Strong pony - any advice?

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bex1984

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Murphy appears to be rather too full of the joys of spring
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We did a 1ft clear round at the weekend, and he got so excited by the sight of the course, and all the spectators, he literally bounced into (and round) the warm up school.

Today I had the morning off and rode in the school, he was full of beans, striding along with his ears pricked. Once he got it into his head he wanted to canter, he was really strong and I was struggling to slow him down.

He was jogging, and whereas I can normally get him back to walk (although he does then start jogging again 3 seconds later
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) he was completely ignoring my requests for walk
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I really felt like our brakes had failed a little bit today, and although we had lots of fun charging about
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I do need to be able to get him to listen to me sometimes...

Any advice for dealing with him being strong like this?
 
Not sure what to recommend but he's not the only one at the moment.
My horse, Jerry, was very bouncy when I schooled him the other day. We did lots of circles and changes of rein to try to keep him steady and keep him listening to me.
He sounds like he's full of the joys of spring!
 
His feed is just under 100g of happy hoof, 2 carrots, 8 dodson & horrell equibites, and a tablespoon of cod liver oil. I will email his nutritionist and ask if it is time to reduce that
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He might not need all the equibites, or the oil...

He has definitely become more bouncy since the grass started coming up...
 
are you still riding in the Pelham I take it??

Canter him into a fence/wall then he should stop
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cheeky git

I haven't got much experience with strong horses - although I did ride one for a guy and everyone was like 'oohhh I hope you are ok with Laddie he is a tank' etc etc
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and whenever I took him out for a canter (see I could canter outside
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) I would sit up, keep a strong position, and not lean forward, and this would tend to make him faster. Instead of keeping a hold on the reins, I would keep 'checking' with the inside rein, to make sure he was listening - and this is not so much when I wanted to slow down, but all the time we were cantering
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I know it's naughty but sometimes its nice to see a buzzed up cob
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I know you're not feeding him much because of his weight, have you tried lungeing him before you get on? Flatwork around jumps so he can understand that it is not that exciting?

I expect if you don't ride with other horses often then he will find it exciting - perhaps you need some practice in the school with other horses around. Frankie was the same - he was a donkey on his own but put him in a school with 3 other horses, and he would try and go off with me
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Sorry for the essay - I'm sure other people have better answers then me
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Perhaps when you are schooling/warming up, canter in a 20 meter circle (try not to canter in straight lines all the time, he will gain momentum LOL) keep a steady contact (not a tight contact) and do lots of transitions, before he gets a chance to get drive along on his nose
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Thanks Jen, yes, still in the pelham, just feel he's possibly lost respect for it a bit lately but don't really want to change (although I do have a kimblewick I could try...)

I can't lunge him unfortunately. We try to kill each other.

He is used to being in the school both on his own and with others but does find jumping rather exciting at the minute as it's quite new to him.

He is just...exuberant!! That is the best word I can think of to describe him at the moment. He's not spooky, or silly....he just doesn't want to go slow!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps when you are schooling/warming up, canter in a 20 meter circle (try not to canter in straight lines all the time, he will gain momentum LOL) keep a steady contact (not a tight contact) and do lots of transitions, before he gets a chance to get drive along on his nose
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Good plan...I could feel him gaining speed along the long side of the school today!!
 
Native cob types can live on thin air and the smell of spring grass! Doesn't sound like he's getting too much shortfeed so probably blame the spring grass.

Can you ride him more, or for longer, to try to take the edge off? Or as suggested above lunge him first to get him to listen to you? Or just ignore his antics and ride him forward and enjoy!
 
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Perhaps when you are schooling/warming up, canter in a 20 meter circle (try not to canter in straight lines all the time, he will gain momentum LOL) keep a steady contact (not a tight contact) and do lots of transitions, before he gets a chance to get drive along on his nose
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Good plan...I could feel him gaining speed along the long side of the school today!!

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Frankie
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went through a stage of getting faster and faster when he lost his balance - he would pull and pull, so my instructor said to 'make him lose balance and make him sit up and listen'
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(hope no one objects to this LOL) not literally pull him around, that would be silly, but if I felt him getting faster and faster she told me to 'make shapes' in the school and keep him constantly guessing where we were going
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(this was done in trot I would like to add)
 
He's normally rideen 6 days a week, for an hour a day..although he did have a day off yesterday so maybe that's why he's a bit bouncy and unstoppable!!

We don't do lungeing, neither of us are able to do it!

I do enjoy him being full of beans, but it's just that he's being so strong and he is ignoring me when I ask him to slow down.

And if I'm going to venture out hacking, which I am terrified of, I need to feel I have control.
 
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Get him out for a good old gallop. Sounds like he'd really enjoy it. Will also help expend some energy.

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Or that - much more fun
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Get him out for a good old gallop. Sounds like he'd really enjoy it. Will also help expend some energy.

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oooo I would soooo love to. My fear of hacking and lack of transport are making this a bit difficult at the moment
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I took him to the gallops last month and we had so much fun.
 
Hi

Maybe worth a go but a little hot head like that may well benefit from going right back to basics, starting with in hand leading work and moving on from there. If you take the time getting him woking in a calm orderly manor in hand, then moving onto a line, you will probably have more control under saddle and when the going gets faster- (Much experience with naughty natives has proved this to work
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) Purely my thoughts but I tend to use lunging for loosening up and improving gaits rather than anything else as it can sometimes just make them stronger rather than fix the problem for good. Good luck and have fun!!
 
daughter having same problem she has taken xc which took the edge off in a gag and does a very tight circle if she has a brake failiure. Also only fed handful of alfa a with handful of mix and handful of s beet (literally)

He is fine now but he is a fast fizzy strong pony anyway so she just usually rides him through it!
 
See i had problems with my cobby type ponies/horses in curb bits. My old pony I had no brakes whatsoever in a kimblewick and my current horse, although i have put him in a pelham with double reins in the past i actually find him alot heavier in that than the bit i ride in now which is the dutch gag (the 3 ringed bit). My horse has a tendency to carry his weight on the forehand and 'lean' on the bit an I found the gag just helps get his head up and gives me control. I used to ride with it on the bottom ring for competing but now only ride him on the middle ring.

maybe try a different bit with a different type of action, it might just give you that little more control. Other people on the yard are sure to have some bits you can try. My SJ instructor was great at lending bits to try if you were having problems.
 
I used to ahve him in a gag and he hated it
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The pelham has been really good so far, so I think maybe I need to improve my riding rather than change his bit.

I just wonder if there's something I should be doing that I'm not doing, when he doesn't listen to me?

Hmmm. I think I need to sort out some lessons
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Hmm, oh dear, that b*ggers up that plan (gag) then! hehe. You tried a bit with rollers in so he can' grab hold of the bit (if that's what he's doing)? I have used a Tom Thumb with copper rollers, it has a slight gag action though so if the horse resents the poll pressure then doubt that'd work. Hmm, tricky one!
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Bex - when he pulls, what do you do? Do you feel you have to pull and keep hold of him until he stops? Have you tried half halting (I mean serious half halts!) with your outside rein? Ie not just pulling, but squeezing your hand around the rein for a second or two, then releasing for a second or two (repeat until horse listens)? And don't forget to still use your leg....

Lots of turns/circles/change rein should help as he will have to focus. Try not to ride a whole long side without doing something - can be a transition trot-walk-trot or a circle or transition within the pace ie slow down/speed up keep him thinking
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Sounds like you are having fun at the moment anyway - mine are also both full of the joys of spring
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alas, yes, I have tried one with rollers (a cherry roller snaffle). It was all going well until he cantered from one of the school to the other, and straight out of the gate and carried on...
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he is a bit of a cheeky monkey!! The pelham is usually good, he has obviously just chosen to ignore it today!

I have now remembered that he might have needed a wee, which always makes him strong, so maybe that's why I couldn't stop him today???
 
[ QUOTE ]
Bex - when he pulls, what do you do? Do you feel you have to pull and keep hold of him until he stops? Have you tried half halting (I mean serious half halts!) with your outside rein? Ie not just pulling, but squeezing your hand around the rein for a second or two, then releasing for a second or two (repeat until horse listens)? And don't forget to still use your leg....

Lots of turns/circles/change rein should help as he will have to focus. Try not to ride a whole long side without doing something - can be a transition trot-walk-trot or a circle or transition within the pace ie slow down/speed up keep him thinking
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Sounds like you are having fun at the moment anyway - mine are also both full of the joys of spring
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I try to squeeze-and-release until he listens and slows down, then release. If he hangs on my hands and leans I sort of "drop" him, which usually does slow him for a second.

Good idea about doing more circles etc, I don't do enough of those and tend to just "go large" round the school, which probably doesn't help.

Once he was tired he did walk quite nicely, it just took an awful lot of charging about first!! It's probably my fault for enjoying cantering so much!
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try a grackle noseband, just discovered them and it has made pickle holdable! he is a strong beastie and I use this combined with a NS universal (pickle is the opposite and hates pelhams, could be worth a go

Jess
 
hi is your Pelham a mullen mouth or jointed? maybe trying a waterford of a Pelham with a french link mouth piece might work better as they reduce the lean factor
 
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