Problem getting horse down one side of arena

[irishredwood]

My horse is kept on a working cattle farm so is well used to animals and farm equipment. We have an arena to ride in and on one side seems to be where the farmer leaves his bits and pieces. This causes me problems everytime something changes. My mare gets fixated on whatever it is and refuses to go near it or bananas down the side of the school staring at new object. She totally ignores my aids. I have tried being firm with her but that doesn't work. I have tried letting her stand and look, but this is no better. She is by nature quite laid back but today I felt like giving up riding altogether as a new tractor had been parked down the long side of the school and as soon as I got on she rooted to the spot with head up and neck rigid. I did manage to get her to move by turning her but she just got more and more resistant and in the end I got off as I felt unsafe and tried lungeing her but everytime we got near the long side she shot in and took off at the canter. I eventually got back on board and we managed 5 minutes walking, but not near the long side. I am an older not terribly brave rider and now I am not sure how I will feel riding tomorrow, especially as a stack of round straw bales has been added to the tractor.

 

[TheMule]

My horse is kept on a working cattle farm so is well used to animals and farm equipment. We have an arena to ride in and on one side seems to be where the farmer leaves his bits and pieces. This causes me problems everytime something changes. My mare gets fixated on whatever it is and refuses to go near it or bananas down the side of the school staring at new object. She totally ignores my aids. I have tried being firm with her but that doesn't work. I have tried letting her stand and look, but this is no better. She is by nature quite laid back but today I felt like giving up riding altogether as a new tractor had been parked down the long side of the school and as soon as I got on she rooted to the spot with head up and neck rigid. I did manage to get her to move by turning her but she just got more and more resistant and in the end I got off as I felt unsafe and tried lungeing her but everytime we got near the long side she shot in and took off at the canter. I eventually got back on board and we managed 5 minutes walking, but not near the long side. I am an older not terribly brave rider and now I am not sure how I will feel riding tomorrow, especially as a stack of round straw bales has been added to the tractor.

I would really recommend looking at a groundwork based system such as TRT to give you clear tools to help. It translates really quickly and easily into ridden work to solve problems like that

 

[J&S]

Don't force her to go to the edge of the school to start with. Work down the centre line and just slowly move closer. You can do this in a long rectangular shape then move on to 10 metre circles and spiral out gently.

 

[ycbm]

My horse is kept on a working cattle farm so is well used to animals and farm equipment. We have an arena to ride in and on one side seems to be where the farmer leaves his bits and pieces. This causes me problems everytime something changes. My mare gets fixated on whatever it is and refuses to go near it or bananas down the side of the school staring at new object. She totally ignores my aids. I have tried being firm with her but that doesn't work. I have tried letting her stand and look, but this is no better. She is by nature quite laid back but today I felt like giving up riding altogether as a new tractor had been parked down the long side of the school and as soon as I got on she rooted to the spot with head up and neck rigid. I did manage to get her to move by turning her but she just got more and more resistant and in the end I got off as I felt unsafe and tried lungeing her but everytime we got near the long side she shot in and took off at the canter. I eventually got back on board and we managed 5 minutes walking, but not near the long side. I am an older not terribly brave rider and now I am not sure how I will feel riding tomorrow, especially as a stack of round straw bales has been added to the tractor.

I have had very similar lately with my new PRE mare. I was even thinking forwards to selling her in the spring, The only thing i have found which works is to completely ignore whatever she does and pretend it hasn't happened. We have had crescent moon shaped circles, stopping dead from trot and canter, bolting forwards etc but if I just ignore it all, and keep myself totally relaxed, she settles. I have no idea if this will work for you, but it's worth a try.

On the other side, three years ago I sold a horse who simply could/would not relax, and I have never regretted that decision.
.

 

[PaintPonies]

Does she work ok on the other side of the arena? if yes you could try working her hard where she's happy to work and then offer her a break but the break has to be near the 'scary' side. Not so near as to make her lose it but near enough that she feels a little uneasy about it. Back to work on the safe side, break again on the scary side aiming to get a bit closer each time - not necessarily in one session.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

As above...don’t focus on scary side just work in the area she is comfortable with and occasionally work closer to that side when she is forward thinking and moving. If you can enlist a rider and horse who doesn’t find that side scary then ride with them a few times...follow the friend up that side..ride next to each other up that side with your horse on inside then on outside closest to scariness. It helped with my mare when we were in a similar situation.

 

[Red-1]

I do the same as PaintPonies. Hard work is done in the 'comfortable' side of the arena. Relax side is scary side. If they want to move away from scary side, that is fine, go back to hard work at the non scary side. I let them work it out.

I am not talking running them to exhaustion BTW, just setting them up to find the scary side is a cool place to be.

 

[irishredwood]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try working her away from the scary side that is if I can get her to concentrate. I had an instructor ride her a few times this summer and she managed to make her go where asked but I am not a brave enough rider to ride like she did. My mare can be very stubborn and almost impossible to get her to co-coperate when she doesn't want to do something. On a recent pleasure ride we came across a filled in ditch which was very boggy and she refused point blank to cross it. We tried everything but I ended up after trying for half an hour leading her back to the trailer where she stood quite happily not missing her friends who were enjoying a nice ride out.

 

[humblepie]

Can your instructor ride her and then you get on so that you can benefit from what the instructor has done and get the feeling of confidence. I know that isn't a long term solution as it would be expensive to keep paying someone to ride her. The other thing I would say is, if there is something different which I can appreciate may be every day if it is like the farm my horse is on, and that day you are not feeling up to working through it then don't that day. Perhaps stay on a circle down one end and the comfort zone of the other side. It is bit of pick your battles as it were. What is she like if you go to other arenas? I had a friend whose horse was a nightmare down one of the school at the yard but the would go out and win dressage tests and show jump quite happily elsewhere.

 

[LEC]

I tend to use the Warwick Schiller method. Its really useful and works pretty quickly.

 

[irishredwood]

Can your instructor ride her and then you get on so that you can benefit from what the instructor has done and get the feeling of confidence. I know that isn't a long term solution as it would be expensive to keep paying someone to ride her. The other thing I would say is, if there is something different which I can appreciate may be every day if it is like the farm my horse is on, and that day you are not feeling up to working through it then don't that day. Perhaps stay on a circle down one end and the comfort zone of the other side. It is bit of pick your battles as it were. What is she like if you go to other arenas? I had a friend whose horse was a nightmare down one of the school at the yard but the would go out and win dressage tests and show jump quite happily elsewhere.

 

[irishredwood]

Thanks for your ideas. My instructor is no longer visiting (I ran out of pennies!). I also came to realise that I was never going to be able to ride like she did. She made her look like a dressage horse, I make her look like a seaside donkey! We haven't been out with her much but we did go to a friends arena last week and she was looking g at all the stuff round d the arena but apart from a spook at a chicken lurking she coped quite well. I didn't do anything with her this morning as she was eyeing up the new bale stack from a distance with great suspicion.

 

[Cob Life]

Don't force her to go to the edge of the school to start with. Work down the centre line and just slowly move closer. You can do this in a long rectangular shape then move on to 10 metre circles and spiral out gently.

This is what I do! And work on exercises that you don’t stay at that side long instead of riding the full side (serpentines and circles) I do a lot of leg yielding And shoulder in too to get more control over the shoulders and ride a Shoulder in past anything spooky

 

[WandaMare]

Do you think she is genuinely scared of this side of the school or is she using the whole issue to evade work? I would be looking at all aspects of her routine including feed, amount of work and turnout and putting in place a training plan to get her to where you want your partnership to be. Do you hack her out and is she spooky then? I had a mare who was only spooky doing things she didn’t want to do, she was bold as brass on fun rides and hacking to new places but take her in the arena to work and she’d start getting tense and silly at nothing. I found doing lots of what she was good at, mainly hacking, and keeping her routine suitable (diet and level of exercise) helped our confidence and partnership so that coming back to the tricky things got easier. If you can build up your confidence to handle her she will sense it v quickly and stop being so daft, like she did with your instructor. You can then start to enjoy her more rather than worrying about what you can’t do with her.

With my quirky mare I used to sometimes throw the reins at her and say oh ok spook at the corner and fly all over the place, do your worst and she d do it for a minute then stop because it wasn’t so fun when I wanted her to do it! Mares can be tricky but they teach you so much.

 

[Muddywellies]

Thanks for your ideas. My instructor is no longer visiting (I ran out of pennies!). I also came to realise that I was never going to be able to ride like she did. She made her look like a dressage horse, I make her look like a seaside donkey! We haven't been out with her much but we did go to a friends arena last week and she was looking g at all the stuff round d the arena but apart from a spook at a chicken lurking she coped quite well. I didn't do anything with her this morning as she was eyeing up the new bale stack from a distance with great suspicion.

It sounds like you're feeling a bit like me at the moment. Are you obliged to ride in the arena? Can you cut yourself some slack and be a happy hacker for a while perhaps?

 

[irishredwood]

Do you think she is genuinely scared of this side of the school or is she using the whole issue to evade work? I would be looking at all aspects of her routine including feed, amount of work and turnout and putting in place a training plan to get her to where you want your partnership to be. Do you hack her out and is she spooky then? I had a mare who was only spooky doing things she didn’t want to do, she was bold as brass on fun rides and hacking to new places but take her in the arena to work and she’d start getting tense and silly at nothing. I found doing lots of what she was good at, mainly hacking, and keeping her routine suitable (diet and level of exercise) helped our confidence and partnership so that coming back to the tricky things got easier. If you can build up your confidence to handle her she will sense it v quickly and stop being so daft, like she did with your instructor. You can then start to enjoy her more rather than worrying about what you can’t do with her.

With my quirky mare I used to sometimes throw the reins at her and say oh ok spook at the corner and fly all over the place, do your worst and she d do it for a minute then stop because it wasn’t so fun when I wanted her to do it! Mares can be tricky but they teach you so much.

I would really recommend looking at a groundwork based system such as TRT to give you clear tools to help. It translates really quickly and easily into ridden work to solve problems like that

I would really recommend looking at a groundwork based system such as TRT to give you clear tools to help. It translates really quickly and easily into ridden work to solve problems like that

Thanks. I did a lot of ground work when I first bought her, following Jason Webb's methods. Maybe I should

I would really recommend looking at a groundwork based system such as TRT to give you clear tools to help. It translates really quickly and easily into ridden work to solve problems like that

I did alot of groundwork with her 2 years ago when I first bought her. Perhaps I should revisit this to try and get her attention back on me and not so much on her surroundings.

 

[irishredwood]

I have had very similar lately with my new PRE mare. I was even thinking forwards to selling her in the spring, The only thing i have found which works is to completely ignore whatever she does and pretend it hasn't happened. We have had crescent moon shaped circles, stopping dead from trot and canter, bolting forwards etc but if I just ignore it all, and keep myself totally relaxed, she settles. I have no idea if this will work for you, but it's worth a try.

On the other side, three years ago I sold a horse who simply could/would not relax, and I have never regretted that decision.
.

I could try and ignore where she is looking and carry on schooling but I didn't feel safe as she seemed oblivious to me.

 

[irishredwood]

Don't force her to go to the edge of the school to start with. Work down the centre line and just slowly move closer. You can do this in a long rectangular shape then move on to 10 metre circles and spiral out gently.

Thanks for your ideas but not sure I can regain her attention to even work along the other side of the arena.

 

[QueenT]

As others suggest, would definitely do regular groundwork with focus on desensitizing your horse - maybe see if you can find a clinic locally? My patience sometimes gets the better of me when I face challenges like this, and I always call the local cowboy (yes, that’s truly what he is) to set me straight. Rope halter on, less than 10 words per hour said, slowmo all the way - and the horse lowers his head, smacks his lips and walks into the trailer/walks past the tractor/stands still for mounting. Besides, it a great trust-building thing for you to do together that will 100% aid your riding

 

[TPO]

Second LEC's recommendation of Warwick Schiller for this issue

 

[irishredwood]

Thanks. We now after a couple of weeks and no change in farm debris decided not to go down that side of the school without hesitation or a second glance. So all fine till something new arrives! I have tried groundwork with her before and she is great until I ask her out on a circle and then when asked for trot goes like a looney bucking and flat out. She does this on the lunge too until she has had enough and I hang on but then get in trouble for churning up the school. She in no better when lunged off the bridle but a little more controllable when side reins are added.

 

[JulesRules]

Hi OP. Your post could have been written about me and my mare a couple of years ago.
I'm a different rider now so able to work through these issues these days but it's been a long road to get here. She needs your reassurance, but you can't give her thst until you feel confident enough.

A few suggestions which helped me:
* ride with a neck strap. If she plays silly b*ggers this can give you an extra level of confidence. Grab on, breathe, sit deep and make her do what you want.
* do anything you can to give you an extra confidence boost- get a body protector, air jacket etc
* bend her inwards along the scary edge so she isn't looking at the new bits and bobs.
* get some lessons on another horse to help give you a confidence boost.
* walk her round the arena a few times before getting on.
*get a friend to stand along the scary side in she settles.

Good luck !

 

[QueenT]

Thanks. We now after a couple of weeks and no change in farm debris decided not to go down that side of the school without hesitation or a second glance. So all fine till something new arrives! I have tried groundwork with her before and she is great until I ask her out on a circle and then when asked for trot goes like a looney bucking and flat out. She does this on the lunge too until she has had enough and I hang on but then get in trouble for churning up the school. She in no better when lunged off the bridle but a little more controllable when side reins are added.

In my experience, lunging might be too intensive for a high strung horse. If she is ok at walk, then walk, maybe over poles to get her to focus on something, like her feet. Do things that are easy and stress free

 

[Goldenstar]

Some horses don’t go well at home .
My horse Sky was sold because of pretty extreme spooky behaviour in the school at home he behaved away from home .
I have fixed him it was pretty easy for a bold kick ass rider but I am struck by your honest appraisal of where you are at as a rider .
I would sell your horse and buy something that’s easy to enjoy

 

[irishredwood]

In my experience, lunging might be too intensive for a high strung horse. If she is ok at walk, then walk, maybe over poles to get her to focus on something, like her feet. Do things that are easy and stress free

My mare is not highly strung! She is mostly laid back and lazy! I do use poles quite alot but she can still charge off even with poles in the way.

 

[irishredwood]

Some horses don’t go well at home .
My horse Sky was sold because of pretty extreme spooky behaviour in the school at home he behaved away from home .
I have fixed him it was pretty easy for a bold kick ass rider but I am struck by your honest appraisal of where you are at as a rider .
I would sell your horse and buy something that’s easy to enjoy

I will never sell her. She is my last horse as I am an older rider. I am trying to store up good memories of riding for those years when I have only my memories.

 

[Mule]

There isn't an electric fence on the outside of the arena is there? That can cause it.