Return of the shiny goat pony *pics* Also anyone any good schooling exercises?

[NicoleS_007]

Bonjourno *starts to sing superman theme tune for a grand entrance* Decided to take some pictures of the fat, shiny goat pony doing some much needed schooling today!! She is rather unfit atm as she had to have time off for ... a) mistery swollen lame legs, then we had her in work for 2 days and she then went and got cast and bashed her eye and knee So atm were fittening her up to get ready for some DR and SJ in Jan (providing no more injuries are incurred!!). Problem is with her being unfit we have a snails canter which goes nowhere, this does not work when jumping either!! So were working on really opening the canter up and making her think forwards, forwards, forwards. If anyone has any schooling exercises (jumping or flat) to get her thinking forwards in canter would be great Anyway heres some piccys ...

Chocolate digestives and tea for all who got this far

 

[skydancer]

Wow, what a beautiful hore - i love skewbalds always wanted one - somehow ended up with big ginger thing

 

[wtdnh131]

beautiful!!! ive got the opposite, a piebald!!!

only ones of the top of my head i can think of are ten meter circles at each marker and putting jumps in pattern thats impossible to describe and its set so you have to turn loads, not very useful i just cant describe it!!

 

[Damnation]

How is she without the spurs? Some horses back off them. I find a tap with the schooling whip behind my leg helps to get more forewards. Also canterpoles to get her to really stretch.
What does she do it you just let go of the reins? Perpahs forgetting about her head for now and work on a better rhythm an more foreward energy then come back to getting her to bring her head down.

LOADS of transitions too. Do 3-4 every circit of the school, 2 transitions on a circle, always changing the rein. Halt, then trot then walk then canter then trot then canter then walk etc

After all, without the forwards she won't be using her back properly

Hope some of these suggestions help.

 

[Angua2]

cant help but she is stunning....... goat pony..... honestly!

 

[MiCsarah]

Lovely mare! Id go into different speeds within the canter, so open her up and then come back to working canter etc. Canter poles are good and then when fitter upto a grid. So like 2/3 bounces, 1 stride to jump and then 1/2 strides to another.

 

[NicoleS_007]

Skydancer ... Thanks, im not a fan of coloureds but I do love her ... I always wanted a ginga pony so im half way there hehe

wtdnh 131 ... lol thanks

DamnChristmas ... Not much difference without the spurs tbh, there very small ones but she does listen more with them. I use them instead of a whip as she doesnt listen to the whip, if i hit her she tenses up, goes very slow (practically bouncing on the spot) and throws a buck in. After some chasing her on today she did improve and went round at a better pace, with her I think the key is fitness aswell as keeping her thinking. Unfortunatly the arena is right beside the motorway so she can see the tops of lorries going by and hear them as clear as day so she can be spooky and quite sharp if something scares her (we had an incident today were something banged rather loudly and she bolted, I had to use the arena fence to stop her ... although i suppose we did have forwards momentum ), so im not to fond to let my reins go so to speak but if i want her to go forward i do give her the rein. Il give those exercises a go thank you

Angua2 ... Lol she has adopted many names but she does resemble a goat when shes unclipped

 

[Pebbles]

Beautiful pony x

 

[TigerTail]

What a stunner!

Hitting horses is really not the way forward, nor the way to get them wanting to work with you rather than against you as you've found

Instead trying using a gentle squeeze of your leg against her side with the swing of her belly, instead of both legs together which essentially blocks them being able to move. You could also try waggling a schooling whip or hitting your boot with it which makes an effective noise which can be encouraging to them.

Lots and lots of transitions to keep up the pace and her interest. Reinback to walk then trot etc is a great way of building impulsion too.

In the canter pics it looks like you are pushing with both seatbones together which again blocks the forward movement of the horse. I would also be lengthening your stirrups and adjusting your position so you are able to be a more effective rider

 

[NicoleS_007]

MiCsarah ... Brill will give that a go thanks

Pebbles .. thanks, I do love the Pumpkin pony

TigerTail ... She likes to be treated like a queen Our last Tb needed a smack if he wasnt listening (it really did work) as he liked to take the pee sometimes, but shes the complete opposite. Iv found lots of praise and good girls work for her ... most of the time I think your right about the pushing with the seatbones I have a habit of doing that when she falls behind the leg! Really need to work on being more still, will give the lenghtened stirrups a go as I do tend to ride quite short!! Thanks

 

[Twilkolock]

Really lovely mare.

If she's a bit behind the leg (which she looks in some of the pictures) and presumably it's nothing physical (bloods-illness, saddle, bit, etc) and if she were mine, I'd think about:
1. Is it physical - seasonal, feeding, coldness, etc, etc.

I think there's a few issues going on though, from your posts.

1. I think she needs de-sensitizing to the whip as you should be able to use it as a support to the leg cue/aids. Can you do some groundwork in the arena/stable to de-sensitize her to the whip? Then, when she's de-sensitized you should be able to give gentle taps directly behind the leg [to support the leg aid]. The taps (never punishment) whould increasing in speed (not strength) to reinforce the leg aid. Immediately stop when you have the desired response.
2. If you gain control over the shoulders she shouldn't spook. Do you use the direct and indirect rein to ask for turns or use the outside rein to stop outside shoulder falling out? Practise turns using the indirect rein but then immediately return to using direct rein.
3. It doesn't sound as it she's fully responsive to the stop/slow signal (bolting in the school). Maybe you need to re-train/re-school this before you ask for more complex movements? Try walk/halt and the moment she stops release the pressue.
4. She's probably a bit 'stuck' in the canter because a) she's not truely off the leg, b) you may focus too much on the shape of the neck/head at the expense of implusion. The head and neck are the last in the sequence when working a horse. They should first go forward from the leg and then go straight. Don't worry about the shape of the neck. Ask for upward transitions within and between the gates: walk to trot, trot to canter, halt to trot, etc. (I'd avoid walk to canter at the moment as it can make them tense when not fully off the leg and can make the work frustrating.) Then think about transitions within the gates: working to medium trot. Even if she rushes she can't sustain the rush for long and it will turn into a lengthen of the stride at some point and at the same time you've got a bit more energy to play with.

Once you have the basics of 'go', 'stop', 'turn' (control of the shoulders) you can ask for a little give/take on the reins to encourage flexion but only once she's truely off the leg.

I wouldn't jump until you've got these things sorted as you may approach the jump with little implusion and no energy which is not desirable.

Thats what I'd do if you asked me for a lesson!

Lovely mare, your position's great and you look effective - good luck.

 

[NicoleS_007]

Twilkolock ... Yea I would say she is behind the leg. She had bloods done in Oct/nov and they were clear, saddle checked and back done etc Feed wise the only thing that she seems to react to is sugar which makes her spooky. Whip wise shes not scared of it, she'll happily eat it lol no matter if i give her a tap behind the leg or on the shoulder she tenses and backs off. I have found showing her the whip whilst in canter makes her move on but only for a few strides. Her left rein canters harder to keep together, as in her neck/head disconnect to the rest of her body!! That sounds really silly but on a circle she turns her head/neck in and takes hold of the bit so we sometimes have a lack of steering! Shes better in the big arena as theres more room to set her up and no chance of me hitting my feet off the fencing Thanks you for your input will deffo give those a go

 

[Twilkolock]

Good to know that the bloods are OK.

Few ideas:

From what you're saying I think she is sensitized to the whip but I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'backs off'? If she's moving on in canter whilst using the whip then she is responding to it in the way you want. But, I think you're saying that it doesn't motivate her to keep the momentum up. If this is the case, you can a) increase the tapping (not strength of the whip) or b) use your leg: from a halt/walk or walk/trot transition use a small amount of pressure from the heel to see if this gets a reaction. If she doesn't respond then you need to give ONE big kick that gets a reation. Do not keep squeezing/tapping with you leg as this de-sensitizes her to what the leg pressure means. If she then slows again - Repeat. If she slows again repeat but also use a a tap from the whip increasing in tempo until she responds.

If her head appears disconnected from her body on the left rein, then she falling out with her outside/right shoulder. This means that you may have an inconsistent contact on the outside rein which is not 'holding' the shoulder in place. a) keep the outside rein 'fixed' and unmoving to control the falling out. You could even take hold of a neck strap (old stirrup leather) to keep your hand in place. b) ask for a 'turn' with both the inside and the outside/indirect rein to gain better control of right shoulder. Here, you turn both your hands to the left. Inside (left) hand opens out to ask for a direct turn (left) and then the outside (right) hand which is 'fixed' and 'unmoving' (but desn't pull back) rein comes across the the withers. This then asks for a turn of the shoulders rather than a direct rein which can make the outside shoulder fall out. You need to practice this at halt and walk first.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'take hold' but I assume it means you feel a greater pressure from her on inside left rein. She is doing this because she's not STRAIGHT (ie, falling in/out with her shoulders). A straight horse has even contact on both reins. This is because she is reacting to an increase in pressure from YOU as you attempt to control the left turn by turning her head rather than her shoulder by using the direct/inside rein only.

If you use the outside/indirect rein you won't feel an increase in pressure from her.

Best of luck

 

[only_me]

She looks lovely I think it is a breeding trait to be quite laid back - I rode billy again today up the road (he was sat on first time last sunday) and apart from one OMG moment at an abandoned christmas tree on the road was as good as gold! (Dam, that would have been a good name!!)

Only thing that I picked up on was that you mention you find it harder to hold her together on the left - I wouldnt even try to hold her together atm, I would just have her going forwards at all times - gentle squeeze if no reaction kick harder if no reaction whip works quite well

I love the simple exercise of 2 poles set apart say 6 strides, then you can aim on getting 5 strides, 7 strides etc. so she learns to open her frame up more and extend

 

[NicoleS_007]

Twilkolock ... By backs off, i mean if I tap her on the shoulder she will do a little jump, fling her head up and slow right down so shes nearly in walk or trot (depending on what pace your in) she then completely backs off the leg as if to say "B*gger off!!". If i tap her behind the leg in canter she puts her ears back, tosses her head around, slows right down and does a half hearted buck, and once asked to move off the leg she just feels like a tense curled up ball beneath you. Although when were jumping she doesnt mind if i give her a tap on the shoulder to waken her up, but thats the only time iv found it much use and the only time she seems to tolorate it! Rode her this morning consentrating on lots of transitions and she went better. We even got the canter up a gear after lots of praise and pushing her on/bringing her back within the canter etc.

Only_me ... Poor abandoned chrimbo tree, I bet it feels bear without some tinsel and lights the little-un will be bullied ... That is a good name, after annie was named I though of ... Colour me Gold, cant believe i didnt think of it sooner!! ... Thanks, going to do some pole work tomorrow or Sun

 

[Twilkolock]

Glad to know she's moving on in the canter and is a bit better there.

To me, it does sound as if she needs to be re-educated about the whip [and 'go', 'turn', 'stop' and 'yeild'] as it is a really useful tool/aid/cue, whatever you want to call it, to support the leg aids/cues.

The whip is used incorrectly a lot of the time and the horse then starts to exhibit unwanted behaviour, such as slowing, etc.

It's pretty difficult to explain how to re-educate a horse about the whip [and the other basics] within a forum setting but Paul McGreevy's book "Equitation Science" describes how the horse learns etc. It goes into detail about how to train the horse using the whip, the correct use of the whip, and how to get effective results.

Bets of luck and she is a lovely pony/horse.

 

[Jesstickle]

No help but what are your chaps? Ive been looking for some that colour for forever!

Lovely mare too

 

[NicoleS_007]

No help but what are your chaps? Ive been looking for some that colour for forever!

Lovely mare too

Tredstep gaiters