STROPPY MARE. Rider not Pony.

grandmaweloveyou

grandmaweloveyou

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Just taken my gelding into the school to practice for our first show. I am a rubbish rider, I could not get him to concentrate on me, he wanted my partner to play with and if 1 person distracts him how will he concentrate in a show, so i stropped off and let my partner ride and chose to muck out his stable instead. When will I find something I am good at, oh yeah, happy hacking
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Dont worry everyone has bad days and so do horses.

Maybe next time you ride, maybe go on a hack and school in a open field or as your walking/troting/cantering. This has helped me as there is lots of things to look at.

Hope this helps xxxxx
 
everything helps thank you - btw i made sure he knew it wasnt his fault, it definitely was me. going to book a lesson quick sharp and hope the instructor wont kill us both off! will try schooling in the field tomorrow night and persevere!x
 
Dont get off and give up!
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I think the only way to get through it is to practice and keep going with it! Otherwise can you try to make it more fun for you both (so he concentrates naturally) like doing polework or jumping or something?
 
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Dont get off and give up!
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I think the only way to get through it is to practice and keep going with it! Otherwise can you try to make it more fun for you both (so he concentrates naturally) like doing polework or jumping or something?

[/ QUOTE ]

ditto
 
Dont give up, we all have bad times!!
Just book a lesson with a good instructer, and dont worry about the show, you pay to entry to be there even if it does go horribley wrong its not to end of the world and it will be good experience for you to see what its all about.
Just relax and take your time, its not going to fall into place over night xx
 
No, don't give up! If it helps, it's not just you!
Yesterday, middle daughter spent 5 minutes trying to anchor down her pony long enough to actually get ON, didn't have enough steering to canter a 15 metre circle & pony was a right c*w!
Today, (with a much better attitude from her rider!), they were cantering with control & full steering & sailing over 3 foot as though it was a pole on the ground!

Tell OH he is ignore pony completely, don't acknowledge him or anything, so pony gets no obvious reward for his wandering attention., e.g. if you come to the gate to have a moan, he is not to look at pony, touch pony, speak to pony......!

Don't think of it as practising 'your show', think of it as schooling the various elements of it & break it down into small sections.
That way, you'll get less flustered if it doesn't seem to be coming together & if he does something well a couple of times, you can take a short break, so he can have a stretch & you can marvel at how clever you are! lol

If he suffers from wandering attention, maybe try 'sandwich training'? Start off with something he enjoys & can do well, then something a little more challenging or that he finds a little dull, then finish with something he enjoys again?

I'm sure you're not a rubbish rider either but (& don't take this the wrong way, I meet it in the nicest way possible!)........bored, easily distracted animals usually have a rather boring handler/rider, so try & up the enthusiasm levels!
If you're thinking how rubbish you are, how hopeless it is, why should he be skipping along gaily, thinking 'Wowee, this is fun!' Yeah?

Good luck! xx
 
Chin up tomorrow is another day. He will do you proud at the show and all will be fine
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Maybe take him for a hack and practise transitions etc whilst hacking, then take him in the school on your own.

Bert is a sucker for this, my instructor thinks he is in love with her as our 20m circles are ever decreasing until he his walking around instructor with about 1m to spare! No amount of leg or stick on shoulder to stop him falling in helps....he is convinced she has food!
 
Although i agree - dont give up - i think you did the right think getting off.

my mare is fizzy and a hot head - and so am i. when things start going wrong she gets wound up and so do i, i either stop and give her a long rein and i mentally switch off - or i get off and walk her in hand - we both chill out, have a little chat about the situation [no im not a crazy person!!] then i get back on and start a fresh.
it really works. but only in the right situation. sometimes me and my horse need to have a bit of a row to move forward and get our best work and so she knows she cant take the piss out of me.

make sure next time you get on your in a good positive mood, and that you arent tired or stressed too much with other things that will influence you. have a nice grooming session first etc or perhaps go for a short hack before you schooling session so you are relzed and warmed up before the hard work starts.
good luck x
 
my pony is exactly the same when we are out hacking she will stop and gravitate to anyone else on the groung or bike lol i was so worrid about taking her to a show as i thought i would make a pr*t out of myself not being able to get her to listen. But she shocked my and my family her 1st ever show and she was an angle!!! she has never gone better for me. DON'T GIVE UP it could turn out great
 
THANK YOU everyone, youre all so nice. Yes you are right about the rider not enthusing the horse, as soon as I got on last night I knew I didnt feel right, tried to ride in muckers too which keep getting stuck in stirrups so proper gear on tonight, and yes I am going to have another go tonight. Have a bottle of frozen water with me to prepare for a long night ahead! I will hack him tomorrow if he is good. Definitely want OH to get her own horse but too smitten with ours! Have got 2 other horses for her to "borrow" as and when so will work harder on that too! She wanted to take him for a ride around the fields last night and I said that would just tell him that he gets some fun after being "naughty" so I was authoritive. Will post later and update. Thanks again - and will try some trotting poles, not sure he will jump and booking a lesson as we speak!
 
hi, just back from "school". hmmm.once in the school, it took 20 attempts or so to get him past the school gate (on either reign) - whether walking/trotting/cantering, he still stops dead at the same place - i am sssooo going to end up over the fence. then we had 2 visitors behind the bushes, 2 horses snorting, so we did a very impressive gallop down the centre line, not asked for, and alot of bucking! i was cross. he was scared enough to "s**t" himself. so we started again, on the bit and did some beautiful work! he listened he responded and we ended on a very good note
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a hack tomorrow and another attempt in school on thurs! no idea on the picture gallery, must try harder there too, do i have to register on photobucket or something?if so will try soon promise
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good day everyone???
 
Glad it ended well.

I made the mistake of hacking on bin day. Two bin wagons and a flatbed lorry later Bert and I ended up amost sat down in a ditch! Wuss

No harm done and will certainly not be hacking on bid day again!
 
seeing that others have their "issues" made me a bit more understanding with him tonight, especially as i miscalculated and thought i had been working him / owned him for a month when its been just over 2 weeks, i should be kinder! you can give yours a well deserved day off on bin day from now on, and do something different instead.enjoy!
 
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