restarting a horse? :-/

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SarahRicoh

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Hey all..

Bit of background info: 14.3hh, 11yr old ish gelding called crepelo (pelo). His owner bought him but he was too much for her & she lost confidence so now i have him! He has a habit of bolting & riddenwise is v sensitive/netvy/tense & is generally quite difficult to do.much more than w/t on a hack. Has done bsja in past & is very much in that frame of my.mind. Was very tacked up when i got him & has done little schooling/reacts to short stirrups/reins as he thinks hes jumping.

However on ground- although he can look worried- he is the perfect horse & when i walk him.out inhand hes so much calmer..

So iv come to the conclusion he needs restarting as hes a totally diff jorse under saddle but (this may sound stupid), i dont really get how you restart a horse thats already been backed as he already knows what to do?

Iv backed several youngsters & im experienced in project horses so its not like i cant do it i just dont really get it..

Can anyone explain how theyd do ut/offer advice?

*thankyou muchly :) *
 
boring answer, but first off I would get teeth and saddle checked, and consider having the vet give him the once over. That way any work you start won't be causing him discomfort. There can of course be lots of reasons for his tension under saddle, but it is well worth discounting pain or discomfort first off. After that, then start as if you were starting from scratch and take the horse as a guide for how fast or slow to take a step. He will tell you what he needs work with, and what is ok - just listen to him as he is the expert!
Best of luck with him!
 
I am assuming that all the checks have been done to make sure there is no pain involved. I would go right back to the beginning with lunging and longreining. Only when he is totally relaxed would i then start to reinroduce the rider to him. I would only be doing tiny steps at a time a he needs to learn to relax about it all.
 
I'd go back to the beginning and re-teach every thing, i've seen people attempt to re-start horses but they move on when they think the horse has done x or y for long enough rather than really looking at the horse to see whether he understands whats being asked and does it without tension.
Sounds like he's been inadvertently taught a few wrong things i.e. short stirrups means must get over excited and silly , so he needs to re-learn lots of stuff.
I'm constantly amazed at how many people are happy to go off to shows, fun rides etc when they struggle to lead their horse to the field without being dragged all over the shop and it won't stand still for them to mount. To me all these little things are important, I really do believe that if all these little foundation blocks are put into place properly then theres a lot less chance off the more advanced stuff coming crashing down at a later date.

You've noticed that he looks worried so maybe his behaviour is a smoke screen? maybe he's pretty worried about lots of stuff and actually just needs someone (you :-) ) to be consistently looking out for him so he feels safe enough to relax.

I think you'll do fine, you're already asking for advice which is a pretty good sign that you want to be sure you do a good job.

ps - piccies!!! :D
 
I cant figure out how to.post piccies from mobile :( any ideas?

There were a few things at the start he was bad with (eg. I had to.mount in.school as hed shoot off/wouldnt go near outside mounting block but now hes fine with both).. Im trying to correct his issues & on things like that its working but i genuinely believe he was backed too quickly/harshly so although he does what you ask hes nervous & when he cant cope anymore he bolts...

Hence why i want to restart him but me being thick i cant get the concept as he knows how to do everything... Guessing im not just teaching him.how to do things im getting him happy & comfortable? Bless him :)
 
Teeth and back first - I would recommend a GOOD equine physiotherapist! If he's been badly ridden, chances are he has tense, contracted muscles (which can be quite painful) and you'll get nowhere until you get any problems sorted.

Then treat him like an unbacked horse. Teach him to lunge and long rein (properly!) Teach him voice commands (walk, trot and WHOA at least!) Teach him to stand at the mounting block. Take it one step at a time and don't move on to the next step until he has the last one perfect! And every day, repeat each step at least twice before going onto the next step.

The problem with horses is that they remember best what they were taught first - so it's always harder to re-train a horse who was started badly (rather than one who was started well and then went bad afterwards.) Patience and repetition are the keys!!
 
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