Schooling tantrums

[Angua2]

Does anyone elses horse throw a temper tantrum when schooling?

I am having problems, in that after we have done our warm up and stretches, my mare decides enough is enough, and sticks her head in the air, hollows her back and trots around like you see the racehorses do (the best imagary I can give you!)

it feels like forever (although in reality probably not more than 5 - 10 mins) trying to get her back together again and working with some consistancy.

Does any one have any hints or tips on how we can get through this or avoid the whole senario. I try very hard not to get into an arguement with her, but it is very difficult.

 

[JMSims2008]

How old is your mare? My gelding has just turned 6, and he sometimes has tantrums when schooling, all I do is ignore it (very difficult I know!) and then we carry on with the work that I am giving him. I like to ensure that the schooling is varied, and to keep his mind occupied, as he gets bored easy, hence tantrums.
Amazingly, if we pop a jump his 'tantrums' disappear! Probably because he absolutely loves jumping.
I have lessons a couple of times a week whilst he is going through this phase, so that when I stop having the lessons, I am confident that I can deal with the situations that happen!

Prior to me dealing with the situation myself, I did send him away for re-schooling for 3 weeks, so that he was used to the work that he was going to get in the future - this helped me with my confidence, seeing someone else riding him and dealing with the situations.

Good luck with your mare - also, just to make sure, you have had all the usual checks done for teeth and back etc? Just a thought! x

 

[Miss-rose]

I'm having problems just like this at the mo hence asking if anyone can recomend an instructor. Funnily enough my girl also seems to focus and calm down if I pop a jump with her lol. So sorry not a lot of help but I'll be following this thread so see what others suggest

 

[Crackajack]

Yep - once my beast decided he has had enough he would stick his head on the floor taking advantage of long and low work i was doing at the time and do one round the school!!
The only way i got him to stop was to change my schooling methods - stop trying to get him round and on the bit but just to simply keep a good contact and concentrate on being accurate, rhythm and impulsion. I did this combined with pole work, using old dressage tests to keep him thinking and hey presto - he came down and round and engaged...
not saying it will work for you but just an example of what happened to me and CJ

 

[Angua2]

Interesting......

Glad I am not the only one that is suffering..... it is inreal how much of a comfort that is.

we have had all the usual checks done, as the muppet fell over in the field and had to be checked over

She is 7, so I guess is at the age where she has the attention span of a knat, and she too loves jumping. I guess I will just have to have a small x pole somewhere in the school for focusing purposes.

mmm....

Crackajack..... your solution may well work.

 

[Ginge Crosby]

My beast recently went thru a phase of this - around the same age too, about 6/7. I persevered trying my own methods, until one day about 2 months ago he nearly threw me off at a dressage show for no apparent reason other than he didn't want to work. we had also had all checks done, back, teeth ect, cut hard feed back and nothing major was noted.

I was literally at breaking point with him, when i bit the bullet and asked my yard manager to ride him for me and see what she thought.
Well, my YM (who is a BHSAI) rode him, and her first comment was 'well, he's a bit, well, RUDE, isn't he?' she believed he's going thru the terrible teens (in a human/horsey manner) and demonstrated some exercises to help, then watched me ride in and offered some advice whilst i was mounted. Since then, he's been slowly improving on a day to day basis; of course, we still have bad days, but on the whole he's improved and we've even had some dressage sessions with another instructor.

We went to a show on saturday, came 5th in our first class which was lovely. He scored badly in his second class, but i came out of the ring crying with pride as to how well he went, compared to the last time when i came out crying with frustration/anger!

So what i'm saying in a long winded way is that maybe asking an instructor to ride him for you and offer some feedback can be of as much use to you as it was to me!

 

[Angua2]

alj7..... I have just phoned my instructor for a chat, and asked if she would mind riding her! In the meantime, I will take away some of the hints and tips.