Sitting to a spin on a young horse

[missallym]

I've recently bought a new 6yr old ISH gelding, 17hh.
he was unbelievably nervous when I went to see him, shaking in the back of the stable, but in the 4 months I have had him, he is improving a lot and is starting to trust me.
I had my instructor ride him and she said that we are going to treat him as though he has only been broken for 6 months as he is very green and unbalanced. I don't know his background as he was shipped over from Ireland and I know he's been hunted. The guy I bought him off had only had him two weeks.

The problem I have is that with him being very nervy, he is very spooky, and has spooked at genuine things, like a bird flying out the hedge, a bit of black plastic, loud noises. the issue with the spooks are that they are very fast full on spins, and before I even know what's happening, I'm on the deck. I don't have time to grab anything and I cant sit to it. he has also bucked me off a couple of times too. not out of malice or nastiness, but just babyness/unbalancedness I think.

So, what would be the best thing for me to do to try and curb the spinning/bucking.

Should I send him off somewhere for training, or try and sort it myself. I don't want him to start realising he can get me off each time he spins/bucks, so I need to nip it in the bud asap.
He doesn't do it all the time, so its very sporadic, but I don't want to lose my confidence with him, which is starting to wain a little as its a long way to fall off.

Would a western type saddle help me at all to stay on better with the spins? at least if I can stay on, I can start dealing with it better, than what I can from the floor haha.
if this would help, can you get them for high withered horses?

He's not a hot headed horse, and doesn't carry on at all prancing about or anything. if I come off, if he hasn't took off back to the stable, he stands shaking. I can get back on and we continue. he will be a little nervy to start, but then settles again.

any advice greatly appreciated.
thanks

 

[Mince Pie]

Send him to a pro, at this point in time you do sound a little overhorsed and you can't give the horse confidence if yours is 'waning', also once your confidence is lost it's very difficult to get back. I'd send him to a local and well respected pro to bring on for you until he's more confident himself and more established/balanced.

 

[paddi22]

When i hack out my neighbours babies i constantly have a hold on a strap of a breastplate or a neckstrap. And i sit a bit more defensively so im not caught off balance at unexpected stuff.

If he does it when you're trying to school i'd be tempted to send him off to someone good who can ride him out of it and get him back on track.

If he has just been hunted he might have only had a basic background of breaking and then was sent out hunting. He is probably just not understanding what is being asked of him and he's melting. He might have always been ridden with other horses doing, doing very basic stuff in a group following a leader. He is in a completely new environment on his own now. I'd be tempted to send him to someone gentle to rebreak him properly,.

 

[EQUIDAE]

I take a deep breath out and hum to them (you can do this if they are spooky in the dressage test and the judge wont know ). Relaxing yourself will usually relax them - the more you worry about them reacting, the worse they will get.

A good example is my stallion yesterday - my instructor was going to school him for me but she felt like he was a ticking timebomb beneath her and was going to go into rodeo mode. SHe hopped off and was going to lunge him, but I asked her not to. My reasoning was that he wasn't fresh (he was straight in from the field), he was just having a paddy as he didn't want work. If I was at a show with nowhere to lunge then I would have to turn round and leave - which isn't acceptable.

I got on, breathed out, squeezed once and took my leg off the second he responded and I got the most fanstastic work I have ever had out of him. It's not about trying to control it, it is about harnessing it and using it to your advantage.

 

[TTK]

Oooo, a young big boy like that would unseat a lot of people - no shame there. I would consider some professional training for him but also I had one like that and I used to ride him in a deep-seated western trail saddle and it really made a difference to my sticking on. Not only have you got the deep seat & the horn to grab onto but the fenders (stirrup leathers) wrap around your lower leg and give you tremendous stability. Worked for me anyway. I can tell you more about fitting western saddles is you PM me. Good luck.

 

[spacefaer]

I would use something like HorseFirst RelaxMe, just to lower his anxiety levels - he needs to get a bit desensitised to the world, and the only way to do that is to take him out there. I've had success with that - even if he still spins, it'll be slower and you'll have sufficient warning to grab a neckstrap.

On our green Irish babies, I always have a neckstrap and standing martingale - stops them bashing me in the face with their neck as they spin. I also ride quite short, which keeps me more secure, in my jumping saddle and long chaps. (they're suede and remarkably sticky!)

I try and teach them that if there is something they are worried out, that their "go-to" reaction should be to trot past it - ie to go forward, not away from it. It must work, as everything we've got is a forward, marching-out type of hack!

 

[tiga71]

I had a similar problem with my lad last year when I got him as a very green 6 year old, though he is only 16.2. It is amazing how such lanky youngsters, who never seem to know where their legs are, can spin so flipping fast.

He has only got me off twice when he did it after a jump. But he did do it on hacks. What I suggest is:

Hack out with a confident horse and let him sit behind for a while, or alongside, and gain his confidence. I had someone ride my other horse who is a great escort and just does not get bothered by any silliness. It meant my young horse took confidence from his relaxed attitude and it meant if young horse had a spin/spook the older horse took no notice and it became less of a big deal.

Perhaps get your instructor hack him out for you for a bit, would be good if you rode out with them on a confident horse. Then you can see how your instructor is handling the spins.

Make sure he is trotting forward when you are hacking. I find that they are a lot less spooky when you are doing a good trot.

Make sure you are riding with short reins, supporting him and keep your leg wrapped around him. If you have your legs round him you will be able to feel when he is about to spook/spin and it will give you a tiny bit more time to react. He needs to know you are supporting him and with him.

When he spins, don't let him go the way he wants. Make him turn make the way you want him to turn and go forward. It didn't take mine too long to realise that spinning just meant he got turned back the way he was spinning and had to go forward anyway.

I changed my bit to a full cheek bit which helped with our steering and made it a bit easier to avoid the spin.

always have a neck strap or breastplate and keep a finger under it all the time.

Never let him slop along on a hack.

Have lots of lessons on him and get your trainer to ride him for a bit to give him a bit of confidence.

Good luck. It is worth it in the end.

 

[missallym]

Thanks for all your replies, you have all given some great advice. I have booked a lady to come and ride him for me to build his confidence. She's a very good quiet confident rider so I think she will be great for him.

 

[missallym]

Thankyou.