is not easy to relax and release when everything seems to be happening so fast.

Hope that may help.
 
thats exactly what I used to do, and still do when I get nervous and forget to not do it. Grip with my knees and legs and push her on while my hands are saying come back to me. You may be giving mixed messages, you are not a rubbish rider at all or you would not care ;) try to relax a bit more and if she starts to go faster make a huge effort to really relax and give her half halts rather than hauling. I find that giving and taking her the reins on a circle often brings her back as well. Good luck :D
 
Make sure you are sat up straight and not leaning forward as this makes them go faster. Half halt down the reins (which is like a quick pull back then release, pull back release etc) and if this isn't working like someone else said circle as the pony will have to slow down to circle and if necessary stay on a circle and make the circle smaller.
 
Some really good advice here. Don't be so hard on yourself, you're not a rubbish rider at all, just inexperienced and when you are in a position to have some lessons again, then it'll be really beneficial to you both I'm sure.

Do try getting someone to lunge you for a little while, just so you can try and feel what she does and learn some techniques to cope with her reactions. She may well not behave the same when being lunged, but it might help get your confidence up at least.

My mare was quite spooky in the school and my instructor ALWAYS made me ride her through her sillyness. Easier said than done sometimes, but just because she starts being silly, don't stop, push her forward and continue to make her work, or she'll learn that being a little bit silly will get her out of working correctly.

Try and work on your seat a little too. Get your weight well down into your heels and sit deep into the saddle when you're cantering, let her know that you're there...I'm not sure how much of it you're doing at the moment, but try cantering her on a circle first. You'll find it easier to sit to and easier to control her speed, it's not as easy for her to speed up when you're working on a circle. Then, when you're happy with the canter and you feel in control, take her out onto the track and go larger.

I hope you make some progress with her! Try and get some lessons in, even if it is only once a month or something, it'll be really helpful to get a professionals help and opinion.
Best of luck! :)
 
Megan_T said:
...but just because she starts being silly, don't stop, push her forward and continue to make her work, or she'll learn that being a little bit silly will get her out of working correctly...
Click to expand...

That is so true, I'm sure my mare started this tanking off to get out of work - she learnt that if she did this, then the work would very soon be over - 'cos I was getting too nervous to carry on.

Today we finally had a break through, because I am now more secure in my seat and happy with the upward and downward transitions, she has realised that tanking off no longer works because I am happy to sit it out - all she gets is tired :)
 
Glad to hear that Holly!

You're exactly right. My mare would be spooky to try and get out of work, because she soon learnt that it'd scare me to the point that I would just want to give in and stop - hence my RI pushing me to my limit and beyond! It worked though, like you say, eventually she realised that the only thing that happened was that she would get tired - we would still work no matter what she got up to! Lol.
 
A big thank you to everyone who has responded. I may be gripping with my knees when my mare goes into "charging off mode" and I am definitely leaning forward because she seems to pull me down as her head goes down. I will try not to go forwards next time she does it and think about relaxing rather than tensing up. I am sure that is much easier said than done but I am certainly going to give it my best shot.

I will also ask my friend if she will lunge the pony with me on board later in the week. I am sure she will be ok with that as we often loose school or lunge each others horses when one of us is too busy to go up to the yard, although, to be honest I have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment, worst luck. On the bright side it does give me a lot of time to spend with my pony which is good :)
 
HenrytheCat said:
... I will try not to go forwards next time she does it and think about relaxing rather than tensing up. I am sure that is much easier said than done but I am certainly going to give it my best shot...
Click to expand...

It really is 'much easier said than done' - when your horse goes faster than you are comfortable with, the natural reaction is to grip on and lean forward - pity that is the message to the horse to go faster - ROFL

But (from someone who has only just 'been there') trust me, relaxing and sitting back does work.

I've also found that keeping my practice sessions short helps, otherwise as I tire I tend to grip more.

Good luck and keep us posted - it really is a great feeling when it all starts to work as it should :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top