FfionWinnie
Well-Known Member
This is a bit of an epic I'm afraid!
We were having a grand old time hacking out together and he was just brilliant. However, he was dripping with sweat and because he also has to wear a SI rug all the time I decided I would clip him out. Never giving this a second's thought, he was belly clipped when we got him, I clipped him and he stood fine. Tootled off to PC with him and daughter proceeded to ride off the lead rein with me hovering close by. She did her trot round the arena, the instructor was singing her praises, it was all lovely under control, managing to rise etc, and just as she was going to bring him back to walk, he literally exploded
he bucked her off, flipped himself over backwards and ran round the arena causing another child's pony to spook and they also fell off no one could believe what we had just seen, kids were all fine and chucked back on straight away happily thank god. I kept him on the lead rein after this but he bucked her off again. In the course of the next week he had her off four times, and these weren't little falls they were explosive bucks 
. To say I was gutted was an understatement, couldn't believe things had gone so badly wrong just because I'd clipped him! I sought professional help and we worked with a dummy and various other things to desensitise him. But as soon as daughter got back on he would do it again, although not as bad. Eventually we had deduced it was her legs gripping his belly causing him to buck, but of course the more he had her off, the more tense she was so the more she would grip and the more he would do it. Finally I came up with the ideal of putting a lunge line round his middle and randomly tugging it (not hard) to simulate her legs, this was the key! We worked like this until he stopped bucking/reacting to the line.
The moral of the story is Shetlands like having at least an inch of padding between them and the world and all hell breaks loose if you remove it!
Touch wood we seem to be ok now, she hasn't ridden much during this time until recently therefore her confidence naturally nose dived/riding went back quite a bit. She isn't riding him off the lead rein, I have been long reining her on him and this works quite well as the behaviour couldn't progress if he started it. I know it is not ideal but I feel it is the safest way to progress meanwhile.
Also decided he is too lean and fit which wasn't helping so much to his delight he is on more grass than he was!
Music version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vm_T5g2-H0
Mobile/tablet version (no music but you can hum Queen You're my best friend for the full effect!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7b9Z-W2szo
A few pics:
New SI rug which is really helping too I think
We were having a grand old time hacking out together and he was just brilliant. However, he was dripping with sweat and because he also has to wear a SI rug all the time I decided I would clip him out. Never giving this a second's thought, he was belly clipped when we got him, I clipped him and he stood fine. Tootled off to PC with him and daughter proceeded to ride off the lead rein with me hovering close by. She did her trot round the arena, the instructor was singing her praises, it was all lovely under control, managing to rise etc, and just as she was going to bring him back to walk, he literally exploded
he bucked her off, flipped himself over backwards and ran round the arena causing another child's pony to spook and they also fell off no one could believe what we had just seen, kids were all fine and chucked back on straight away happily thank god. I kept him on the lead rein after this but he bucked her off again. In the course of the next week he had her off four times, and these weren't little falls they were explosive bucks . To say I was gutted was an understatement, couldn't believe things had gone so badly wrong just because I'd clipped him! I sought professional help and we worked with a dummy and various other things to desensitise him. But as soon as daughter got back on he would do it again, although not as bad. Eventually we had deduced it was her legs gripping his belly causing him to buck, but of course the more he had her off, the more tense she was so the more she would grip and the more he would do it. Finally I came up with the ideal of putting a lunge line round his middle and randomly tugging it (not hard) to simulate her legs, this was the key! We worked like this until he stopped bucking/reacting to the line. The moral of the story is Shetlands like having at least an inch of padding between them and the world and all hell breaks loose if you remove it!
Touch wood we seem to be ok now, she hasn't ridden much during this time until recently therefore her confidence naturally nose dived/riding went back quite a bit. She isn't riding him off the lead rein, I have been long reining her on him and this works quite well as the behaviour couldn't progress if he started it. I know it is not ideal but I feel it is the safest way to progress meanwhile.
Also decided he is too lean and fit which wasn't helping so much to his delight he is on more grass than he was!
Music version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vm_T5g2-H0
Mobile/tablet version (no music but you can hum Queen You're my best friend for the full effect!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7b9Z-W2szo
A few pics:
New SI rug which is really helping too I think
what a cutie!
