Schooling - help! sorry its long!

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moocow

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So advice needed - bare with the novice numbskull!

My mare is only 4. She has been in a yard being professionally schooled and taught to jump. She is going great. one problem. I am moving her back to her part livery (financial reasons) so i am going to have to go it alone from now on with her schooling.

the main issue is she has gotten really full of her self. She races all the time. She takes a check well and the minute you release the pressure off she goes again. I don't think a stronger bit is the answer as she takes the check so well - comes right back to you but I want to stop this behaviour!

I have been advised, and always (try) to take a check and release the pressure as the other option is just leaning on her mouth, she is not on the bride and things go from bad to worse! But it is so difficult to get her to just SLOW DOWN!

When you first get on board, she has a very forward walk but its a good walk, then you start trot work with her and she starts OK but the more work you do the faster she gets. She then knows that canter is the next gear, so starts to pull in trot. Once you get her into canter, she starts with a great working canter, on the bridle, bending, responsive, then she starts to spead up, starts to fight with you, starts falling in.

the idea of doing trot work after she has bene cantering - well, forget it! we have been running and we like it!

At teh weekend I was riding her and I tried something that the yard said would never fail, if she is pulling against you, drop the contact and she will come back, does she hell! if was like someone hit the turbo button!

As i am going it alone from the beining of nov, i would really like to know, how the hell I can sort this out! i want her to enjoy being ridden - I don't want every ride to be a fight.

At the moment she is being ridden 5 times a week and when she moves that will be down to once a week but she will have 20 mins in the walker every day and will be turned out for 5 hours a day.

Og yeah, at she is not on any hard feed at the moment - just good grass!

Help!!!!!
 
it sounds as if she's having a fair bit of work at the moment and is a bit too fit. i'd have her out at nights as well if pos, so she doesn't get to have the best snooze every night, it can take the edge off them. don't forget that good grass has a LOT of sugar in it, and is a great energy food. can she go onto more limited grazing, and have some low-energy hay instead?
i'd have a few sessions where i'd just walk, or walk for a bit then trot for a circle then walk a lot. she shouldn't have learnt that it's always walk, then trot, then trot faster, then canter, then canter faster... she's not a racehorse, i take it! she needs breaking of the expectation, so she breaks the habit.
keep up with the check and release, check and release. you shouldn't have to haul on her all the time to keep her slow. be aware that you can slow her down by rising more slowly and by bringing your shoulders back, and breathing more deeply and slowly, too.
lots of calm slow work, and a less fit horse. i'd be tempted to have a slow session or two and then give her a few weeks off at least, i think. 5 times a week is a fair bit for a 4 yr old imho.
 
thanks for that advice. i agree that she would benefit from a break. she is just a leisure horse, not competing and never will. I was worried that if i gave her time off, she would be even worse when she came back into work!

Am kind of restricted with the turn out etc as thats the livery she is on. She has only been in that level of work since may - actually, its Oct now so thats quite a while!

i think as well she would benefit from some quiet hacking out - a change of scenary. She is always just worked in the arena and never gets to see anything else. A bit of variety might help - do you think?

thanks for that - will give it a go,
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I wouldn't change the amount of workload for now, but would reduce the canter work and definitely build in more transitions - so if you canter it is ONLY 1/4 of the school or one circle and then she comes back to trot or walk until she will always be expecting you to ask for a change of pace and be less likely to take a hold
 
The obvious question has to be 'how is the professional trainer delaing with it?' Really, anyone decent should ideally be wanting to give you a few lessons before the horse goes so that you are continuing along the same lines. I would hope the professional knows how to deal with this & can advise you how best to deal with it.
 
she definitely needs hacking out, if at all possible. gosh, i can't imagine only schooling a 4 yr old, i'm amazed she hasn't gone stir crazy. i'd never school a 4 yr old more than 2-3 times a week.
if she has time off, she may be a bit lively the first time she's ridden again, or she may be fine. i'd always lunge lightly first to take the tickle out of her feet anyway... maybe see if she could have a break for a bit and then get the professional trainer to ride her again the first time.
 
my 4yo is also a bit of a lunatic but as far as im concerned id rather she went forward than anything. If she is feeling fresh i will lunge her first. When i get on board i dont walk we trot straight away and continue untill shes settled if she breaks into canter i just sit quietly and she soon tires and begins to listen. At 4 years old they can never keep up the fight for long. Try not to get into a tug of war with her mouth because their mouths can so easily be ruined at this age.

Like Kerrilli said, get her out hacking with a really sensible schoomaster. And when you do school her, keep her interested, lots of poles everywhere etc just keep her busy!!

Good luck
 
I have this with my boy(he is 12 now),they aint daft and unfortunately when they are being schooled it does go walk,trot,canter and it is repeated,usually they learn that when the trot work is done,WE go onto canter,as babies they have to be taught this but...they are soo clever they anticipate the next move,especially when it has been done in schooling as it is repeated until it is done acceptably!I made the mistake of teaching my boy walk to canter,it felt great but unfortunately after we had done the trot work the bugger thought all we was doing was cantering,lol,8yrs later i have to vary work huge time or he thinks he knows what we are doing next,lol!!Sounds like she is fit to go eventing and blowing her mind she only 4,if you have no plans to event cut her work load,get to know her yourself and the less fit she is the better,you will get to know each other,the schooling will remain in her head but she will be less fizzy!GROW together now she has the basics!!
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In answer to never schooling a 4yr old all week,most professional yards i know work their youngsters 6 days a week in the school,i used to work for ian and tracey woodhead and they schooled the youngsters that came in for 6 weeks,6 days a week,(if they were being broken they were there for 8 wks)they were then sent home for a well deserved break,and then depending on the client brought back for more schooling!Not my ideal for a young horse,but they had great results!!!
 
The only tip I will give you is to ride every step from the first stride you take when you get on and dictate the pace through your seat. My boy is a bit of a steam train at times and if I set the terms the second I get on we are fine, if I allow him to walk off the yard as he likes and then ask for a slower pace, he is already in charge and it is much more difficult to get him to listen.

I would really slow your movement through your hip and seat bones to get a very slow walk but ask for larger strides and only when you get the walk you like with a lowering of the head, ask for an upward transition, the second the trot speeds up slow it down to an almost walk or ask for walk, but just make sure you are always dictating the pace, ask for the speed you want, when you want it, keep it slow, you will find if you slow the movement of your seat as you take and release the pressure on the reins you should get a slowing response.

Hope that makes sense.
 
thanks a million for all the replies. sorry but i couldn't get onto the forum for a good few days. I have no plans to event at the moment and with the lack of bridleways etc over here. It is hard to get safe hacking. the profession that is schooling her does have battles with her as well. i am just really conscious that now is the time when I could really ruin her mouth and thats the last thing i want to do! she is a big girl 16 3 so I don't want her to learn that she can pitch her size against me.

She is off to the new yard in a couple of weeks and then its up to me! yes I am getting lessons from the professional at the moment. my personal oppinion is that as a baby she needs variety so that riding is interesting for her not just pure schooling. Hopefully I will be able to do more variety in the new yard.

thanks for your responses and wish me luck!
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